Author's Note: Hey guys! This is my first story attempt so I hope it's not too awful. I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit boring but I wanted to make a good introduction for the events that are about to take place. I might change some things later because the idea just came to me and I have no idea how it will turn out. As you will notice the main characters are Claire, Leon, Chris and Jill but a few more will be revealed in the next chapters. I hope you like it! Please review, it would mean a lot to me.

I'm also looking for a beta reader! If anyone is interested please let me know.

P.S. - I'm not sure yet if this is going to be a Leon/Claire pairing. There are definitely going to be hints but I haven't decided yet.

Chapter One: The Mission

Claire Redfield walked in silence in the narrow corridors of the B.S.A.A. building. The Terra Save project hadn't worked out for her ever since the outbreak in Harvardville. She felt incompetent just sitting in a desk doing nothing. She needed to be involved. She and Leon S. Kennedy after being recommended by Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, joined the B.S.A.A. as they were considered valuable members given their experience with the previous outbreaks.

Claire had 'worked' –even though it was more a requirement for survival- with Leon during the Racoon City outbreak. They both had survived and had become fairly acquainted since then. They had remained close friends ever since. The B.S.A.A. had ordered a meeting so they could be briefed for their missions. It was Claire's first mission ever since she joined the organization. She knew that it would be tough, much harder than their previous encounters with the infected. She knew that much when Chris returned from his mission with a few broken bones.

She was glad that Jill was still alive and that he was able to find her. He was devastated ever since their mission at the Spencer Estate. His guilt kept him awake at nights, thinking about how she sacrificed herself to save him. But now everything was good. Jill had fully recovered and was back to work.

She reached the briefing room which was packed with other B.S.A.A. members. There was a huge whiteboard and a projector on the desk. There were stacks of files and papers next to it. She found Leon sitting at the far corner and went ahead to join him. He looked taken aback to see her but he smiled at her.

"Claire.", he simply acknowledged her.

"Hello, Leon.", she smiled back. "How're you doing?"

"Fine.", he replied and added nothing else. He was a man of few words and Claire knew that.

She looked at him and noticed that his hair seemed lighter and his face was pale as it always was. He was wearing his usual brown jacket. It had become his trademark. Underneath it, he was wearing his B.S.A.A. uniform much like Chris's except for the fact that the shirt was black. She was also wearing the suit that they gave to her. It was too tight for her tastes and she would have preferred it in red but she wore it anyway.

"First mission, huh?", Leon said out of the blue.

"Nervous?", she teased.

Leon scoffed. "I used to work for the government. Nervous doesn't exist in my dictionary anymore."

Claire laughed. When had Leon become so tough? She used to remember him from when he was just a nervous rookie police officer. That was the image that had stuck with her. But many years had passed since that; change was inevitable. It was called growing up. She had done a lot of that, too. "We're all allowed to feel nervous sometimes, Leon."

Leon remained silent but he half-smiled. Maybe he agreed.

Shortly after, Jill and Chris arrived and so did the rest of the members. The briefing started with the chief of the Special Operations Unit making an introduction. He welcomed the newest members, which Claire noticed wasn't just her and Leon but a few other people as well.

He introduced himself as Robert Morgan, chief of the Alpha Team of the North American Branch. "You have all been informed about the success of the mission of Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar. Albert Wesker has been eliminated and B.S.A.A. member Jill Valentine was rescued with the assistance of Josh Stone." He started pacing around the room. "Albert Wesker's death though doesn't reassure that there won't be more outbreaks. He was suspected to have created branch facilities to conduct experiments on several test subjects in order to create a more powerful virus and bioweapons. As you all are aware of, he created the Uroboros virus which we have extracted. The special operations agents discovered some facilities to which the virus was deployed.", he turned the projector on and started pointing at a map. It was a map of Europe. "The first facility is located here.", he pointed to France. "Paris, France." There was a bit of commotion in the room.

"He had a base in Europe?", a B.S.A.A. member asked.

Robert cleared his throat. "Apparently, yes. We have discovered the facility's location and we are sending two teams to investigate. The teams are as follows." He went through the files and grabbed eight big stacks. "Alpha Team. Chris Redfield.", he said as he started handing the files to each member's name he called. "Jill Valentine." Jill looked at Chris and smiled. They were partners after all so there was no doubt they'd get teamed up. "Elise Girard." She sounded French. "And Ian Miles." He handed the files to everyone and they started going through them.

Claire was hoping she'd be in the second team; she wanted to be close to her brother this time. She had spent enough months worrying about him when he was away on a mission.

"Elise Girard will be your entrepreneur.", Robert said. "Beta Team.", he said as he grabbed another stack of files. "Bruno Lambert who will be the entrepreneur of Beta Team.", he said as he handed a file to a tall dark-skinned man. "Nathan Grimes.", he handed the file to a young looking brown-haired male. "And lastly, our new additions to the branch, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield."

Claire smiled as she heard her name. She smiled even more when she heard she was being teamed up with Leon. The two worked well together and she would feel secure having him as her partner.

"I would normally advise you two to be careful since it's your first mission but I assume you'll have no trouble.", Robert said as he nodded to both of them. Leon nodded as well and Claire turned to look at her brother with a smile on her face. "Both teams will be dispatched tomorrow at 0600 hours. Your plane leaves then. You will travel on first class. Read your files carefully. You are dismissed.", Robert said as he turned off the projector. People started talking again. It was a bit crowded as they all stood to exit the room.

"Looks like we're partners.", Claire said to Leon.

Leon smirked. "For old times sake.", he said.

"I hope it's different than that.", Claire said.

"Well, it's been more than a decade since then. We know better now.", he said.

Claire looked at Leon with admiration on her face. He was a grown man now. His bright blue eyes glimmered as he stared at her.

"Leon, you better look after my sister cause I don't want to have to worry about her, too.", Chris said as he approached them.

"Come on, Chris, I'm not ten anymore."

"I know, that's why I recommended you.", Chris said. "But you're still my little sister so I'm allowed to worry a little."

"You guys better get some good night's sleep tonight cause you won't be getting a lot of that as soon as the mission starts.", Jill said as she joined them by Chris's side.

She looked awfully pale ever since the last time Claire saw her. She looked different now, especially with that blonde hair. It suited her but it would take a while getting used to.

"In all seriousness, this is no game guys.", Chris said in a serious voice. "Sheva and I were send to merely investigate and we found Wesker. Expect anything and everything.", he only said. Leon was listening carefully.

"What do you think would be more dangerous than Wesker?", he asked.

"Like I said, we have no idea what'll find.", Chris avoided Leon's question because he simply didn't have a good answer.

"All right.", Jill said. "Let's get to reading our files. It's the most important part of the mission."

"Be prepared.", Chris said.

They all left the B.S.A.A. headquarters but even though Claire was excited for her first mission at first, Chris's mysteriousness and wariness made her worry as well. It was true they had no idea what they'd find so they had to be prepared for anything. Being trained by Chris though, gave her an advantage. Plus, Leon would be her partner.

What's the worst that could happen?