The bonds of family

First topic message reminder :

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.

"Because she called me the day you left her on the roadside!" Parker snarled, his own gun now shoved to Chris' temple. "You ever heard the sobs of a broken woman, Chris? I seriously doubt you would ever stick around long enough to!"

Wesker laughed quietly and looked himself over. "Funny, I have never felt any more alive, despite your best efforts to remain hidden from me in your cowardly plans."

"I'm sure you heard more from her than that! Despite having a wife." Chris hissed, his own gun pressed against Parker's misection. "Screw you, fat boy. You're not one of us. You'll never be a good guy. No matter how hard you try."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rebecca said, realizing too late that she'd left her gun in the glove box of the car. "I'm not hiding from anything."

"I don't try to be." Parker shot back. "I do what is needed. You are the one still trying so hard to convince everyone that you are not the pathetic drunken playboy who consistently gets his team mates killed!"

Wesker wagged a fingers at Rebecca and shook his head. "Silly little mouse, I already know what you infected Ramona with. Let us cut the games."

"So you're not denying it?" Chris shoved his gun in the back of his pants and turned to leave. "Rebecca deserves better than you and you know it. You should do what I did and let her go before make her into a monster like you did Jessica." He snarled. 

"What do you care what I did?" Rebecca asked glancing around for a quick exit. "You don't care about anyone but yourself."

"I don't deny it, because Jill and I both know nothing happened. That's all that's important." Parker replied, though he kept his own weapon drawn.

"I care, because that makes you a wolf running with the sheep, little mouse." Wesker replied, rather surprised this was the creature timid little Rebecca had become. "Do they know you hand out agonizingly slow death sentences? That you only pretend to be the wholesome little wife?"

"I'm going to kill you for this, Kennedy." Chris promised. "You can sit on that as long as you need to. Hell, I'm in such a good mood, I'll do Rebecca a favor and kill you too Parker. But right now Jill is asking for you. you go see her and I'll tell your wife where you are. Okay?"

"So she's dead then?" Rebeccaasked, seeing no reason to lie about it. "It took long enough. Good."

Parker gave Leon a pat on the shoulder, a silent gesture that he wasn't alone. "Go see Claire." He told the blond man softly. 

"Are you just as pleased that Claire is finally dead too?" Wesker sneered, again proving he had ears everywhere.

"What about your wife?" Leon asked, not wanting Parker to lose something he knew was very precious to him.

Rebecca didn't answer this. She hadn't known about Claire and she refused to believe anything Wesker told her. She chose instead to throw her purse at him and make a run for it, hoping the distraction was enough.

"My wife..." Parker bowed his head, clearly suffering with issues of his own. "She doesn't trust me, and she doesn't love me. I'm not the man she needs, just the one to be there until her Billy comes back to her."

Wesker caught the purse, and actually stepped aside to let Rebecca pass. Let her scurry back to her friends. Who would believe her that he was there anyway?

"Then she doesn't know..." Leon shoved his fingers through his hair. "And I guess you don't either. Wesker killed Billy when he was trying to cross the African border to reach the facility she was working in. The bastard got there first and tore his heart out."

"Mr. Wesker..." a nurse had finally tracked him down. She was looking rather frazzled and upset. "The doctor would like to speak to you about your wife."

Parker didn't know if this was good news or bad. He knew it would Kill Rebecca to find this out, though he also assumed she didn't already know. "Leon... Please don't tell her."

"What happened?" Wesker asked, no long smiling even a little. He found it strange he had no desire to correct the nurse about his 'wife' either.

Leon wouldn't get time to answer. Rebecca had come running in, throwing her arms around Parker and holding onto him tightly. She didn't say anything, she just stood there gasping for breath.

"Her condition is worsening." the nurse explained. "I'll let the doctor explain it but basically they have put her on life support and she is asking for you."

"Hey there girl, you run like you have the devil himself on your tail." Parker breathed, wondering how he was to tell Rebecca what had happened to Claire.

"Life support? How long?" He asked bluntly, knowing there was little time to even pretend he cared about manners.

"Jill wants to see you, Parker." Chris said coldly, clearly not caring about the scene in front of him. Rebecca stiffened her hug, finally dropping her arms to her sides. "Go. I'll stay with Leon to decide what to do about Claire." she said softly, turning away from him.

"A day or two at the most." The nurse said, motioning him to follow her. "for what it's worth...I'm sorry..."

Parker knew that Chris was well aware of what he had just done. He glared at the other man as he passed. "I could still shoot you and no one would even care right now." He hissed.

"No, you are only sorry that this will be a death on your shift." Wesker corrected. "You do not know Ramona, why would you be sorry?"

Chris glared back at the other man and nodded his head. "Cause Jill has you. Right?" He snorted, glancing toward Rebecca. The medic turned doctor was muttering about her purse, all but cursing under her breath. 

The nurse looked up at Wesker, surprised that he'd hit the nail on the head. She tried to be compassionate but it just wasn't in her nature today. she'd had a fight with her husband so very little else mattered. 
She said nothing more as she opened the door to the room where Ramona was and let Wesker in. "Nice purse." The dark haired woman said, her voice drowned out by the tube that kept her breathing.

"I think you'll find, she has Carlos." Parker responded, seeing the other man enter Jill's room down the hall.

Wesker glanced down at the purse, and couldn't help but smile slightly. "I just... spoke to me." He told her. "You're a silly little girl, have I ever told you that?" He breathed as he sat beside Ramona, setting the purse on the bed to take her slender hand in his own.

Chris was falling apart and he knew it. This feeling was very familiar. It happened the last time he'd lost Jill.  Only this time he was long everything else along with her. Not for the first time he wished she had just let Wesker kill him that day instead of playing the hero. Saving him hadn't done anyone any good. 
"Go." he muttered to Parker, "she's waiting for you."

Ramona tightened her fingers around his and smiled. "Silly is new one." She laughed softly. "Usually it's stupid or ignorant." with her free her she reached up and touched his usually stoney face. "What's wrong?"

Jill could breathe a little easier, and the pain relief was working better now she wasn't bleeding internally. The problem was, no one had told her about Claire yet. The dark haired woman had had a mixture of dreams and nightmares while she had been sedated. They still had her somewhat disoriented.

"How do you feel?" Wesker asked, avoiding talking about what the nurse had told him. "Has the doctor been in here yet?"

Chris opened the door for Parker and Carlos, looking grim. He nodded to Jill, his eyes darker than she'd probably every seen them. "Is this good?" He asked softly, turning to leave her alone with the two men. 

Ramona nodded. "I heard them talking. He told me my body can't recover from this. I'm sorry. I failed you like always."

"Where are you going?" Jill called out hoarsely. "Chris..." That darkness in eyes she had spent so long staring into terrified her.

"It isn't your fault." Wesker told Ramona sternly. "Earlier, you said you reached out to Chambers, and then she became distant. What did you mean?"

"I figured you wanted to be alone with these guys." Chris said, his voice cracking. "I need to make arrangements Anyway. I'll come back.." 

"Not long ago Rebecca started calling asking for advice on research and I thought I'd finally made afriend. We started meeting up to trade secrets. One day I got sick and she gave me a shot...said it would boost my immune system....it didn't do anything that I can remember...after then she never spoke to me again I couldn't figure out what I did wrong....Why?"

Jill glanced between Parker and Carlos, not understanding what had happened. "You forget how well I know you." She whispered, seeming like she didn't actually want either of the other two men there at all.

"She did this to you." Wesker told Ramona, seeing no reason to be anything other than blunt, they simply didn't have time.

"My sister is dead, Jill. I have to fix this." Chris whispered. "Parker and Carlos will keep you company. I'll come see you in a bit. Okay?" he stepped closer to the bed and kissed her forehead, not daring to glance at the other to men in the room. 

"What?" Ramona looked confused by this. "Why? Why would she do something like that?"

"NO!" Jill seemed to lose it. She was trying to get out of the bed, unable to accept that Claire was gone. "When?! How?!" She demanded, having already been sedated when Claire had made the decision to be the donor.

"Why do you think?" Wesker asked quietly. "Can you think of any other way to hurt me?" He asked, suddenly unable to meet Ramona's gaze.

"She died in surgery," Carlos explained. Chris left, shutting the door behind him. "She and Leon decided that she was the best candidate to give you a part of her liver and...she did not survive. I...I'm sorry."

Ramona'so fingers were cold as they touched his face. "I wish I had known this. I would have spent more time kicking Excella's as for taking what was mine." She breathed. "I love you too, Albert. I always have. Since the day you took me off that porch... but...how did Rebecca know? It's nothing we told anyone."

Jill was shaking her head, the drugs she was on making her rather emotional anyway. "NO! I never agreed to that! I would never... Oh god..." The usually proud woman buried her face in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably.

Wesker was worried by that icy touch, but didn't say anything. "The mouse is actually a sneaky wolf." He breathed. "I killed her precious marine... I would imagine she has been plotting this for a very long time now."

Carlos looked at Parker, not sure what to do. He wanted to hold Jill close but he knew she didn't belong to him. As far as he knew she could belong to this man. "I'm so sorry. I know how much you love her, Miha." He breathed.

Ramona let her hand fall to the bed, too tired to keep holding it up. "So? what do you plan to do about it?" She asked, suddenly extremely tired. 
"Mr. Wesker?" The doctor was in the doorway looking grim. "We need to talk."

"Where's Leon?" Jill suddenly breathed, looking up at Carlos with puffy red eyes.
"He went to sit with Claire." Parker answered, as none of them knew Claire's body was gone.

Wesker looked up at the doctor, then gave Ramona's fingers another squeeze. "You die, and I will simply have to infect you with the T Virus, is that what you want?" He breathed, kissing her lightly before heading to the doorway.

"The...ah boyscout tells me they were engaged." Carlos said trying to smile. "he was so excited. He'd already bought a house and everything."

The doctor gave Wesker the grim news of Ramona's impending death. He told the man they were looking at little more than thirty hours before her body simply gave up and to call her family in to say their goodbyes.