Hey everyone!

I'm a little appalled, in the last chapter everyone thought I was talking about Leon, but actually no… Okay, yeah. Introducing Leon, the guy with the great hair XD

Post injection 14.

Piers:

Three people on a motorcycle, no helmets, who did Claire think she was, Vin Diesel? But now wasn't the best time to point that out as we were currently zooming away at max speed, pursued by two armored trucks from the BSAA.

We sped through side streets, parks, pedestrian walkways, and down stairs, probably more but I confess that I quickly closed my eyes. I clung to Jake as best as I could, but it really wasn't easy to hang on with only one arm. Every time the motorcycle made even a slightly sharp turn I very nearly fell off. And it happened quite often. I was starting to cramp in my arm and my back from trying to keep a grip on Jake.

A car definitely would have been more suitable for this journey, but I'll admit, I'm not sure if we could have lost the BSAA as easily as Claire did with the motorcycle, zipping through areas where cars couldn't follow.

Jake must have felt me start to lose my grip, because he grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me in closer against him. With the other hand he held on to Claire. I'm not sure how long we stayed like that, holding on for dear life on the back of the motorcycle, but at some point, the hairpin turns, the fishtails and other motocross stunts became less frequent. We had finally lost them. We then made it back to the highway and rode on for quite a while.

When Claire deemed us sufficiently far enough to take a break, she exited and we stopped for a bit at a rest area.

"You guys hungry?" she asked, hopping off the bike.

"Famished!" Jake replied.

Me not so much. I eased off the bike as well. My arm was horribly cramped and over-tensed from being squished in that position for so long.

"Stay put, I'm gonna go grab us some sandwiches. It'd be better for you guys to wait outside for now, you two are too noticeable. I'll be back in a jiff."

She smiled at us, and then went inside the rest stop. I walked around the parking lot to stretch my legs a bit, and then I sat down on the curb. I was wiped out. I mean, lately I had gotten in the habit of sleeping twelve hours a day, so everything that happened today was bound to feel like extreme sports in comparison. There were a few picnic tables on the other side of the parking lot, but I didn't even have the strength to go over there. Especially if it meant having to carry Jake again.

Speaking of Jake, he was still on the bike, looking like a kid in a candy store. Apparently, he and Claire had a rather fervent passion in common for these tricked out rides, I told myself, yawning. I could have really used something to lean on right now, so I could just close my eyes and take a nap. But it wasn't comfortable in the slightest to lay down on the sidewalk, and besides being exhausted, I suddenly realized that I was also extremely sad. We had rescued Jake safe and sound, and that was against all odds, even. But once the stress and the adrenaline had subsided, I was once again acutely aware of my situation, which had remained unchanged: I had lost my arm, and I had lost Chris. And the life I had been living at the motel, staying cooped up like a hermit without any real human contact - even if it had been unhealthy and painful, at least it had been easy. I hadn't needed to worry about not looking miserable, about not looking like I'd lost the will to live. I loved Claire and Jake, but right now I just wasn't in any state to see anyone or be around people, especially the ones that I cared about.

Jake asked what day it was. I had lost my sense of time a bit as well, but I knew that we were somewhere in December.

"I still can't believe I'm no longer locked up in that shithole," he said, looking at the sky, the highway, the landscape. "It's been a year since I was first locked up."

"That long, really?"

"Well yeah. Six months in China, an escape that didn't even last a whole day, the underwater facility and then the BSAA hospital since this summer."

I shivered. Had it really been six months already since the underwater facility? It went by so fast! Bitterly, I thought that it wouldn't bother me one bit to go back a whole year and change everything.

Jake clambered awkwardly down from the bike and in two sides closed the five feet between us, to come sit next to me.

"Who's the guy who did this to you?" he asked softly, brushing my bruised left eye with his thumb.

"It's not a big deal, Jake," I responded, bored.

He observed be in silence for a moment.

"If Redfield hit you," he came, his voice rumbling menacingly, "if Redfield hit you Nivans, I swear to god I'll find 'em and I'll kill 'em."

I was equally surprised by his a little too overprotective tone as I was by the meaning of his words.

"What? Why would Chris hit me?"

Oh, I could think of a few good reasons. Just thinking about it made my heart stop.

"I know you Nivans, you're just trying to protect him like an idiot."

"That's really not it. Chris never did anything to me. I was just stupid, that's all. It's nobody's fault."

"Tell me what happened then!"

I thought for a second.

"No," I decided. "It doesn't concern you."

"C'moooooon!" he tried, whining like a kid.

"C'mooooooooooon Piers, tell us eeeeeeverything," echoed another whining voice.

It was Claire, who came up behind us with a bag of food. She gave me a big smile.

"Just kidding. Only tell us what you want. We'll listen, but we won't force the issue. Isn't that right, Jake?"

She said her last words while giving the death glare to Jake. I got up.

"Claire…"

It made me so emotional, damn, to have her in front of me like that… she had saved my life. And I wasn't talking about our escape from the hospital, I meant before all that. I was talking about the voicemails she had left me on my phone, how she had watched over me without intruding. She had been so dependable, she had been a rock for me. Even more solid than Chris. With that smile on her face, she looked like she could take on anything.

"...I missed you. Thanks for everything."

There was so much more that I would have liked to tell Claire. But I couldn't manage more at that moment. She clasped her hand lightly on my shoulder.

"Not at all. You scared me, you ass."

She couldn't either; I didn't think she was talking about the hospital. I wanted to give her a big hug and hold her tight, but I didn't dare.

"That's great and all," came Jake, who was still sitting on the curb, "but I'm gonna dig in."

But before he could even take a sandwich out of the bag, Claire snatched the whole thing out of his hands, laughing.

"We'd be more comfortable over there," she said, gesturing to a few tables in the picnic area.

Jake:

Claire and Piers made me go across the parking lot supporting me on each side like a little old lady. Not cool. But I was sure that I'd feel better once I had eaten, it had been months since I had really eaten since I had been hooked up to an IV and received all nutrition artificially. I was craving a huge slab of greasy, finger-licking barbecue, and I hoped that Claire hadn't gotten me a salad.

About Piers, I had a theory: Redfield must have clocked him when he found out that he loved him. I couldn't think of any other way. I couldn't think of any other reason why Nivans would hide it from me. And that made me want to murder that jarhead because honestly, you'd have to be one of the biggest assholes on the planet to beat up a guy with only one arm.

Anyways, first things first: stuffing my face. Settling the score and digging up the truth could wait.

They set me down on the bench. Piers stayed close sitting right next to me, while Claire situated herself opposite us and began unpacking everything. For me it was Christmas. When I looked at the spread of triple cheeseburgers, pizza, and a supersized order of fries, I nearly cried tears of joy. (There was also a small salad, but I pretended not to notice and didn't give it a second glance.)

We dug in. Well, I did, mostly. Claire picked at a few French fries, Piers said he wasn't hungry. All the better, more for me. As I inhaled the entire pizza, they talked. Claire told how she had set the fire to the second floor of the hospital: she had parked her motorcycle in front of the windows, she climbed up the exterior, and pulling out a lighter and a can of spray deodorant, she set it all ablaze. She hides her true colors well, Ms. "I'm-a-hardcore-pacifist."

+1 for the flames, +1 for the fast food, +1 for the high-speed chase and +20 for the awesome bike. It's official: despite a -1 for the lame-ass brother, Claire Redfield deserved the title of Badass of the Year.

When she asked for our side of the story, how Piers had managed to get me out of the hospital, that was decidedly less glorified:

"Say that again? You got him across the entire floor by pushing him in an office chair? Awww, I really wish I had been to take pictures!"

Clearly our experience sounded more like a couple of middle-schoolers fooling around in the hallways than a rescue.

"But wait," I cut in. "That's not even the best part. When we got to the stairs, we pretended like we were cancer patients so that the firefighters took pity on us and had us hauled out of there!"

Claire burst out laughing.

"What style," she remarked. "That's some classic quick thinking!"

"Not the BSAA way at all," I added, breaking into a laugh myself.

"I did the best I could!" Nivans replied defensively.

He was taking it all seriously. Ever since we had reached the rest stop, Piers wasn't doing well and struggled to hide it all. We stopped laughing.

It's true that when he had come to get me back in the underwater facility with both his arms, his anti-materiel rifle, and Redfield, it had been much more spectacular. But even though Nivans may not have gotten us out today with as much style or grace, he had shown me the kind of courage he was really capable of. He had set out all by himself, with his body in tatters and that dinky toy gun, and he had dragged me out of that hellhole of a lab. And even with one hand, even with that ridiculous pistol, his aim didn't waver when he shot the glass tube to set me free.

I might have been being a bit dramatic, but… how many times did that make now, that you'd saved my life, Nivans? Or Redfield's? Or Sherry's? How many dozens upon dozens of lives have you saved, in all?

Nivans wasn't a guard dog in the end, as I had thought of him before. He was a fuckin' St. Bernard. A savior. Even the C-Virus couldn't change that.

I balked at seeing him so defeated. He should have been rejoicing, celebrating my return to the real world, not getting all caught up in his head about it. I had a bad feeling that whatever had happened with Redfield had messed him up real good. His face was destroyed, and it looked like he had lost even more weight. And then there was his mutated half and his missing arm… it hadn't really been too much of a shock until then because I had only seen him in the confines of the hospital, but out in the open, it was much more jarring. It made him look like an invalid, completely fragile, even though I knew what feats he was still capable of, I had seen him in the hospital.

I felt the sudden urge to protect him. Nivans was my brother, that's how I thought of him. Besides, he had my antibodies, it was my blood that let him live. That was a bond I didn't share with anyone else.

All while devouring my cheeseburger with one hand, I slung my free hand around his neck.

"That just goes to show that you're one hell of a hero, Nivans. You don't need the BSAA for that. So c'mon, eat something, you're all skin and bones."

He pushed the fries away, but he didn't push me. In fact, he leaned into my arm a little absent-mindedly. The cold, I imagine. And the fatigue; he needed a support to fall asleep on. The sun was starting to set and we were in the middle of the desert, it gets chilly at night. And on top of that it was December. In any case, I was more than happy to have Two-Face and his gross mutation all over me.

"So Claire," he asked after a wide yawn. "How in the world did you get to the hospital so quickly? Usually it takes 45 minutes from your place. Were you already in the neighborhood or what?"

Claire leaned forward over the table conspiratorially, grinning wickedly.

"Bingo. I was right in front of the hospital when you called me, I was parked, hidden behind the dumpsters.

"What, why?" Nivans asked, stunned.

"Um well… to tell you the truth… I was stalking you. Don't take it the wrong way, but it was just impossible to approach you these past few weeks, and Chris wouldn't stop harassing me through the phone to know if you were doing okay, so since I knew when your check-ups were I came just to make sure you were still holding up. I do it every Saturday."

Woah! Claire never ceases to amaze. I was a bit worried that Nivans would lose it when he found out she'd been spying on him, but his reaction was something else entirely. He seemed a bit taken aback at first, but redressed himself. Then with his next question he went for detached without fooling anybody:

"Chris asks about me?"

Hook, line, and sinker. With that, Claire's smile grew even larger.

"All the time. I've gotten more calls from him this past month than I've had in the last fifteen years, Piers. Don't think for a minute that he doesn't care about you or anything like that, you couldn't be further from the truth if you did."

Nivans blushed, before quickly changing the subject.

"Any idea where we could hide Jake for the time being?"

"Don't you worry. It's all taken care of. We're all going to stay with a friend of mine."

"And where's that?"

"Montana. You'll see, it's absolutely gorgeous there."

Montana? Are you kidding me? Hell, I had spent months and months in America locked up, not getting to go out, I wanted to visit Las Vegas! Or Hollywood! Or go see the Grand Canyon! Not hide out in some bumfuck place in the middle of nowhere!

"I'm not allowed to leave the state," worried Nivans. "I'm under medical surveillance, I have to show up every Saturday. The medications I need to keep me from mutating are still just prototypes, they aren't on the market yet."

"First of all," chuckled Claire, "you're not allowed to free test subjects, either. And as someone who was in the crowd when you guys came out of the hospital, I can assure you that everyone saw you."

"But…"

"And as for your meds, it's okay. The antidote has been commercialized for a while now in Edonia and China, we can get it imported pretty easily. No excuses Piers, you're coming with. I'm not letting you run off all by yourself anymore. Chris has been too much of a thorn in my side for me to let you go."

I was with Claire. Nivans was forbidden from leaving. I had spent months basically imprisoned by myself, and now that I was out, I wanted to FINALLY be able to take advantage of my role as "person who accompanies the handicapped" and go on all the theme park rides I wanted without having to stand in line. Hell yeah!

And besides that, I also had a few things to apologize for. How could I possibly do so if we didn't stick together? Nivans had saved my life, I had ruined his, and he had saved me again. It was time for me to even the odds.

Fortunately, he didn't even put up a fight.

"When do we leave?" he asked.

"We're just waiting on Sherry."

My ears perked up at that.

"...I called her right away while waiting in line for the pizza. I told her to bring the car and join us. We can't drive all the way to Montana on the bike, you guys would freeze with the clothes you have on now."

Uh oh, problem: ever since I had been free, I was asking myself all sorts of questions about Sherry. Where was she, what was she doing, how come she didn't come looking for me at the hospital? Weren't we supposed to be dating? And come to think of it, were we still?

I didn't ask at all because I didn't want them to think I gave a shit, but damn was it eating away at me. What if she gave me the silent treatment? What if she found another guy? What if she didn't love me anymore? But no way I could ask Claire all that, I'd look like a huge idiot.

On the other hand, it would be weird if I didn't ask anything. And plus I really really wanted to know. I put on my best give-no-shits kind of voice, like "oh yeah my dog just died no biggie" level indifference, but to be honest it came out about as convincing as Nivans' attempt at apathy just a few minutes prior.

"Oh yeah, Sherry, so how's she doin' by the way?"

Whoops. Bad move. I thought snakes were going to grow out of Claire's hair with the glare she shot me.

"I highly suggest you start getting your apologies ready, Muller. What you did was not okay."

Yeah, yeah I get it… but it's okay! It was a fight just like any other, right? And now that I was free, everything between me and Sherry could be worked out. We could finally have a normal life together. Well, unless she despised me now, which would just be really horrible timing.

"When will she be here?" Piers asked.

Claire checked her watch.

"It's a two-hour drive but adding the time it would take her to pack the bags… and considering the fact that she drives like an old lady, I'd guess that we still have a bit of time before she gets here."

We ended up waiting for Sherry a super long time. Nivans fell asleep at the picnic table, his head cradled in his arm. It must have been a trick he learned in the army, being able to sleep anywhere. I… threw up on the pavement. Shit happens. I shouldn't have eaten so much after being kept on the IV for so many months. After eating the first few slices of the pizza I was no longer hungry, but I was just so glad to be able to eat real food! I had missed it too much. So no regrets. Even if most of that food was now an orange mess reeking in the parking lot.

We also had a soap opera moment where I said sorry to Nivans for having betrayed him regarding Redfield, Nivans in turn said sorry to Claire for shutting her out all this time, and Claire said sorry to me for having encouraged Sherry to perform a voodoo ritual against me.

"It was just to get her out of her head a bit, you know? I didn't think it would work so well. And I'm sorry that we had so much fun doing so."

Wait… WHAT?

Claire and Sherry, sticking needles in a mini-Jake while cackling like witches. Unforgivable.

But fine, since Nivans had just told me he didn't care that I was a traitor and that he was glad I was here, I felt obligated to tell Claire that it was no big deal that she had spurred my girl to perform black magic on me instead of coming to save me. Those conniving harpies. Someone's getting their bike keyed up.

When Sherry's car pulled up in the parking lot, my stress levels skyrocketed. What should I tell her? What should I do if she was still mad at me? Claire ran up to the car to greet her and there I was, my ass glued to the bench like an absolute idiot. As Sherry stepped out of the car, she exchanged a few words with Claire and then she looked at me. I felt dumb as shit. I wanted for her to run toward me, for her to leap into my arms. Instead she was content to just wave me over. And they say that romance is dead. I got up, still asking myself all the while what the hell I was gonna say to her without pissing her off further.

On the plus side, I had at least regained some of my strength: I was able to walk on my own all the way to the car, which I ended up leaning against anyways. Sherry paid no attention to me, she was rifling through the contents of the trunk with Claire. Going for casual, I asked:

"Hey, Supergirl! What's new?"

Pitiful. I was ashamed of myself. Sherry gave me a look that was indecipherable.

"Jake, you look like you're out of shape," she greeted.

I know, thanks. Can I go now? Too bad Nivans was still passed out on the table, I would have really liked to have him next to me right now, to make me look better. Compared to him and his mutated mug, I could practically be a model!

"Hey, come here!" called Claire, grabbing a few garbage bags from the trunk. "Sherry brought some clothes for you."

Rummaging through the bags, I found Claire's clothes, Sherry's, Nivans' that he had left at the Redfields', and…

"No way I'm wearing Chris' stuff, you gotta be kidding me!"

Claire shot me a second glare that nearly put the fear of God in me.

"By the way Muller, where'd you happen to get this vest that you're wearing? That's weird, it looks exactly like the one that my brother lost about six months ago and has been looking everywhere for it since."

Yeah. Okay.

I went through the bag a bit more to find what I really needed. For now I just wanted some jeans, a pair of sneakers, maybe a sweater. I already had the vest for warmth, and as for underwear, forget about it. I preferred to keep my hospital gown underneath until I could buy some myself.

Sherry helped me put on the clothes. Did that mean that we weren't fighting anymore? There were a ton of things I wanted to say to her, and she wanted to talk as well, I could feel it. But neither of us dared to. Claire was right there and we needed to get out of here, fast. It wasn't the best time.

"Get in the car," was all she said. "We're heading out."

She opened the door for me and fastened my seatbelt, like you would a baby. And as she leaned in to do so, I could smell her scent, feel her breath. Her chest lightly brushed up smart me. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and hold her against my body, but she already got up. As she was leaving, I grabbed her gently by the wrist.

"Sherry!" I began. "When we got into a fight last time, I… I wasn't thinking, I didn't mean what I said."

She looked at me.

"I didn't think we were together anymore," she murmured. "Since you never responded to my calls, I thought we were over."

"No," I answered vehemently. "I was… Claire must have told you, they locked me up. I really wanted to call you, but I couldn't! I couldn't but damn I wanted to so bad!"

Finally, I saw her smile for the first time since we'd met up. And at the same time I noticed that she looked drained, her too. Like our supposed breakup must have really taken a toll on her. I felt myself swell with pride.

She ran her hand through her hair.

"We'll talk about everything when things settle down, okay? Now we've got all the time in the world."

"Yeah."

All the time in the world. I liked the sound of that.

Across the way, Claire shook Piers at the picnic table to wake him up. I don't know whether he learned how to fall asleep like that in the army, but what was clear was that he had missed the course on how to wake up. He was still half asleep when as he dragged himself towards the the car. The three of them discussed something briefly outside before Nivans clambered in the back seat, and Sherry took the wheel. Claire jumped back on her bike and soon we were back on the highway, right on her tail.

"Do you know where we're headed?" I asked Sherry.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"No idea. Claire told me it'd be a surprise, a good one. All I know is that from now on, wel stick together."

She smiled at Nivans through the rear-view. Not that it helped, as he was already fast asleep again, lying lengthwise across the backseat. With his hand clutched against his amputated shoulder and his head turned towards the back of the chair, he would have missed the gesture even if he had been conscious.

I looked from Nivans' sleeping form back over to Sherry, who gave me a bright, but tired, smile before turning her eyes back to the road to follow Claire's tail lights in the distance. I turned to watch the passing countryside out my own window, thinking back to what my girl had said.

From now on, we stick together. I liked that.

I ended up falling asleep as well. I would rather have stayed awake, seeing how it was my first day in months spent out in the world. I wanted to watch the scenery go by, I wanted to catch up with Sherry… but I was really just too exhausted. Which was understandable, considering the last 24 hours had been insane.

I don't know how long I slept, but it must have been more or less the whole trip. When I woke up, it looked like it wasn't too long until dawn. The landscape had changed entirely; instead of sand dunes I saw snow-covered pines on either side. Welcome to Montana, the least populated state in the entire United States. I could just barely hear music playing on the radio - Sherry had it turned down and was focused on driving - but I could make out enough crooning and twanging to tell it was an old country song. Out in front, Claire must have been slipping and sliding on her bike trying to navigate the roads, freezing her ass off. I turned back towards Nivans. He was awake now too, and was gazing absently out the window.

"You good back there?" I asked him.

He nodded his head, smiling vaguely.

"How about you Supergirl, holdin' on?"

"I'm a little tired, I'll be glad when we get there."

I stretched out in my seat. It honestly felt so nice, having the three of them close with me. No matter what bumfuck place in the middle of nowhere we ended up in, it was alright with me.

Aaand, I spoke too soon. The road we were driving on was quickly approaching an ominous-looking concrete wall, rising about ten feet high and topped with barbed wire. Hardly reassuring. When Claire pulled up to the great metal gate that allowed passage into whatever Area 51 type facility was inside, we all wondered a bit what the hell we were getting ourselves into.

Government restricted area, a sign read. Entry forbidden, danger of death.

This place really knew how to throw a welcome party.

Claire held some sort of card up to the reader l on the side of the gate, entered a code into a pin pad, and stood back as it slid open, groaning and creaking all the while. Quick Sherry, turn around, while there's still time! Get us the hell out of here!

Too late. Claire had already hopped back on her bike and disappeared further down the road, engulfed by the dense growth of trees obscuring our vision deeper into the area. Sherry followed faithfully behind her, sealing our certain deaths without even batting an eye.

Piers:

I was definitely asking myself what kind of place we had just entered, but I had faith in Claire. At the moment, we were driving on a stretch of winding road through the forest, trees on all sides preventing us from seeing what was up ahead.

"What the hell is this shit?" Jake demanded, bristling as he looked out the window. "Is she taking us back to Raccoon City or something?"

When we reached a fork in the road, Claire took a left on to a dirt road. Not too much further after that, it opened up into a clearing, and we found ourselves staring up at a grand estate standing amidst the trees.

Claire put her bike in park and honked several times. It was barely even six in the morning, but it didn't seem to be much of a concern to her, waking up whoever lived here. She dismounted her bike and took off her helmet, just as a pair of figures emerged from the estate.

Sherry let out a small exclamation of delight upon seeing them. I recognized them as well, it was Agent Kennedy and the young woman who accompanied him that day when we almost had Ada Wong. Jake seemed to know them as well:

"Oh man, not them!" he groaned.

Sherry shot him a death glare before climbing out of the car to meet them. Claire had already jumped into Agent Kennedy's arms, who was currently rubbing her shoulders to warm them up from the cold. Speaking of, now that we had stopped and the ambient air was setting in, it was freezing out here. The snow-lined trees all around us were probably a good indication of that. I sat there shivering in the car while Chris friend gave Sherry a great big hug, and Jake watched on icily. The man then pushed the two girls towards the inside while beckoning us to do the same with a tilt of the head. I got out and followed them, Jake falling in step with me as we approached the door, where the young woman was waiting for us. We exchanged a few shy hellos before she brought us inside as well.

In the foyer we were met with a shivering Claire, teeth rattling together as she tried to warm her icy hands against her equally blue cheeks.

"Go and take a shower, get yourself warmed up, you hear?" Agent Kennedy told her, "What possessed you to come here on your bike? You couldn't have just left out somewhere and come in Sherry's car?"

"I'd never abandon my bike," she laughed, despite the cold. "It's saved my life more times than you have!"

"You sure about that?"

They traded a couple of laughs like they were old friends. Then Claire looked to us:

"I'm going to go take a shower, I'm practically frozen. I'll let you guys get acquainted."

And with that she disappeared up the stairs. It clearly wasn't the first time she'd been here.

Everyone found a seat in the living room, in front of a giant fireplace. Jake, Sherry, and I squeezed together on a single sofa. I was a bit on edge from being here, in a stranger's home. They had noticeably been prepared for our arrival, there was a hot meal and toasty beverages set out for us shortly after we had sat down.

The woman, who told us her name was Helena, wasn't much for talking. She stared at me a lot, studying my face. It was something that was never the most pleasant, but I'd gotten used to it. One thing at least was that she didn't look away when our eyes met, and there was no disgust in her face, just a sort of confusion that was a bit strange.

Neither of them had recognized me. I couldn't really hold it against them; I had changed a lot, after all. And besides, back at our last encounter Agent Kennedy had been busy rolling all over the floor with Chris to pay attention to me.

Sherry and Leon discussed the trip, the fact that we were going to be staying here for awhile, and how Claire was a real stubborn piece of work, while Jake sat there with his eyes narrowed, ready to spring into action at the least sign of threat.

"So what's with this place?" Sherry asked Leon. "How come you aren't living at your place in New York? What are you doing in a government-restricted area?"

Agent Kennedy sighed and shared a meaningful look with Helena before launching into their story. During the outbreak at Tall Oaks, they had been forced to put down the President of the United States, who had been infected by the C-Virus. They had been pardoned by the government, but the news had been leaked to the press - how, no one was quite certain - and their respective residences had been vandalized by some model citizens who wouldn't listen to reason. They had received so many letters containing death threats that when their F.O.S. coordinator, Agent Hunnigan, offered to house them here under the protection of the State, they had finally accepted. In the end, even if their lives weren't the same and they often felt like they couldn't stand each other anymore, they were actually happier here together than each of them on their own, trying to live with passersby egging their houses every day.

Jake, apparently, only got one thing from their story:

"So your name is Kennedy… and you killed the president. Heh."

Leon cut him off.

"Cut that out this instant, Jake. Everybody has made that joke to me. All the cops, the journalists, hell, even the photocopier guy's done it."

Jake got hurt by that, I think. In any case he said no more. I gave Leon a great round of applause in my head for finally getting him to shut his trap.

Jake:

Well, lah-di-dah… ooh look at me, my name is Leon, and I've got nice hair… Damn it, I know we shouldn't have come here, I could tell right away that this was a mistake. We should have gone to Vegas instead. And if this old man tries to make a move on my girl, I'm gonna make him eat his bangs.

Almost as if on cue, he casually asked Sherry if she and I were together. I could have spit out my hot cocoa.

"Yeah," I snapped, before she had the time to respond.

I thought I had made the right move, in any case, because I didn't know what she was about to say. She seemed to hesitate a bit. Mr. Kennedy over there raised an eyebrow, making me want to shave the smug bastard's brow right off.

But there was no time to dissipate the awkwardness off the moment because suddenly we heard Claire call Sherry from upstairs. She went up to go check, and then came back shortly thereafter, gathering up her coat as she headed towards the door.

"Claire needs me to get something from the trunk. I'll be back."

Nobody offered to go with her to help, not even Mr. Perfect. It definitely sounded like it was girl stuff, and neither of us would dare risk getting involved with that. And Helena looked like she couldn't be bothered to care what Sherry got up to, she was busy staring at Nivans with a look that seemed to suggest she was trying to find the meaning of life somewhere in sad, mutated face.

Nivans himself was just staring at the ground, probably lost in his usual melancholy. I… well, I was busy sulking, there, I said it. Leon didn't let me finish telling my joke. Needless to say, Sherry took the conversation with her when she left.

Ever the one to make small talk, Leon turned towards Frankenstein sitting next to me.

"C-Virus?" he asked gently.

Nivans nodded. I stretched my arm out across the back of the sofa around him, in a way that was beyond possessive. It was a clear warning saying hands off, bitches. If I heard the slightest comment, the slightest thing that might make him feel bad, I'd go straight for their throat.

Irony, huh? I'd become the guard dog to the guard dog. Yeah, yeah, I know, still doesn't trump a Kennedy who shot the President.

"Good thing we've got a cure now," Leon remarked, smiling at me.

If he thought he'd win me over this way, he must have still had his stupid pretty boy hair blocking his eyes. At that moment, Helena, who I had begun to suspect was both deaf and dumb, opened her mouth to speak:

"We've already met, right?" she asked Piers, slowly. "Weren't you in China with Chris Redfield in the BSSA?"

Leon did a double take.

"Yes, I was." Nivans confirmed. "I was his lieutenant. We were chasing Ada Wong when we ran into you guys."

"The sniper?" Kennedy gaped. "That was you?"

"Affirmative."

Leon's expression changed. A certain kind of pain seemed to pass behind his eyes.

"What happened to you?" he wondered aloud, a sort of gentle invitation to explain.

Piers sat upright, undoubtedly sensing that everyone was pitying him in this moment. He gave the briefest account of what happened: he and Chris had come across a giant monster when coming to rescue us in the underwater facility. I lost my arm, he said, I was infected, as if it had been an accident. He hadn't disclosed that he had pushed Redfield into the escape pod. He had given his dear Captain the role of the hero even after everything.

"How were you infected," asked Leon pensively. "By a gas?"

"... More or less."

Ok, that's where I draw the line. I couldn't just let Nivans look like an idiot in front of these guys. Leon's pitying look made me angry. Nivans had nothing to be ashamed of for what he did, in fact, it was just the opposite. He should be proud of what he did, even if Chris had rejected him.

"As if," I interrupted, in a huff. "He injected himself with the virus, to save Redfield

And then after that, he saved me and Sherry, 'cause we hadn't been able to make it out."

I told them the real story of everything that Nivans has done: the arm, the escape pod, everything. Leon and Helena's eyes were now filled with admiration. And since I was already going strong, I kept going and I told how Redfield had acted like an absolute piece of shit after that.

"That's enough Jake, goddamnit, now you're just making things up! Chris never hit me! And I never told him that I loved him."

"Yeah, sure. Where'd you get that black eye then?"

"That's none of your concern."

"But it's true?" Helena interrupted. "You're in love with Chris?"

Nivans turned red like a tomato.

"That's my own problem," he answered curtly.

C'mon Nivans, when were you gonna learn that hiding things and not telling the truth were only going to make you more unhappy? Helena and Leon didn't even react that bad anyways, they just laughed.

"Don't worry, Piers," Leon reassured him, "We won't judge. But a word of advice: never trust Jake with a secret."

"Leon is a pro on the subject of unrequited love. He's going to want to give you all sorts of his 'wisdom,' but I'd say don't put too much stock into them. They never really worked out for him, isn't that right, Leon?"

And just like that, we were laughing. But we were quickly cut short by the voodoo witch herself, entering the living room wearing a fresh pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and fiery with anger despite her hair still partly damp from the shower.

"Unbelievable!" she yelled at us. "You let Sherry unload the car all by herself? When she drove all night while you guys slept? You lousy bums!"

We got up somewhat sheepishly and went to bring in the bags that Sherry had tossed in the foyer just inside the door, all under the assassin glare of Claire Redfield. It might not be so bad here for us after all. We might even be happy.

And voilà!

So? So? Leon, what did you think? I tried not to be too mean with him, he's got so many fans! I'm afraid I'd lose all my readers if I don't pay him enough respect XD.

And a super-sized thank you to all of you for your reviews! They really make me so happy to read every time! (I know I've said it like 20 times now, but… c'mon, one more for the road: thank you times infinity! \^v^/)

Translator's note:
Hey there readers! First of all, a big THANK YOU to anyone who's been following this, thank you for being patient with me for all of six months (yikes!) I have had a lot of things change in my life in this past half a year, and managing my free time has been a challenge for me! But especially with the release of the RE2 remake (with a younger Leon in HD and a very handsome DLC outfit ;)), I've wanted to try to get back on a more regular schedule for working on this translation, because I love the story and it really has been such a great project for me! And speaking of Leon, here he is in all his RE6 glory! Hope you guys enjoyed his and Helena's appearances as minor roles in this story, I definitely enjoyed this change in scenery in this fic. Anyways, thank you all so much if you're still reading this fic, it really means a lot to me and the author! Hopefully the next chapter won't take nearly as long :)