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“Leon!”
“Stay put!”
“Hey! She’s just a kid!”
Leon struggled against the agent pinning him to the ground, his eyes fixed on Sherry. The senior agent had an iron grip around her wrist, and she clawed desperately at his hand, shouting for Leon.
It had only been a couple of hours since they’d parted ways with Claire. She had set off on her journey to find her brother, leaving Leon and Sherry to continue theirs. It hadn’t taken long for government agents to surround them.
“Now, tell us! Is there anyone else with you?”
The barrel of a gun pressed into Leon’s cheek. He gritted his teeth against the pain.
“No.”
“You’d better not be lying—”
“He’s not!” Sherry cried out.
The little girl was terrified. Seeing Leon pinned to the floor by two agents had sent her into a panic. She struggled to reach him, only to be yanked back by the senior agent.
“Please, don’t hurt him! He saved me!”
Leon swallowed down his pain, his shoulders aching beneath the agent’s weight. He kept his eyes on Sherry, doing his best to offer her a reassuring smile despite the situation.
Good girl.
***FLASHBACK***
“I’m going to miss you so much, Claire.”
Sherry sobbed into Claire’s arms, clinging tightly to her as though letting go would somehow make the goodbye more real. Claire held her close against her chest, fighting back her own tears.
“I’m going to miss you too, Sherry.”
Leon watched them for a moment before looking away. He hated this and he knew he was the reason it had come to this.
Over the past few days, the three of them had grown closer than any of them could have anticipated. In the middle of all the chaos, they had somehow managed to find a little family in one another. But they couldn’t stay in that fragile little bubble forever. Eventually, they had to move forward.
Leon had convinced Claire that she needed to go to Europe and continue searching for her brother. The conversation hadn’t been an easy one. Claire had fought him every step of the way, unwilling to leave Leon and Sherry behind.
There had been arguments, disagreements, and more than a few moments when neither of them had been willing to back down. In the end, it had taken Sherry herself to reassure Claire that they would be fine without her.
Claire needed to find her brother.
And as much as she hated the idea of leaving them, she knew Sherry was right.
Finally, Claire pulled away from Sherry’s embrace and smiled sadly, wiping the tears from the little girl’s cheeks.
“Make sure you look after yourself, okay?” she said softly. Then she glanced at Leon and pointed at him with a playful chuckle. “And keep tabs on this one.”
Leon raised an eyebrow. “Hey.”
Sherry let out a tiny, tearful laugh before looking back at Claire, her expression turning serious again.
“You won’t forget me, right, Claire?”
Claire’s heart broke at the tremble in her voice.
“How could I ever forget the girl who kept me alive in Raccoon City?” she replied, gently brushing Sherry’s hair away from her face. “Without you, I’d probably be zombie food by now.”
That earned another small laugh from Sherry, even through her tears.
Claire smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she reached for the necklace around her own neck and slipped it off, carefully fastening it around Sherry’s.
“The moment I find my brother, I’ll come straight back to you. I promise.”
That was all it took.
Sherry threw her arms around Claire’s neck and broke down completely. Claire gathered her close, tears slipping down her own cheeks as she lifted the little girl into her arms and rubbed her back soothingly.
Leon watched them quietly.
He admired how naturally Claire had taken to looking after Sherry. Despite everything they had been through, she had never hesitated to put the little girl first. She had become someone Sherry could trust, someone who made her feel safe.
And now she was leaving.
Claire eventually eased Sherry out of her embrace and turned towards Leon, still holding the little girl close.
“You’d better look after her, Leon.”
“With my life,” he answered without hesitation.
He gently took Sherry into his arms, and she went willingly, burying her face in his shoulder.
Claire watched them for a moment before speaking again. “And please, look after yourself too. I’ll stay in touch. Just make sure Sherry’s okay, and if anything happens, you tell me straight away. And once I find my brother, I’ll come straight back, and—”
Her words began to tumble over one another, her voice growing shakier with every sentence until it finally gave way to tears.
Leon shifted Sherry into one arm and reached for Claire with the other, pulling her close. “Everything will be fine here, Claire. I promise.”
That was when Claire finally broke.
She buried her face against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly. Sherry was caught between them, her small arms reaching around Claire as best she could.
“I hate that you convinced me to do this, Leon,” Claire whispered through her tears. “I don’t want to leave either of you.”
Leon rested his cheek against her hair.
“I’m sorry.” he murmured. “But you need to find your brother. We’ll be here when you come back.”
For a while, none of them said anything.
They simply held one another, clinging to the little family they had somehow managed to build amid all the devastation. They knew the coming days wouldn’t be easy, and perhaps that was why neither Leon nor Claire seemed willing to let go first.
Eventually, Claire pulled away and wiped her face, taking a shaky breath as she tried to gather herself.
It was time.
Sherry lifted her head from Leon’s shoulder and looked at Claire with tearful eyes.
“Come back to us soon.”
Claire’s lips trembled. She didn’t trust herself to say anything else, so she leaned forward and kissed Sherry’s forehead before pressing a gentle kiss to Leon’s cheek.
“I’ll be back,” she whispered and Leon gave a single nod in response.
Then she turned and began walking away.
Leon and Sherry stood together, watching as Claire set off on her journey to Europe in search of her brother. Neither of them moved until she was little more than a distant figure.
A heavy feeling settled in Leon’s stomach.
Deep down, he didn’t want Claire making this journey alone. He wanted to go with her, to make sure she was safe, to know she wouldn’t have to face whatever awaited her without someone watching her back.
But they couldn’t risk Sherry’s safety.
As much as this had been his idea, Leon hated every second of watching her leave.
I hope you find your brother, Red.
“Leon?”
Sherry’s small voice pulled him from his thoughts. He looked at her. “She’s going to be okay, right?”
Leon offered her a reassuring smile and wiped the dried up tears from her cheek gently. “Yeah. Nothing can stop Claire Redfield.”
Sherry seemed to relax a little, but Leon’s expression soon grew more serious. “But we can’t tell anyone about Claire, Sherry.”
Her brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Leon gently set her on her feet before crouching down to her level. He took both her hands in his, making sure she was looking at him.
“No one can know Claire was with us in Raccoon City,” he explained carefully. “We can’t let anyone get in the way of her finding her brother.”
Sherry stared at him, trying to understand.
“So… we’re supposed to forget her?”
Leon shook his head immediately.
“No. Never.” His voice softened. “We could never forget Claire. But we have to do this for her, Sherry. We don’t know what’s ahead of us but we have to give her the chance to find her brother without anyone getting in her way.”
Sherry fell quiet.
She didn’t like it. Claire had saved her, cared for her, and made her feel safe when everything else in her life had fallen apart. The thought of having to keep her a secret felt almost like losing her all over again.
But Leon was right.
They don’t know what lies ahead of them or if they are completely out of danger but they couldn’t risk Claire’s safety. She deserved the chance to find her family.
After a moment, Sherry nodded.
“For Claire.”
Leon smiled gently.
“For Claire.”
***END OF FLASHBACK***
“Now, I’m going to ask you one more time.”
The senior agent crouched in front of Leon, his expression hard and impatient.
“Was there anyone else with you?”
Leon didn’t hesitate. He didn’t flinch or allow even the slightest crack in his composure. He met the agent’s gaze and gave him the same answer he’d given before.
“No.”