Chapter Text
It's the summer of 1999 when you get placed at the Racoon City Police Department. It's far too hot for 7:00 am, but the city is a concrete jungle, soaking up heat and placing it back out into the air tenfold. Your hands shake as you slap your alarm clock. Its ringing never ceases to wake you with anxiety.
"Remind me to set an alarm for when they invent less terrifying alarms." You grumble to yourself.
You tie your hair back tightly, smoothing your uniform far too many times, and look at yourself in the mirror longer than you need to. You look down at the digital watch your mother gifted you as an academy graduation gift- it's go time.
Your pickup roars to life and sputters as you drive to the station. It might as well be a driving hazard how nervous you are. It's strange, too. You feel so confident with your abilities as a cop despite your inexperience, so what are you so afraid of?
People, unfortunately.
The truck lurches embarrassingly as you park. You swivel your head around to see if anyone noticed. Breathing in and out a few more times, you open your door. The station is beyond beautiful, which you had heard about. An old museum transformed into a place of grit and justice. Or, that's what you dreamed up in your head at least. The hinges to the heavy door creak as you walk inside.
Behind the front desk is a statue that seems to represent the dedication of the force. You walk forward and finally notice the secretary. She's positively adorable with her auburn ponytail and freckles.
She smiles and reaches out for your hand, "Hi! You must be Y/n L/n. I'm so happy you're here, it's always nice to have another girl around. Anyhow... your uniform and all that good stuff is in your locker."
You smile back at her, happy to already be so welcome, "It's nice to meet you, um-"
She widens her eyes and then chuckles, "Claire, Claire Redfield. I can't believe I forgot the most important bit. Can I show you to your locker?"
"You beat me to asking. Would you please?" You aim to keep your manners up, but she has a way of disarming you in the most pleasant way.
After being shown your locker and combination, you're given a little tour. Claire waves her hands to each new area, giving you the necessary and sometimes unnecessary information. When you reach the desks in the west office, it starts to feel far more real. Above the desks, blue circles strung together spell out "Welcome Y/n" in gold letters and you grin. You spot one empty one among the throng of taken desks- your heart soars. Oh, how you've longed to have a pencil cup of your own. Your own drawer of paperclips and rubber bands. To have stacks of paper to organize.
"And this here, is the big boss," She points to a tall man, "Lieutenant Branagh. But you probably already knew that."
Standing next to him is a man of above average height, probably 5'11. He has dark blonde hair that hangs in his eyes as he nods to whatever his superior is telling him. Whatever made him smile is instantly sacred to you. It started small and then grew. He looked down and shrugged his shoulders shyly. It was the most beautiful sight you'd ever seen. It felt silly to admit it, but he truly did take your breath away.
"Hey, Leon!" Claire yells, half-waking you from your stupor.
He looks up, first at her and then to you, "Yeah?"
"Come over here! I want you to meet the rookie."
He smiles and walks over, "Hey, I thought I was the rookie," He says this to Claire.
"Well, not anymore." She smiles and looks your way.
Leon finally pays you attention, sticking his hand out, "Well hey there, rookie. I'm Officer Kennedy, but you can call me Leon. I won't tell anybody." He whispers the last bit.
You blush and struggle to shake his hand. Thankfully, you succeed, "Well then you can call me y/n."
"Y/n," He repeats as he lets go of your hand all to soon for your liking.
Your face is red, no doubt about it, so you turn your head towards Claire. As if she could somehow save you.
Sensing your eagerness to move on, "All that's left is your desk, it all goes by so fast, huh?"
"Branagh needs me, sorry. I bet you're gonna have a kickass first day!" Leon walks away and you finally get to see the other side of him. His muscles and confident stride. ugh, I'm such a creep.
You finally settle in at your desk. It seems you already had some basic paperwork passed off to you. You didn't mind all that much, to be honest. Some rookies... all they wanted was a gunfight. But you understood that there was more to being a cop than that. It also meant being part of a team. Being part of a team, especially as a newbie, means you have to help each other out. If doing mind-numbing paperwork made your coworkers life easier, you were more than happy to help.
If you felt like that before, how much more so before meeting some of them. Claire, for sure. But there was someone else.
Lunch came sooner than you had expected it to. Claire told you that they had a little something prepared for you in the breakroom, which simply tugged at your heart strings.
"For me?" You remember asking, as if the reason weren't obvious.
You walk in and everyone already lined the walls. A platter of small sandwiches sat next to a box of donuts. One donut was set aside on a napkin, a candle stuffed into its jammy center. Your cheeks crinkled with the intensity of your smile. You intertwined your fingers and held them in front of you.
"Your very first donut as a police officer!" Branagh announced as he laughed at the stereotype.
You were once again at a loss for words, but it felt as though everyone expected a little something more from you, "Thank you everyone, you've made me feel really welcome. Everyone told me to prepare for the worst but it seems like I got the best. Um, to many more donuts, i guess." You stuttered and giggled a bit at the last part, losing the plot of your small speech.
Everyone dug into lunch and subsequently desert. The coffee was hot and the donuts were crispy. You felt like this might just be the best day of your life yet. Then you became giddy at the idea that this was simply the beginning of your time at the RPD. Your uniform just felt right. And so did everything else. You finally found your puzzle to fit into.