A Job To Remember

"What?! You can't be serious! Just me and THIS guy?! COME ON!" Chris' outraged voice rose over the roar of helicopters coming and going from the helipads just outside the briefing tent. Leon kept his gaze trained on his commanding officer as if begging him to put up with the spirited outburst and the man seemed to be catching on until Chris got in his face.

"Sit down soldier!" The growl wasn't nearly as loud as Chris nor the choppers taking off but it held all the venom of the worlds deadliest snake and it shut Chris' mouth indefinitely. Leon spared himself a glance at his partner and noticed that his face was beet red with anger and as their eyes met a look of embarrassment crossed the Redfields visage.

"I may not be as useful as an army would be in this situation but I can assure you I won't hinder you." Feeling the sting of Chris' suggested insult, Leon deemed it time to leave since they'd just been briefed on the plan and there was no point in sticking around. He turned on his heel and exited the sturdy tent, searching with his eyes and ears as to where his tent was located. He found himself alone in a silent section of camp when at last he heard the heavy footsteps of booted feet.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that Leon! I just meant that two people couldn't possibly be as effective as a whole swat team! Look, if we can manage to check every single inch of every single block for half the United States then I'll...I don't know, retire or shoot myself for being wrong but I'm telling you we need more men for this!" Chris' earnest look did nothing to break that calm and blank wall Leon had formed around him so he opted to reach out and touch his bicep with a reassuring smile. Leon's eyebrow raised as he glanced down at the hand on his arm.

"You're right, it would be more effective but they aren't going to use humans to exterminate the zombies there. We're doing recon to assess the damage and if it isn't reversible we're going to have a massive Raccoon City incident on our hands. I would have thought that you knew that already." Their eyes met yet again and this time Leon's gaze seemed to be a bit kinder.

"Why don't they ever just tell us that in the first place?" Chris groaned, sick of the governments lies and dodges. Leon gave him a sympathetic smile and tuned, walking towards the empty tent ahead of them.

"Well, they were planning on killing us along with the infection and labeling it as another accident." The non chalant tone he'd used seemed to both anger Chris and confound him, his only response was another loud 'what'.

"You've GOT to be kidding me! They can't do that YOU work for the GOVERNMENT!" Leon could hear Chris jogging to catch up to him and he stopped, bracing himself for the unspoken truth that he too had to come to terms with.

"Ever feel that you're expendable?" The footsteps paused as the bulky man halted right behind him apparently waiting for more of an explanation than that. He sighed, lifted his head to the stars that glittered so gorgeously above them.

"Who do you think they had to get permission from? The president knows what they're planning to do with us and so they deemed my time over. I no longer work for them in a months time, the time it takes to get this job done." He felt Chris' hand on his shoulder and as he was spun around he prepared himself for an 'awakening' punch to the face. He got nothing. Nothing but the feeling of Chris staring at him, expecting him to open his eyes. So he did.

Chris' expression was serene like he'd come to terms too with his own death in a mere second of hearing the news. But he hadn't and Leon knew this, that was the look of someone who was trying to comfort the dying, a look he'd known well during his time in Raccoon City.

"How can you say that and not get pissed off?" The voice was soft, soothing, and it made Leon tired, tired of everything that had happened, what he'd gone through. He didn't want this job any more than Chris did but the order came from the higher ups so there was no way he'd back down.

"I just want this nightmare to be over." He murmured, shocked at the intensity of relief he felt at speaking the truth. Despite having spoken about his death without so much as a hitch in his voice Chris gave him a look of pure sorrow and tugged him into what could only be described as a bear hug.

"Talking like that makes me think that they're just taking advantage of your undying loyaltly to the president. I don't want to believe that they're actually going to kill us." Chris' voice was at it's quietest and Leon had to struggle to hear him (which Leon wouldn't admit was a nice change). He felt himself relax into those strong arms, glad for once that he didn't have to be the tough guy for a second longer. Maybe it was alright to let down his defenses around this man?

"Chris, Leon?" The commanding officer's deep voice broke through the comforting haze Chris' arms had provided for Leon and he jerked away, stepping around Chris to face him.

"Yes?" He tried his best at being nonchalant and seemed to have succeeded as the quizzical look disappeared from the scarred face.

"Just making sure you two weren't at each others throats...you two will also be sharing that tent. We're low on shelter for our own and this was a pretty big stretch so I hope you'll understand." Leon didn't like the overly apologetic look on the mans face and it clicked in an instant why he was so sorry.

"There's only one bed isn't there?" There was a short pause between the three men as they exchanged glances as if to gauge the tension between them. At last the officers eyes locked with Leon's yet again.

"Yeah, we're having to stack our men together two to a bed as it was before you came and this strains it just that much more." He quickly bowed and left the two bunk mates together. Leon turned at the frustrated sigh of his partner and decided not to tell him that that too had been a lie, that there was more than enough tents to go around (he'd personally overseen the distribution of supplies while with the government) and opted only to walk into the tent and get settled. Chris followed and was the first to flop down onto the small bed while Leon unloaded his pants of guns and ammo that he regularly carried on him no matter where he went. He noticed that his bags had already been brought to this tent and dropped off by the entrance along with two others that seemed to be Chris'.

"Come here honey, lay down with me." Chris shook with laughter and patted the small sliver of space available for Leon's body to fit snuggly against the man. Leon felt himself involuntarily smiling and slid off his bulky jacket and sat down on the edge of the futon, wanting to sink down and sleep but holding back, unsure of how to go about it. When he couldn't think of how their situation could possibly get any more awkward Chris' arms wrapped around his middle and tugged him down into a surprisingly comfortable sleeping position.

"Look, we should just get past the fact that we're both men and get some sleep, tomorrow we get prepared and then we're off so rest up and don't mind me." Chris murmured, the tone sending relaxing chills down Leon's spine.

"Right. Somehow I don't think it'll be that easy Chris."