The bonds of family

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Claire Redfield was sat at her desk, chewing on her pen as she stared at the faded photo in a battered frame. She had just gotten back from Rio on business and she had already thrown herself into another case. The photo she kept safe was taken such a long time ago, Sherry was still just a little girl in it, and Leon... Well he was no different. They had all been so happy when they made it out of Raccoon City, despite everything that had happened. It was years later and Claire still sometimes woke with nightmares of that place, and her time spent at Rockfort Island. She had barely spoken of it to Leon when she had made it home, but she figured Chris probably told him everything anyway. That was when she had drifted apart from the people she called family. They all seemed to have their mission and she had always just been 'Chris Redfield's baby sister'. Claire was much like her brother, in the aspect that she just wanted to help people. A shame Chris thought she was still that nineteen year old student. They still spoke on the phone often, had dinner together at the holidays, but pinning big brother down long enough for anything more seemed harder work than finding all traces of Umbrella and making them disappear for good. The young woman shook her head to try and clear the melancholy away, then pushed the dark red hair from her eyes. "Come on Claire..." She scolded herself, laughing quietly when she thought of the fun her friends had made in the past when she talked to herself.

"That only works if I can't make the decisions for myself!" Jill shot back. "I don't want anything from you! The only thing I did want... Made you dump me like I was worthless!"

"You really care what happens with the Birkin girl?" Wesker asked suspiciously. "She was pretty much raised by Redfield and Valentine, she will have the same hero complex they both do."

"You know why I left." Chris said softly. "You see what I do to the people I love. Every last one of them. Even my parents. I won't attempt to have a family so I can kill them too!" He added his voice getting louder.

"In case you missed it, your boy turned into a hero too." Ramona said, looking up from what she was doing. " The Birkin poison already got into his blood. He's already in too deep."

"Well you're killing me!" Jill finally roared. "Get out! Get out and go back to your precious company and your men and carry on acting like no one means shit to you!"

"And sending him back to her is the best course of action?" Wesker asked. "Ramona... he's going to end up getting killed just to be near her."

"It keeps people alive." Chris whispered. "I start caring and they die." He turned to leave, hating himself badly enough to wish that he was dead. "you're getting the surgery. And don't worry. It's not my liver. That way I don't kill you with it." 

"Why would that happen?"Ramona asked, confused. "How would you know something like that? You've never cared to be near anyone for too long."

Jill was openly sobbing by the time Chris left. She had thought she would get over him, but even after six months the wounds were raw enough that she wished the bullet had outright killed her. In a sudden rage she began tearing at the tubes and IV's attached to her body.

"The rest of them, the people she calls family, they wont accept him. You know that, Ramona. You know they will find out, or may already know that he is my son." Wesker replied simply. "Chris is our biggest problem, which is why I shot his precious Jilly Bean."

"Miha. What are you doing?" Carlos caught her hands before she could do too much damage. "You can't get well without all these things on you." 

Ramona noted how he went a long way around not answering her question. "He'll be fine. He's a smart kid. He knows he can't trust them. He'll get her out of his system and move on. He's enough like you I could bet money on it."

Jill was surprised to see Carlos there, and that was more than obvious in the way she was staring up at him. "He really called you..." She breathed between sobs.

"I take that bet." Wesker snorted. "I actually think they'll make an effort just to piss us off."

"He said you needed me." Carlos told her, brushing cool fingers over her forehead. "I'm calling a nurse to fix this and then you're going to rest, Miha. I'll still be here when you wake." 

Ramona smiled ever so slightly at this. "I hope it works. He needs someone who isn't going to leave him. Sherry is like you. She won't go anywhere." That said she went back to her work, ignoring the mass of undead scientists that were shambling in from the glass doors that led to the labs.

Jill's shoulders were still shaking. She hated how much she didn't hate Chris, but that she loved him and it apparently meant nothing.

"You sound so certain of that." Wesker breathed, wondering when he had become so predictable. "Will you at least take this?" He asked, holding out the gun he had taken from Ramona earlier.

The nurse came in and not only fixed Jills leads and gave her something to sedate her when both Chris and Carlos expressed concern for her mental state. The two men were arguing with Leon in the hall as she drifted off to sleep. Sherry ducked beneath one of their arms and entered the room. She again took up a quiet vigil beside the elder woman's bed. 

"That gun has injections for you. It's worthless otherwise." Ramona said distractedly. She wished she'd remembered to bring her glasses instead of rushing off to make sure Wesker was all right. She always dropped everything when it came to him and he couldn't stand her. at least...she didn't think so...

Jill was once again only aware of raised voices, but not definite words. Even though she was unconscious, fat tears still rolled down her temples.
"What's going on here?" Claire had slept for no more than an hour or two, too many things on her mind to allow her body to rest like it needed. She had returned to the hospital to find the three men arguing.

Wesker glanced down at it, then tossed it aside. "You're no use to Jake if you can't see what you're taking." He told her, thinking that was all Ramona cared about.

"Don't do that." Sherry whispered, dabbing at her eyes with the edge of the sheet. "You've got all these men out there fighting over you...I can't find one to wants to be near me."

Leon looked relieved to see Claire. "Tell these two that they are not medical proxy. And they are not giving up their livers for her no matter how much they fling insults at each other." He growled.
Chris narrowed his eyes at his sister, daring her to tell him just that.

"You were set to argue with me like you did in Africa. I was going to shoot you." Ramona's tone was surprisingly good natured. "It's the best therapy out there really." she added with a grin.

"You don't look that hard, do you, blondie?" Jake had managed to sneak past the men arguing in the waiting room and was quietly shutting the door to Jill's room behind him. 

Claire gave Leon's fingers a discrete squeeze in thanks for him being there for Jill. "Sorry, Chris, but Leon is right. You gave up all right the second you walked away from her."

"I'm glad I have some use to you, Ramona." Wesker snorted, thinking that maybe things had been dragged out too long, that Ramona had finally given up on him.

"Jake." Sherry had to stop herself from launching to her feet and throwing her arms around him. Chris' words were fresh in her ears and left her with a burning shame. "Why are you here?"

"Just who do you two think you are?" Chris snarled. 
"Just who do you think you are?" Carlos demanded, his fists balled at his sides. "Don't you think you've done enough here, asshole?"

Ramona's smile faded somewhat. "I wish you could say the same about me, Albert." She whispered, turning back to her computer. She didn't even look up as the first of the undead burst in.

Jake had been about to lift his arms up, hoping Sherry would embrace him, instead he simply balled his fists up by his sides. "That's it?" He asked, wondering if his mother had known this would be the reaction.

"Chris, I'm just looking at things from Jill's point of view here." Claire breathed. "You dumped her." She added bluntly. "Walked away, and never even called again for 6 months. I was there in China, remember? You called her a whore."

Wesker stared at them for, and for a split second considered just doing nothing at all. So much fight, always thinking he was right. For what? He was now the monster and his princess had given up all hope.

"What do you want me to say?" she breathed. Already her eyes were beginning to burn. She offered him a watery smile. "one of my best friends is dying. And I can't help her..."

"You know nothing." Chris snapped, turning his head so that he wouldn't have to look at his sister. "how dare you two take her away from me. I hope you're happy."

Ramona dared to steal a peek at Wesker as he got to work. She loved to watch him in action. He moved with such beautiful grace. She wished she could tell him so.

"And she would want you beating yourself up over that?" Jake asked as he sat next to Sherry by Jill's bed. He stared at the elder woman for some time, not sure what else to say, or if Sherry just wanted him to leave.

"I'm sick of taking all your shit!" Claire hissed. "You had every chance to have a life with Jill! Shit... If you had just been a man about it and given her what she wanted she wouldn't even be in there dying right now!"

It didn't seem all that out of the ordinary to Wesker. It didn't feel like he moved any differently, more like everyone else moved too slowly.

"It's been a long day." Sherry sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "How did you find me? We'really thousands of miles from the last place I saw you." 

"For all the hell you know she'd be dead by now." Chris snarled. 
"haven't you already accomplished that once?" Carlos asked. The other man turned on him and threw a punch that all but crashed his nose. 

Ramona pushed away a dead zombie with the toe of her shoe, making a face at it. Wesker made things look so easy. he was already done and wiping blood off his cheek, a sneer on his face.

Jake simply offered Shrry the grin she'd come to love over the months. "Babe, if gave you my source, I'd just have to kill you, and you're too cute to kill."

Claire groaned and tried to pry the two much larger men apart. "This isn't helping Jill!" She insisted. "I already told the doctor I would do it anyway! I'm being prepped for surgery in an hour!"

"Thanks for the help, I really appreciated it." He remarked, pushing the unmoving zombie away from Ramona's foot as though he worried it could still attack her.

Sherry laughed softly. "I hope that didn't put too much of a dent in that 50 million you were given." She turned to once again wipetears from Jill's cheeks. "Cause I can't replace it. Not even for fifty bucks."

"Oh hell no!" Chris roared, now launching himself at Leon. "You're going to let her do it you stupid son of a bitch?!"
"It's her choice." Leon said evenly. "She'll be fine. You don't give her enough credit."

"Data on the first floor is complete. Six more floors to go. And you're welcome." Ramona said cheerfully. "Have you considered what you'd do without me?"

"Not even for a kiss?" Jake asked with a smirk as he glanced across at Sherry.

Claire pushed her shoulders back and glared up at her brother. "You can't have everything, Chris. Either I do it, and you go back to your job, or you donate... and you take care of Jill."

"You had to be paranoid and spread the data out, didn't you?" Wesker remarked, though they both knew he would have done far more to keep sensitive data secret.

Sherry clamed up at his words. Her smile faded and her eyes went instantly to the floor. Chris' words hung like a black cloud between them. 

Chris shook his head. "Why can't the boyscout do it? I don't care if he dies." He muttered, pushing away from the wall and yanking Carlos to his feet. He was tempted to hit him again. 

"Actually, this was all Spencer's doing." Ramona said as she got to her feet. She nearly dropped the laptop she was carrying when one of the undead suddenly lifted it's head and made a grab for her ankle.

Jake didn't like that he was the one who had made Sherry look so ashamed like she did just then. "Yeah... I get it." He breathed as he pushed himself to his feet. He assumed Sherry simply thought herself too good for him, and he agreed with her. Always had.

"He isn't a match." Claire replied thinly. "That's right, Chris. While you weren't even here, we were doing everything needed to help Jill!"

Wesker didn't shove Ramona aside, too worried her bones couldn't take it. Instead he stomped on the zombie's head, exploding it like it was no more than a rotten fruit. "Are you really going to make me give you the 'one bite or scratch' speech, again?"

"Why are you here?" Sherry asked, glad for the distraction of wiping at Jill's eyes again. "I mean...when I woke up you were gone...I thought you'd made it pretty clear..."

Chris stared at his sister for several moments before letting go of the still bleeding Carlos and throwing a punch at Leon. The blonde haired man had the good sense not to duck. "you need to figure out what you want." Leon muttered, wiping the blood off his nose.

Ramona looked a little green and shook her head. "I heard enough of that in Raccoon city to last a lifetime. Thank you. But it's not like it's really something I need to worry over is it?" she asked him, gesturing to the bracelet that had stayed a steady yellow since their arrival.

"I..." Jake exhaled and ran his fingers over his short hair. "You'll laugh at me, but... I went to see my mother."

Claire shoved her brother roughly, then turned and tried to wipe the blood from Leon's face. "I used to be so envious of you and Jill... or what you had." she breathed without looking at Chris. "Now I know... I was the lucky one all along." The red haired woman added, smiling up at Leon.

"So you're saying you would rather go through the guaranteed process of becoming an undead, than the possibility of mutating of you get too scared?" Wesker asked thinly.

For a brief moment Sherry found herself wondering what it would be like to see her mother again. She nodded her head slowly. "that's good. How did it go?" She asked softly.

"you don't get it. You never did. You just flitted through life having it all done for you." Chris hissed. "You never had to wake up to the phone call that mom and dad were dead and it was your fault. You never had to have a bunch of assholes tell you to stop looking because the woman you love is dead. And it's your fault. Fuck you, Claire
 You have no idea the hell I wake up to every single day." Chris roared finally turning his back on them all.

"Is it any worse than dying of cancer?" Ramona asked, surprised to find herself admitting to such a thing. The door to the next floor hissed open and they were met with a terrible stench. It was going to be a long night.

"Could've gone better." Jake snorted. "He was there. No one else exists when she has him."

"No, you're right Chris... I never had to watch someone I loved die in my arms!" Claire shouted, tossing a blood soaked tissue down the hall after her brother. "You think I don't miss mom and dad everyday?" Claire could feel her walls crumbling again, the darkness returning and whispering to her that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she didn't wake up from the surgery.

"You're not going to die of cancer." Wesker told Ramona firmly. "I don't care what it takes, I'm getting you through it."

"He?" Sherry was pretty sure she knee who he was. She just wanted to hear Jake say his name. It made her stomach churn to think that his father was still alive. 

Chris turned and glared at his sister. "A little boy you knew for a week has nothing on someone like Jill. Grow up." He snarled. 

"Why?" Ramona asked, unable to help glancing at him. "Why would you do that?"

"Wesker." Jake replied quietly, clearly ashamed to have the man as his father. "He said no more than a handful of words... Like he didn't want to share her with me. Asshole."

"You keep saying that." Claire breathed. "You have no idea what happened on that Island, or in Antarctica! You never even tried to care! The second you found out Wesker was involved you saw nothing else!"

"You're really going to make me say it?" Wesker asked, seeming so much like his son in that moment. "I love you, Ramona. I know it rarely shows... But I do."

"Oh Jake. No." Sherry glanced at Jill and wasn't surprised to see the woman fighting her sedation. If Wesker was alive it was bad. It explained how Jill got in this state if nothing else. "We have to tell Claire..." Claire at least. She would keep a level head about it. 

"And if I hadnt...more than some stupid kid would be dead!" Chris shouted. Nurses were already scrambling to figure out how to sedate him. He was getting loud and dangerous. "He tried his damnedest to kill you! Goddammit, Claire! I nearly...I nearly lost you to him. I cant.." a large male nurse kept him from saying more. The needle in his neck was enough to take him to the ground.

Ramona stared at the side of Wesker's face in the darkness, not sure what to make of his confession. "Thank you." She whispered, sliding her fingers into his.