Coping With Loneliness.

RESIDENT EVIL AND ITS CHARACTERS ARE OWNED BY CAPCOM.
NO MONEY WAS MADE, I WROTE THIS PURELY AS A FUN CHALLENGE.
PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT A CLAIRE/LEON FAN.

Coping With Loneliness. By NessaJayn (C)2013, Jul 14th.

Claire walked in through the front door of her home with a sad sigh, another evening without her husband in their big home. For Claire, every time Leon was on a long mission with the DSO, their big home felt even bigger. The mission dragged on longer than what was expected, and Leon told her sadly over the phone that he wouldn’t be home until the weekend.

Claire let out another sad sigh as she looked at the calendar in the kitchen. Maybe some hot chocolate would help cheer up her mood, as she walked up the stairs to the bedroom to take a quick shower and change clothes. The thought of some hot chocolate, as well as the warm spray of the shower helped to lighten her mood a little. As she walked out of the adjoining bathroom dressed only in laced, pink and black lingerie, she noticed one of Leon’s shirts hanging on the back of the bedroom door. Remembering from the previous night how even just wearing the shirt had helped to soothe her loneliness, she decided to put in on again. Immediately the scent of his cologne from the fabric wafted to her nose as she buttoned the shirt around her, and walked back downstairs to the kitchen.

“Another evening without Leon.” Claire mumbled sadly to herself, as she walked about the kitchen searching for the needed ingredients and other things to make some hot chocolate. She hoped the warm chocolate treat would help cheer her up, but unbeknownst to her, she was going to receive a much welcome surprise.

Leon was driving home in his black Jeep, utterly relieved that the long, drawn-out mission ended a day early. He was so happy to get home to his wife and surprise her, that he had no energy or desire to unstrap his gear and leave it at the agency, other than the tactical vest. To the special agent, driving with his weapons and spare ammunition clips still strapped on was a minor discomfort, and besides, he had a locker in the back of the master bedrooms walk-in closet where he could store them safely, as he pulled into the driveway and parked his car.

Leon silently walked through the front door, and was immediately overcome with joy as his eyes locked onto his stunning wife as she moved about in the kitchen. But upon further inspection of Claire’s choice of attire, he was surprised to see that she was wearing one of his shirts. More specifically, the dark blue, button down shirt that he wore on his mission to China to clear his name of treason.  And to chase down the National Security Advisor who was responsible for framing him and secret service agent, Helena. He felt that the shirt left him with some bad memories and wanted to burn the thing altogether. But as soon as he saw it on Claire’s body with her hair down, all of a sudden the shirt had a taken on a completely different appeal.

But it didn’t stop two questions from floating in his mind. Why would she wear it, and was she naked underneath?

The second question caused him to grin devilishly, as he crossed the distance from the re-locked front door to the kitchen, while removing his fingerless gloves and placing them and his keys on the coffee table.

“Surprise Claire!” Said Leon with a smile and his arms outstretched.
Claire stood ridged with shock that her beloved husband was back so early. But her shock was soon overrun with happiness as she ran and flung herself into his arms.

“Leon, you’re back! I’ve missed you so much!” said Claire, as she assaulted her husband’s face with soft kisses. Not able to stand it any longer, Leon quickly redirected Claire’s lips to his. The feel of her soft body and her kisses were what he had missed the most during his mission.

“Not that I’m complaining, but what made you come home so early?” Claire asked as she breathed in much needed oxygen after their long, welcome home kiss.

“Let’s just say honey that the mission ended much sooner than originally planned. I had absolutely no desire to stay longer once everything was taken care of that needed to be done. I just wanted to get home so bad to be with you.” Leon answered with a smile as his hands caressed the length of her back.

“I can see that! You were obviously too in a hurry to get home!” Claire giggled as she gazed up and down at her husband, and how his weapons and other gear were still strapped on. It wasn’t the first time he had done that, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

“You know me! I just wanted to get home and be with my greatest partner.”  Leon said with a smile, and briefly kissed her again. “Were you about to make something?”

“Yeah, some hot chocolate. Wanna have some with me?” Claire asked, as her fingers trailed up and down the leather of his shoulder holster over his black t-shirt.

“I’d love some!” he answered. “Need any help?”

“Just need you to get the ingredients from the fridge.” Claire answered, as she made her way over to the other side of the kitchen to gather coffee mugs from the overhead cupboard. Leon had already finished his task as he turned around and saw his wife reaching up to gather two coffee mugs.

With a grin, he glided silently across the kitchen and lightly pressed his body to hers and placed his hand over her hand that reached for the second mug. She moaned happily as she melted against his strong, fit body as he placed kisses on her neck. She wasn’t put off in the slightest at the feel of his weapons still strapped to him as they lightly pressed her skin.

“Couldn’t help but notice how you’re wearing one of my shirts. Any particular reason?” Leon whispered into her ear. Claire was overcome with slight surprise that he would ask her about that.

“Call it a coping mechanism of sorts.” Claire said softly as she placed the mug on the bench with the other, and she gathered her thoughts for an answer.

“I probably don’t need to tell you, but when you’re away on long missions it gets lonely in this big house. I miss feeling your presence around the place. There are times when I can handle the loneliness just fine. But on other days, it can get a bit much. Last night after I had a shower, I saw this hanging on the door of our bedroom. I know this is going to sound really cheesy or stupid, but the moment I threaded my arms through the sleeves and wrapped it around me, it calmed me right down. The scent of your cologne in the fabric reminded me that you’re a survivor and would do anything to make sure you come home to me.  It just made me think; ‘I’m married to one of the best in the DSO, he will be fine!’ and it strengthened me and made me feel a lot better.” Claire answered sincerely, and then grinned.

“Not to mention, I have seen you wear this before, and it’s a bit of a personal favourite. I really like the colour on you. To me, it just screams ‘sexy agent that can kick Neo-Umbrella’s ass!’”

Leon could not stop the chuckle as he held Claire to his chest tightly.
‘So that was the reason why she wore the shirt, it was a way to help deal with being alone.’ The special agent thought to himself. He actually found her explanation to be rather adorable, and not cheesy or stupid at all.

But to say it made him look sexy?! That was a complete surprise, as he kissed her slowly and deeply to eliminate her previous feelings of loneliness. Their kiss lasted until they needed to pull away to breathe.

“Sexy agent that can kick Neo-Umbrella’s ass?!” asked Leon with a smirk as he breathed heavily after their kiss. Claire groaned and buried her face in her hands.

“Don’t tell me I just embarrassed myself by telling you that?!” Claire asked in a muffled voice. Leon couldn’t help but take pity on her and slowly eased her hands from her face and laced their fingers together as he kissed her again.

“No baby, you didn’t embarrass yourself. It’s nice to hear you tell me how you feel. For the record, I hate it just as much as you when I’m on long missions. I miss being with you, and everything about you. I’d much rather have you by my side on those missions, than any of those others I have to call my fellow agents. And just so you know, I’m married to the sexiest biker babe I could ever have met!” Leon answered with a smirk, and the couple couldn’t help but laugh at their little private joke.

“Now my love, let’s see what we have under here.” Leon said, as his smirk grew into a devilish grin as his hands moved to slowly unbutton the shirt to reveal the answer to his little mystery from the moment he saw her wearing it when he was at the front door. Claire stood with her arms at her sides as he unbuttoned the shirt, and his breath caught in his throat when the shirt was fully opened.

“Like what you see?” Claire asked with a wink. Leon was on the verge of drooling at the sight of his stunning wife in next-to-nothing, and covered by his shirt.

“Do you even have to ask?!” Leon answered as he clamped his sexy wife to his chest and captured her lips. Claire sighed happily as her husband then rained kisses to her skin.

“Do you still want some hot chocolate?” Claire found it hard to ask as Leon lips were on her neck. He lifted his head from her intoxicating skin and nodded with a smile.

“How fast can you change clothes while I make it?” Claire asked with a grin as she untangled herself from his arms, and completely uncaring that the shirt was left opened.

“Challenging me?” Leon grinned as he crossed his arms over his chest. Claire stood at the stove with a grin.

“Uh huh!” Claire answered with a grin and momentarily shifted her eyes to the clock on the wall. Leon could see that she was having a ball and decided to play along. Her eyes then shifted back to her husband.

“GO!” Claire said as she lightly slammed her palm down on the kitchen bench as if she had fired a starter’s pistol at a race.  

The special agent dashed out of the kitchen and up the staircase as he unstrapped his shoulder holster. He unlocked the locker in the walk-in closet and placed them in, along with his other weapons and spare ammunition that was strapped around his hips and thighs.

Next the combat boots and kneepads went in and re-secured the locker. He quickly shed his shirt and combat trousers, and grabbed his jeans. He dashed down the staircase and put a shirt on as he re-entered the kitchen.

“Two minutes even! New record?!” Claire said with a laugh, as she poured the hot chocolate into the mugs she had brought out earlier, and then added a few marshmallows.

“Since when did the task of changing clothes become a sporting event?” Leon asked as he reached out and grabbed her hips as he kissed her. His left hand moved to take one of the mugs from Claire’s hand as his other arm encircled her lower back as he took a sip.

“Delicious!” Leon said in approval, as Claire held her mug in both hands with a smile.
With a smile of his own, Leon gently took one of her hands and led her to the living room and sat down on the leather couch. Claire couldn’t help herself as she straddled her husband’s strong thighs, and kissed him softly when she felt his hand gently caress the bare skin of her lower back.

“You look absolutely gorgeous Claire even with my shirt on. I couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful sight to come home to.” Leon said softly, and smiled at her when she blushed and tried to hide it with her mug of hot chocolate as she took another sip. “Honestly, after what happened to me in China when I wore that shirt, I almost felt ready to burn it. But now after seeing it on you, you’ve given me a new reason to hang on to it.”

“Well thank you for the compliment, and welcome home.” Claire said softly, as they continued to enjoy the comfortable silence together as they drank the hot chocolate.
These were moments the married couple truly treasured whenever they were together. To just enjoy being with each other. Where Leon could drop his agent’s instincts and be a man in love with his wife.  Sure the demands of his job as an agent would create moments of loneliness the both of them would feel, but the both of them knew that moments like this more than made up for it.

The End.

A/N: To the reader, I sincerely hope you liked it!