•Lighter Than Air•

•Chapter 1•

It had been six years since Leon, Claire, and Sherry settled in QuarryBend. Six years since Leon became an agent for the government. Leon was twenty seven now, Claire was twenty five, and Sherry was eighteen. While Leon had remained as a government agent, Claire had taken up journalism. Her main focus had been social justice. Considering her dislike for cover ups before real action, she wanted to take a stand for herself. She didn't exactly have the proper training to physically fight those battles, so she settled for writing. And oh boy, was she good at it.

She could easily spitfire articles once she gained her knowledge upon the topic. She was always hot headed, raring to go, an action woman. She wanted the quickest solution possible. If someone was in danger, she was the first to jump out and run to help. When she found something wasn't right, she was the first to call it out. She simply believed you couldn't allow yourself to sit back and watch a conflict unfold. You should grab it and finish it before it can cause major harm. Expose it and build an army to take down the greater evil. That was her philosophy. That philosophy helped her survive Raccoon City, after all. That was an event she would never forget.

Leon was quite the opposite. He would rather take a slower, more analytical approach to problems. He believed bigger issues couldn't be solved on a whim. He believed in thinking before acting. Although, sometimes whim decisions were needed when sudden issues arised. Despite that, it took time to make smart decisions. That's what he enjoyed about being an agent. Even if he would be gone for months at a time, he was solving  problems that needed to be solved. He was doing good for the world. He'd make sure the problem would be solved for a long period of time. There was no need to make a fuss about it once it was over.

Speaking of which, a very big mission had finally been wrapped up. One that included saving the president's daughter from a religious cult... Leon would be heading home soon. He had actually been planning something for the last year or so. He and Claire had been together for quite a few years now, he wanted to finally propose to her. Despite how different they were, it seemed as if they came from the same place in a sense. They both survived a tragedy and came out of it as a family. They'd been through it all together. It would be crazy for them to not be meant to be.

Leon had never been a man with commitment on his mind first with women. He had a girlfriend before Raccoon City, though she had dumped him. Before that, it was only flings and brief flirty comments. When someone came into his life, he almost never planned for them to stay there. But, that changed when Claire came along. She changed his life forever. He saved her in a gas station and they survived the outbreak. They saved a young girl together. They fled to Oklahoma and built a life. He helped her find her brother. Through everything, they always had each other.

That meant the world to him. She meant the world to him.

So, that's when he decided he wanted to make it official. As much as he loved the Redfields, Leon wanted to bring her in as a Kennedy. He was ready to take that leap after six years. They'd briefly mentioned the topic before. They had talked about marriage. Leon mentioned how he liked the idea of having a wife someday, someone to come home to. He thought sharing a bond like marriage was sacred. While he never expected himself to be married before, his mind had changed. Claire had mentioned not thinking about marriage as a conscious decision, but she had dreamed of it before. Though, her views had been swayed with Leon in her life...

Leon took his phone out of his pocket, flipping it open and dialing Claire's number. He brought it to his ear and listened to it ring. Meanwhile, at home, Claire's specialized ringtone for Leon started to play. It was an instrumental to Queen's "Killer Queen". She always loved that band, her and her brother both. She laughed, picking up her phone and answering it.

"Hello there, rookie." Claire greeted with a cheerful tone.

"Red! Hey there. How's my journalist? Writing anything interesting?" He asked, leaning against a wall with one arm while he spoke to her.

"Actually yes! I'm writing about this rookie S.T.A.R.S member that went missing after an incident in Raccoon City. She was apparently on the hunt for a felon that got loose. She and the felon were never found... it's a missing persons case. I want to see if there's anything I can find on her." Claire informed him.

"Missing S.T.A.R.S member, huh? That's a story for sure. I'm surprised I haven't heard of it yet. What's her name?" Leon asked.

"Rebecca Chambers. No one heard of her or found her since the incident with a train. They think the felon, Billy Coen, may have gotten to her. Considering the only thing left from Rebecca was a death report for Billy. I want to find out if it's true. I can't believe something like that would go under the radar... says here he was on death row for killing twenty three people.. She was so young. Only eighteen years old when it happened."

"Dear god. She was as old as Sherry is now." Leon seemed a bit winded after that sort of response.

"That's exactly why I'm so drawn to this case... I couldn't imagine losing Sherry so young. Rebecca would be twenty five today too... just a year younger than me. I feel like I was meant to take on this case."

"I can see why, maybe I could help you sometime. I'm sure Chris or I could manage to get some documents about her."

"That would be great, if you could!"

"I'll put it on my to-do list. But, hey. I'm going to be heading home soon. Can you pick me up from the airport?"

"Of course I can! I'll see you soon enough."

"Perfect. I'll see you then. I love you." Leon said, smiling towards his phone.

With a snicker from Claire's end, she would respond. "I love you too. See you soon."

Once the phones were shut off, Leon made his way toward the take off area. He kept a smile on his face, glancing down towards his satchel that laid lazily over his shoulder. He took out a little box, which held the ring he was going to ask Claire to marry him with. It was silver with a vibrant red stone placed on top of it. Red was Claire's color, after all. It would match the majority of her wardrobe, which Leon kept in mind. The color matched her perfectly. Red was passionate and bold, bright and in your face. Just like Claire. Traits he held dearly. He smiled, clicking the box shut and set it in his bag before getting into the helicopter that was sent for him.