•Thicker Than Blood•

•Chapter 33•

More and more time continued to pass... everyone seemed to be doing their own things at this point. Leon was weeks into his training. Chris was about ready to get called in for another mission and he was desperate to talk to Genevieve, he was just unable to find his words. Genevieve continued to wait, as she also was unable to find her words. Funny how similar they really were. Sherry continued to struggle with her anxiety, though she found art as a healthy coping mechanism. Claire's emotions had begun to fester, uncomfortable with the majority of the changes.

Soon, Claire would come home from work. Leon was in the kitchen with Coach Mauven. The two were chatting and chugging water bottles after a long session of training. Though, as usual, Leon lit up when he realized Claire had arrived home. He set his water bottle down and headed over towards her.

"Claire! Welcome home, how was work?" He held his arms out toward her, taking her into his arms.

Claire hardly seemed to react, avoiding eye contact from both of them. "It was busy... I'm really tired," she said slightly, patting his arm in response.

Leon paused for a moment, then let go of her. He looked down at her, seeming to notice her lack of affection towards him. Even if she was tired from her stay at work, she was never so unaffectionate. Unfortunately, it was becoming a pattern. Week by week, she had been feeling more and more distant. More stressed from work. More and more unhappy as the days went on.

"Claire. Is work really the thing that's bothering you?" He asked, suddenly.

She seemed to stop as if she already knew the answer. Biting her lip, she refused to look at him. Clearly, she was still struggling with the changes being made to their lives. She still hated the idea of him working for the government. It felt as though there was a major disconnect between them now. As if they were playing for separate teams. Even though they were meant to be the closest of all to one another.

"Answer me, Claire. Avoiding me isn't going to do anything for us." He said.

"Don't you pressure me, Leon. Don't you dare." Claire snapped suddenly, putting him at arm's length away from herself.

"Don't tell me you're still not okay with this... you agreed to let me do this. We had an arrangement! What is it, Claire? Do you not trust me?" Leon barked at her, tensions growing quick.

"I never liked the idea! You know this! I'm just tolerating it because I know this is something you really want to do and I can't stop you. Fine! It just feels as if you're not even the person I met back then." She returned the energy, voice becoming louder as time went on.

"I'm still that person. I have always had not only your best interest in mind, but everyone else's in the world. I'm doing this not only because I care about people, but because I care about you and Sherry! Imagine everything I could do with this kind of job. You and her could be set for life. I could protect you. We wouldn't have to worry nearly as much as we do now!"

"You really think that's my best interest? I didn't need some fancy government agent in my house! You're going to change when you see the shit that goes down first hand! I've seen only the tip of the iceberg while I was in that orphanage. I don't need you to see the depths of it because that little glimpse fucked me up for good! I don't want you to change. I don't want things to change! Everything was fine the way it was!"

"Well, god forbid I try to help you. Make things easier. Seems you always enjoyed the challenges."

"I always will. Life isn't meant to be a cake walk." Claire snatched her jacket off the hook on the wall and stormed out the back door. "Seems I'm the only one who cares about the chickens too."

"If you asked for my help, maybe I would have done it too." He grumbled under his breath, shaking his head.

He seemed to have forgotten his coach was still in the same room as him. Gracie crossed her arms and shook her head with a sigh. She set her bottle down and took a few more steps toward him, setting her hand on his shoulder. He turned around to face her, a strained and stern look on his face while he seemed ready to listen to her.

"Listen, kid. I think we should call it a day. You've got to sort this out with your lady friend." She said,

"Everything will be fine in the end. It'll work out."

"Not without effort it won't. I'll tell you this... Marriages ain't easy to maintain in this line of work. If you want to keep it like this, you've got to work for it. Take it from me. I've lived since the dinosaurs." She snickered, heading toward the front door. "Good luck, Kennedy. Make the right choices." She said, before leaving.

Leon merely stood in silence while he watched her go. Sighing, he glanced back toward the back door. Thinking for a moment. What would Claire do if she was in the position he was in? That was something he didn't know... Though, something popped back up in his mind. Sherry was home from school. Quickly, he ran up the stairs to make sure she was okay.

As expected, she had heard all of it. She was curled up on her bed with Genevieve by her side. Genevieve held her hands over Sherry's ears during the majority of it, but even that wasn't quite much of a reliable method.  Sherry was shaking, doing her best not to cry, she clutched her chest, finding it difficult to breathe while she worried for their future. Flashbacks of her parents kept appearing in her head as it all happened.

Leon jumped forward to try and help her, but she got up right as he did. She covered her mouth this time and quickly booked it out of the room and ran down the stairs to run into the bathroom below. Genevieve got up and went after her. Leon, confused, also went after them, following behind Genevieve.

They found Sherry perched on the floor of the bathroom, vomiting into the toilet once again. Genevieve moved forward and knelt beside her, holding her hair out of her face while she threw up her panic. Leon went in as well, kneeling down and patting her back gently as if to help her get it out of her system. Once that was over, they helped clean up. Leon took Sherry to bed to let her rest it off.

Looking out the window, he hesitated. Things were getting worse. It was inevitable.

Oh no.