SUMMARY: Leon has a few minutes to think and share some quality time with Claire. It's sort of a prequel to a story that's still in the works.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story, nor do I own Umbrella. I'm only borrowing them to release my creative juices and entertain others and myself. If you sued me you'd probably just end up in debt, but if you feel you must...;)

WARNING: Ever so slightly tainted with bad language! It's not bad, but it is there. Consider yourself warned.

The Calm Before the Storm
By Montage

I flopped down in the hotel room's only arm chair and threw my legs over one arm, leaning back against the other and letting my head fall back. The ceiling wasn't exactly interesting, mind you, but neither was anything else I'd stared endlessly at in the past few hours.

Chris and Barry were going over the game plan for the following night, checking off all of the equipment we'd "acquired" and making a list of what we still needed. Carlos had taken off hours ago to...do whatever it is South Americans do all alone in Paris. Probably hit on some hot French chicks and maybe get laid. I really didn't care. Jill had talked Rebecca into going clothes shopping with her. To get their minds off of things I guess...it must be a female thing. And Claire? Claire was catching up on some much needed sleep. I don't think a Tyrant attack could have woken her up. I just hoped she wasn't having any of her tortured dreams of Steve's death that had invaded her sleep since her and Chris' return from the Antarctic.

From what Chris told me, she'd gotten better since my arrival. Honestly, I don't think it was me that caused the drastic changes he described. Why would it be? I'm just the rookie cop who left her on her own to fight her way through-and finally out of-the Umbrella mess known as Raccoon City. I'm not bitter with myself or anything. Nope, not at all. Anyway, I think she just needed some time to deal with what transpired; I just happened to come along as she was coming out of her shocked depression. I tried to tell Chris my theory; I believe his exact response was "bull shit". Whatever, I still don't think it had anything to do with me.

My bored, unfocused gaze followed the crack in the ceiling until it ended somewhere along the far wall. With a loud sigh I pushed myself up to sit on the arm of the chair and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Chris' voice came from behind me as I snatched up my keys.

"Out," I replied with more of a bite than I'd intended. But I wasn't in the mood for apologies or explanations, so I yanked the door open and left.

I'm not sure how long I drove. I don't even know where. My mind wandered so much that it's a wonder I didn't get killed running a red light or slamming into a wall. But I ended up parked along the river near our hotel, sprawled across the hood of my car and staring blankly at the night sky. I made Orion into Mr. X by adding a few stars here and there. Yup, I was definitely bored. I crossed my ankles and folded my hands behind my head. My thoughts started to roam from the starry sky to more depressing subjects.

Damn her. I'd kept from thinking about the mysterious Ms. Ada Wong every since I'd left the States...okay, since I'd stepped off the plane from the States. What can I say, it was a long flight and I had lots of time to think. Most of it was spent on her. Is she alive? Did she care about me the same way I cared about her? How did I care about her? Why did she have to pick now to come traipsing back into my thoughts?

Because you're lonely, a small voice inside of me taunted. No matter how much I wanted to argue with the irritating observation, I couldn't. Because somewhere, deep down, I knew that it was true. No one wants to admit that they're lonely, do they? I sure as Hell don't! It is the pitiful truth, however. I haven't had a date since my Senior Prom. I have no real friends to speak of; at least not until I got wrapped up in the disaster known as Umbrella. Hell, my family is lucky to get a Christmas card.

All of a sudden a realization hit me. I'm dreading the day we finally take down Umbrella for good. I'm worried that none of us will have any reason to stick together; that everyone will go their separate ways and I'll be left alone again. Chris, Jill, Barry, Claire, Rebecca and Carlos are the only friends I've got...and I don't want to lose them.

I chuckled softly to myself, "You are pathetic, Leon Kennedy."

"I don't think so."

I jerked myself upright and spun to see who'd spoken. I didn't recognize her at first, but my heart skipped a beat when I did.

"I like your hair down," I stammered.

I felt like an idiot, but the smile that lit up Claire's face, despite it's accompanying blush, was well worth the humiliation.

"May I?" she asked, nodding toward the hood of the car.

"Sure," I scooted, making room for her.

She seemed to be looking anywhere but at me as she sat down. I wondered if she felt as awkward as I did. Probably not, she's gorgeous and confident; why would she possibly be nervous around a guy like me?

I finally noticed that she held a paper sack in her hand, "Hey, what'd you bring me?"

"Huh?"

"What did you bring me?" I asked again, pointing to the bag.

"Oh," she opened it and pulled out a bottle. "I thought we could celebrate," she explained as she handed me the champagne.

"Celebrate what? We haven't done anything yet."

"Sure we have. We survived. I think we should celebrate the fact that we're still alive to celebrate."

I was a little confused, but she seemed very intent on the subject, "Let me get this straight, you want to celebrate being alive?"

"Yeah," she looked away for the briefest moment and then back, "some people aren't around to celebrate anymore," she was on the verge of tears. I didn't have any doubts she was thinking about Steve. Damn it...how do you compete with a dead guy? Whoa, wait a minute; did I want to compete with Steve? My thoughts became jumbled. That would mean that I had feelings for Claire...something more than friendship, that is. I felt like I was betraying my memories of Ada. Then again, she'd been the one doing all of the lying and betraying, and we didn't really have what you'd call a relationship; but I'd loved her...hadn't I?

"I guess I just...want to have one happy memory to take with me if I'm not around to make any more after tomorrow," she finished.

I quickly jerked my attention back to Claire and away from my wayward thoughts. I saw the tears in her eyes and panicked; thank God it was only internal panic, I didn't need to make things worse. I was almost as surprised as she was when my arm circled her shoulders and pulled her against me. She buried her tearstained face in my shoulder as I wrapped both arms around her and hugged her close. I didn't know what to say, but it seemed to be enough that I just held her.

I held her long after her tears stopped. I didn't want to let go, and she didn't seem to mind one bit. When she finally spoke, the feel of her breath on my neck made me shiver.

"Thank you," it was nearly a whisper, but she was so close I didn't have any trouble hearing her.

"For what?"

She pulled away just enough to look up at me, "Everything. You didn't have to save Sherry and I; you could have just left Raccoon on your own. And you certainly didn't have to come all the way to Europe and continue to risk your life with us. You're a hero, Leon...whether you know it or not."

"Claire, I don't think I..."

"Shh..." she placed a finger to my lips to silence me, "you're my hero."

The next thing I knew her lips were brushing mine and that shiver was back with a vengeance. Two thoughts raced through my mind before I lost myself in the kiss. First, I didn't love Ada, and I never had. Maybe it was my sense of duty telling me to protect her, or maybe I was so alone that I wanted to believe that I loved her. I don't know; but it wasn't love. Second, Chris would kill me if he knew what I was thinking about his little sister at the moment.

I managed to suppress my protest when she ended the kiss. Her eyes were cloudy and her cheeks flushed. I'm sure I looked pretty much the same way. I jumped slightly as she reached around me to grab the bottle I'd set down. She rummaged around in the bag for a moment and came up with two individually wrapped plastic cups, stolen from the hotel no doubt. She poured two glasses in silence and handed me one.

She raised her plastic cup, as did I, "To living," she toasted as we tapped glasses and drank.

When I woke up the next morning I had a major crick in my neck. I wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. My bed felt so warm and comfortable. Actually, I wasn't even in my bed, and it was Claire that felt warm and comfortable. She was snuggled close with her arm thrown across my chest. We were both still fully dressed, and had been for the entire night, so don't go thinking I took advantage of her or anything. We had just cuddled up on the bed to talk and fallen asleep. Unfortunately, I knew how lame that would sound to Chris when I came strolling out of his baby sister's bedroom with my hair and clothes in disarray and champagne on my breath.

A glance at the alarm clock told me that it was almost eight. After closing my eyes to enjoy one last brief moment of the perfect morning I sighed and carefully rolled away from Claire. I grabbed my shoes and hoped to God that this wasn't the one morning Chris got up before nine o'clock. I seriously hoped that Claire wouldn't think I ditched her or anything; I was just scared of her brother. I know that sounds really pathetic, but from what I've seen and what Claire's told me, he can be a little obsessive about her safety and well-being. An overprotective brother isn't something to be taken lightly where his sister's virtue is concerned, especially with all of the weapons we have hanging around this joint. After putting my shoes on I turned back to the sleeping beauty on the bed. I kissed her gently on the forehead and turned to go.

"Leon?"

I turned back to find her gazing up at me sleepily and smiled, "Yeah?"

"Can we do this again sometime?"

"Definitely," I replied. Hell, I was already looking forward to it!

"Okay."

And with that decided, she rolled over and went back to sleep.

As I opened the bedroom door and stepped out into the main room of the hotel suite, I quickly scanned the room for any sign of Chris. Instead, I found Jill Valentine curled up in the armchair with a book. She looked up at me, her delicate eyebrows raising slightly.

"I was just...I mean...nothing happened."

Smooth, I know, but I panicked.

A few seconds later her knowing smile put me at ease, "Don't worry, I won't tell Chris. Your secret is safe with me."

I heaved a sigh of relief, "Thanks Jill. I owe you one."

"Actually it's mostly because when it comes to Claire he's a kill-the-messenger kind of guy. I don't have a death wish," she added succinctly.

The look on my face must have been good because she got quite the laugh out of it.

"You're welcome," she choked out between giggles.

I wasn't sure how to reply, so I didn't. I simply made my way across the room to the door and headed off to the store in search of breakfast.