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Leon woke with a sharp, throbbing pain radiating through his shoulder.
He gritted his teeth, his hand instinctively reaching for the source of the ache. Even the slightest movement sent a fresh wave of pain through his body, forcing him to take a slow, steadying breath. For a few disoriented seconds, he lay completely still, his eyes fixed on the unfamiliar ceiling above him.
Leon’s body tensed as he instinctively scanned his surroundings, his pulse quickening at the unfamiliar room. It took him a moment to remember that they had managed to escape the city and find shelter in a motel a couple of miles away. The memory brought a small measure of relief.
They were out of the city, at least for now.
That was something.
With a quiet groan, Leon carefully pushed himself into a sitting position. The movement tugged painfully at his injured shoulder, and he sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. Looking down, he found the fresh bandage wrapped neatly around the wound.
Claire had taken care of it before he had finally passed out.
He remembered her hands working carefully, the crease of concentration between her brows as she cleaned and dressed the injury. She had done her best to make him comfortable despite everything they had been through, barely sparing a thought for her own exhaustion.
Leon let out a quiet sigh before turning his head towards the other bed.
Sherry was fast asleep.
The little girl lay curled beneath the motel blankets, her small body finally relaxed after what had undoubtedly been the most terrifying night of her life. In sleep, she looked younger than she had during the chaos in Raccoon City.
Leon watched her for a moment, his expression softening. She had been through far too much.
Claire had told him some of what had happened to Sherry, and even the little he knew was enough to make his chest tighten with sympathy. No child should have been forced to run for her life, witness such horrors, or learn so early that the world could be a cruel and unforgiving place.
Sherry deserved a chance to be a child again. To feel safe. To sleep without fear of what might be waiting for her when she opened her eyes. For now, at least, she was getting some much needed rest.
Then he noticed Claire wasn’t beside Sherry.
His brows drew together.
He shifted slightly, ignoring the protest from his injured shoulder, and glanced towards the rest of the room. A weak light from the bedside lamp illuminated the rumpled sheets and scattered belongings they had brought inside.
Then he spotted her.
Claire was sitting on the couch beside the window, her knees drawn up slightly as she leaned against the cushions. Pale moonlight spilled through the curtains, casting a silvery glow over her features and catching the faint burgundy strands of her hair.
Her fingers were busy turning the necklace around her neck, tracing the chain and worrying at the pendant with a distracted, repetitive motion. Her gaze was fixed somewhere beyond the glass, but Leon got the distinct impression that she wasn’t really seeing anything outside.
She was a million miles away, lost somewhere inside her own thoughts.
Leon watched her for a few seconds, debating whether he should leave her alone. She had done so much for him and Sherry already. Perhaps she needed a moment to herself, a little time to breathe now that they were finally somewhere safe.
But something about the sight of her sitting there alone, looking so impossibly small beneath the moonlight, tugged at him.
Carefully, Leon swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He paused when his shoulder protested, waiting for the worst of the pain to subside before pushing himself to his feet.
The short walk across the room felt longer than it should have, but he managed it without making too much noise. He moved cautiously, partly to avoid waking Sherry and partly because his shoulder was making its displeasure abundantly clear.
When he reached the couch, he stopped a short distance away.
“Claire?”
The sound of her name seemed to pull her out of whatever distant place her mind had wandered to.
She turned towards him, surprise flickering across her face when she realised he was awake.
“Leon?” She straightened a little, immediately looking him over as it was her second nature to check his well-being first. “Why are you awake? Are you okay?”
Despite his discomfort, Leon managed a faint, lopsided smile.
“I could ask you the same questions.”
He eased himself down beside her, moving carefully to avoid putting too much pressure on his injured shoulder. Once he had settled against the cushions, he turned towards her.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Leon.”
Claire answered softly, almost automatically.
Then she looked away.
Her fingers resumed their restless movements around her necklace, turning the pendant over and over as though it held the answer to whatever was troubling her. She tried to make the gesture seem casual, but Leon noticed the tension in her shoulders and the way her eyes remained fixed on the window.
He had only known her for a day, but he was beginning to recognise the little things about her. The way she always checked on Sherry before herself. The way she pushed through exhaustion without complaint. The way she could put on a brave face even when the world seemed determined to tear everything away from her.
And right now, she was doing exactly that.
Leon studied her profile for a moment before speaking again.
“Claire.”
There was no teasing in his voice this time. No attempt to lighten the mood with a joke.
Just a quiet invitation for her to tell him whatever is bothering her.
Claire’s fingers finally stilled.
She stared at the window for another few seconds before releasing a long, shaky breath. When she turned to face him, the faint smile she had been trying to maintain was gone.
“I’m just…” She swallowed, struggling to find the right words. “I’m really worried about my brother.”
Leon nodded slowly, letting her know he was listening.
“I know he’s in Europe,” Claire continued, her voice growing quieter. “That’s what Marvin told me back in Raccoon city, and since then I’ve been telling myself that he must be okay. That he’s probably out there doing whatever Chris does best. That is being stubbornly okay.”
She let out a humourless little laugh, shaking her head.
“But I haven’t heard from him in weeks, Leon. Weeks. I come looking for him and found the city falling apart.”
Her fingers curled around the pendant.
“How am I supposed to believe he’s safe in Europe when I have no idea what’s happening to him? What if something’s happened to him, too? What if he’s out there somewhere, and I don’t even know he’s in trouble?”
Her voice cracked on the last few words.
Leon felt something tighten painfully in his chest.
He had seen Claire frightened before. Anyone would have been frightened after what they had endured that night. But this was different. This wasn’t the immediate fear of a monster lurking around the next corner or the desperate panic of trying to keep someone alive.
This was a fear that had been growing inside her for weeks, long before she had ever set foot in Raccoon City.
Claire lowered her gaze, blinking away the tears that had begun to gather in her eyes.
“I don’t think I really understood it when we lost our parents,” she admitted. “Not at first.”
Her voice softened as she spoke, and Leon remained quiet, giving her the space she needed.
“Chris was only seventeen when it happened. Seventeen, Leon.” She shook her head in disbelief, as though even now she struggled to comprehend it. “And suddenly, he had to take care of everything. Me, the house, the bills… all of it.”
A tear slipped down her cheek.
“He had to make sure he was doing okay at work, that we had enough money, that everything was taken care of. He had to keep our lives together while he was still trying to figure out his own.”
She gave a small, broken laugh.
“And he never complained. Not once.”
Leon listened, his attention fixed entirely on her.
“He’d still show up for all my important stuff, even when I knew he was exhausted. He’d make sure I had everything I needed. If something went wrong, he’d figure it out. If I was upset, he’d be there. Somehow, he always managed to make everything seem like it was going to be okay.”
Claire’s lips trembled.
“I just thought that’s how things were supposed to be. I was a kid, and he was my big brother. Of course he was going to look after me, right?”
She paused, drawing a shaky breath.
“But when I turned seventeen, something changed. I started thinking about how old Chris had been when everything happened. I realised that while I was out having fun, going to parties and enjoying being young, he had been trying to figure out how to be an adult before he was even ready.”
Her eyes filled with tears, and she looked down at her hands.
“I was getting to have the life that a seventeen year old should have. I could make mistakes. I could be selfish sometimes. I could go out and have fun without worrying about whether we could afford to pay the bills that month.”
Her voice became increasingly unsteady.
“But Chris didn’t get that. The world just threw him into adulthood overnight, and he had to deal with it. He had to grow up so quickly, and he never once made me feel like I was a burden.”
Claire pressed her lips together, trying to hold herself together, but the effort was becoming increasingly difficult.
“He gave up so much for me, Leon. So much. And I don’t think I ever really thanked him enough for it.”
The room seemed to grow quieter around them.
Leon felt his throat tighten as he listened.
He had only known Claire for a single day, yet somehow, in that short time, she had already managed to leave a lasting impression on him. She was brave, stubborn, compassionate, and fiercely determined to protect the people she cared about. Even when she was terrified, she kept moving forward. Even when she was exhausted, she put other people’s needs before her own.
She had spent the entire night fighting to keep Sherry safe, looking after him when he was injured, and finding ways to keep them all moving despite the horrors surrounding them.
And through it all, she had barely allowed herself to stop and think about what she was feeling.
Now, sitting beside her in the pale moonlight, Leon was beginning to understand why.
Claire wasn’t simply worried about her brother.
She was terrified of losing the person who had spent so much of his life making sure she never had to face the world alone.
And after everything she had already lost, he could hardly blame her.
Leon shifted a little closer, moving carefully despite the ache in his shoulder. Then, without making a fuss about it, he slipped an arm around her shoulders.
“Claire…”
She looked up at him.
“We’re going to find your brother.”
The words came out quietly, but there was a firmness to them that made her pause.
For a moment, Claire simply stared at him. Her eyes searched his face, as though she wanted to believe him but was afraid of what it might mean to let herself hope.
“What if we don’t?”
The question was barely audible.
Her fingers had stopped moving around her necklace, and for the first time since Leon had woken up, she wasn’t trying to hide what she was feeling.
He saw the fear in her eyes. It was the fear of losing her brother without ever getting the chance to see him again. Of searching for him only to discover that she had been too late.
It was the sort of fear that no amount of bravery could make disappear.
Leon felt his heart ache for her.
He didn’t know Chris Redfield. He had no idea where in Europe the man might be, what he was doing, or whether he was even aware of the nightmare unfolding back home.
Leon couldn’t promise that everything would work out exactly as Claire wanted but he could promise her that she wouldn’t have to face whatever came next by herself.
“We will,” he said, his voice gentle but unwavering.
Then he drew her closer, wrapping his arm more securely around her shoulders.
That was all it took.
Claire’s composure finally crumbled.
She leaned into him, her hands clutching the front of his shirt as the tears she had been holding back spilled freely. A small, broken sob escaped her, followed by another, and then she was crying against his chest as though she had finally reached the point where she could no longer carry everything on her own.
Leon wasn’t very with good with words like Claire but he was good in his actions. So, he simply held her.
His uninjured arm rested around her shoulders while his other hand settled carefully against her upper arm, mindful of the bandage and the dull ache that continued to throb beneath it. He rested his cheek lightly against the top of her head, allowing her to cry for as long as she needed.
She had spent so much time worrying about her brother, keeping Sherry safe from the hellish nightmares and then him.
Somewhere along the way, Claire had forgotten that she was allowed to be frightened as well and now, with the motel room quiet around them and Sherry sleeping peacefully a few feet away, Leon realised that it was his turn to look after her.
As Claire’s sobs gradually softened, Leon tightened his arm around her just a little. In the privacy of his own thoughts, he made a silent promise. He would help her find Chris.
Whatever it took, whatever dangers lay ahead, he would do everything he could to make sure she reunites with her brother again.
He held Claire close, Leon found himself hoping with every ounce of sincerity he possessed that her brother was alive.
Please be alive, Chris Redfield, he thought.
“Remember what I told you, Claire?” Leon spoke softly as Claire looked up in question, meeting the most sincere eyes she’d seen since everything fell apart. Leon gently wiped the tears from her cheek.
“As long as we stick together, we’ll be fine. You’re not alone. We made it out of Raccoon city together. If we can face that shit show we can face anything together.”
For the first time in what felt like a very long time, something inside her began to loosen.
The fear was still there. The uncertainty about Chris hadn’t disappeared, and the world outside the motel remained every bit as dangerous as it had been before.
But for the first time that night, Claire didn’t feel as though she had to carry all of it alone.
Leon had been a stranger when she first met him. A rookie cop caught in the same nightmare as her, someone she had held as hope in a city which was falling apart. Now becoming someone she can learn on.
Claire drew a slow breath, allowing herself to settle a little closer to him as a small smile tugged at her lips.
Leon glanced down at her, his expression softening. He shifted his arm around her shoulders, holding her a little closer and resting his cheek on her head.
“You’re stuck with me now, Claire Redfield.”
He said it lightly, with that familiar hint of teasing in his voice, but there was something beneath the humour that she couldn’t miss.
A promise.