Old Vendettas

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The BSAA were as swift as ever with their rescue and clean up efforts in the aftermath of the New York attack. People were already being evacuated from the worst affected areas, a precaution they were told, nothing more. It was a chance to sweep the bodies from the streets and remove the charred remains of one Glenn Arias. There were emergency medical units being errected in many buildings. People were thankfully vaccinated, but there were still a great many wounded wandering the streets. Even the heroes themselves had found their way the one of the larger medical units, though one of their number would soon be regretting that decision. 
Chris Redfield would be given little warning before his wife zeroed in on him, lean limbs pushing people aside before she slapped him hard enough to make a sound that echoed. “You force me behind a desk, and this is how I have to find you?!” She hissed, holding up her PDA with a flashing red dot that showed Chris’ current location.
The small nurse who had been treating Chris for superficial wounds stared at the brunette with wide eyes, already quite terrified of this formidable looking woman.

Jill quickly pressed a hand over Chris’ mouth. “I’m coming to get you.” She promised the other woman before she did finally hang up. “Shit...” She was staring at her phone now, not sure where to go from here. Chris was getting worse, he needed Rebecca’s help.

“Do not let her go.” Wesker barked at Billy, who promptly held Ciara with her back against his broad chest, his powerful arms holding her in a bear hug. 
A moment later the door beside Rebecca ripped free and her lover was looking down at her with nursery in his eyes. “Should I even expect a truthful answer from you, officer Chambers?” He purposefully called her by that name, knowing it made it clear they were not on good terms.

Rebecca felt as if she were the unluckiest person on the planet. She hung her head, unable to meet his eyes. "They called me..." She whispered, staring at the steering wheel.

"Please..." Ciara whispered, unable to fight against the strong embrace. "Let me go..."

Wesker watched her for a long, long moment, then suddenly he smiled. “And now they will do what they always do, and come riding to the rescue.” He practically purred, casting a glance back at Ciara. “Two painfully easy ways to make him pay for everything he has done.”

“No.” Billy replied simply. “You shouldn’t have gotten involved. You’re a child, and now... now he will use you to hurt others.” He added, knowing exactly why Wesker had been so happy to hear Ciara’s name.

Chris' symptoms only became worse. The current doctor was keeping him under sedation and telling Jill there was little that could be done. The mold that was in his body was spreading. 

"Captain, don't." Rebecca's plea was so soft a normal ear wouldn't have been able to hear it. Tears were sliding down her cheeks as she tried to untangle herself from the car. "This is my fault...punish me. Not an innocent girl."

Jill wanted to scream. She wanted to punch something until her fists bled. This was unfair. They gave and they gave to this world, and all it ever did was take more than they had. She was currently sat beside Chris’ bed, holding tightly to a hand that was covered in black veins, and angry scar looking round his wrist. 

“Innocent?” Wesker spat the word as though the mere taste of it offended him. “You were in contact with her all this time.” It wasn’t a question, and he made sure Rebecca knew that. “Her very existence disgusts me!”

"What can I do to help?" Leon Kennedy stood in the doorway, looking at Jill. It was near midnight. He'd driven all day to get to them. "I got a call from Barry about Chris. Does Claire know? Can I call her for you?" He knelt beside Jill, resting a hand on her lap. "Tell me how to make this better." 

Rebecca shook her head. "I called her last week. She knows nothing. She's never met Claire or Leon...Her being...who she is is just a minor thing. She's a delivery driver...that's all." Her chest rose and fell wildly as she spoke, trying to make things right. Why did it feel like she was always doing that?

Jill looked up at Leon with puffy, red rimmed eyes. Clearly she had cried near continuously once the doctor had left her alone with her husband. She didn’t say a word to Leon, simply threw her arms around him and sobbed even more. She was done being strong, for once she simply needed to be what she told Chris she never would; The girl. 

Wesker was again watching Rebecca, noticing something in what she hadn’t said, more than what she had. “But she met Chris.” He replied simply.

"It's okay." Leon whispered, patting her hair. "I called Claire. She'll be here soon." He added, hugging Jill tightly. "That's what you both need right now. Family. Redfield strong as Chris says." 

Rebecca nodded, ashamed that she was crying in earnest now. What had she been thinking? She wrapped her arms around herself and turned her back on him, staring at Billy. She had failed him too.

Jill only hugged Leon all the tighter. He was the closest thing she had to a best friend, which was odd considering they could go months without actually seeing each other in person. “I need... Chris...” she choked through a sob, though would later threaten Leon on pain of death not to tell anyone this.

“Then it’s already too late for redemption.” Wesker told Rebecca simply. “Chris will protect anyone of his bloodline with his life. She is no doubt just as pathetically moralistic as both of her parents.”

"I know." Leon whispered. "We'll make this right. once Claire gets here. She and I will figure out how to fix it and who we need to kill to get it done." He teased gently. "Or maybe I'll just stand back and watch the Redfield patented bull in china technique go to work." 

Rebecca closed her eyes. How had this become such a mess? She'd only wanted to free Billy, not turn things into a cluster fuck. "Captain...please..." She breathed, knowing this would only make him mock her weakness.

Jill finally managed a smile as she peeled herself away from Leon. “They do do that, don’t they?” She replied as she wiped at her eyes. 

“Begging... something they taught you to do.” Wesker sneered. “It won’t change anything. I am taking the girl with me. Let us see who comes running first... her parents, or her uncle.”

Leon laughed, glad he'd made her smile. "I think of it as a calling card. If half a city is in shambles, we know a Redfield saved the day." He teased. 
"Where is my sister?" Chris' voice was hoarse. He wasn't even supposed to be awake. He was fighting the tubes that were helping to keep him alive. "Where is Ciara?" 

Rebecca returned to the twisted car and sat on the edge of the seat, believing that Wesker meant to leave her behind. At least she hadn't given Wesker the antidote to Billy's poison. Maybe this way she could save him later on.

Jill visibly tensed up when Chris breathed Ciara’s name. She was soon leaning over him, running her fingers through his dark hair. “You’re supposed to be resting.” She breathed, kissing his forehead gently. 

“What are you doing?” Wesker asked when he saw Rebecca simply sit back down.

"She's in trouble...I need to go to her." Chris thrashed, trying to open his eyes and pull in a deeper breath than the tubing would allow. "Jill, we have to go." 
"Did he say we?" Leon asked, looking over Chris' chart. "Wow, what did you do to him?"

Rebecca gave Wesker a strange look. "I'm letting you go." She said softly, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat.

Jill smiling sadly, though she was still watching Chris. “It took losing everything to realise we were both stubborn idiots.” She replied. “He was infected with something he called ‘the mold’ while rescuing... an agent.” Jill added, trying not to let jealousy at the thought of Jessica get the better of her. “I can’t tell you anymore than that, because I don’t really know anything else. Just that he has this wound on his wrist that looks like his hand shouldn’t even be functional...”

“Silly girl...” Wesker snorted as he jerked Rebecca back to her feet. “You are under the assumption you have any say in the matter.” He added, pulling her back to where Billy still stood silently with Clara.

"I wonder if the mold is making it work?" Leon asked, looking up as the nurse entered. 
"Is he waking up?" She asked. "I can get him something to help him rest better." She added. "Oh and his sister Claire is here to see him. Should I send her in?" 

Ciara glared at Wesker but refused to give him anymore satisfaction by telling him exactly how she planned to skin him alive. 
Rebecca didn't speak anymore either, she simply let Wesker drag her around like a rag doll. The silence went on throughout the evening as they once again returned to Wesker's place deep in the forest.

Jill nodded in agreement to both questions. “I tried to contact Rebecca... something was wrong, she kept telling me to hang up and not to talk.” She breathed.

Billy had been given new orders to maintain watch over Ciara at all times. With Redfield and Kennedy genes, he had no doubt she would try something foolish.

Leon frowned at this news. "Did you hear anything in the background? When's the last time anyone has talked to her? Maybe she was kidnapped?" He asked, tapping his chin in thought. "I know she left the lab she was working in. She didn't even give them notice but...after what she went through...I don't think I blame her." 

Ciara was pacing the floor of the small room Wesker had locked her in. She didn't do well in small spaces and this only made matters worse.

Jill didn’t answer, though she did smirk slightly. Claire was in the doorway, thinking no one had seen her yet, and was watching Leon as he lost himself in thought. “Leon... you think you could get me some coffee? I want to be awake in case Chris fights the sedation again.

“You’re wasting energy.” Billy pointed out as he entered the room, the door instantly locking behind him. “There’s no way out, the sooner you accept it, the sooner he will grow bored of you, brat.”

"Yeah, sure." He said with a smile, patting her knee as he got up. "If Claire gets here before I get back, tell her..." He didn't have to finish, his smile growing when he saw her in the doorway. "I hope she waits for me." He finished softly. 

"What the heck is he going on about anyway and what crawled up his butt?" Ciara asked, flopping down on the dusty cot. "

Claire felt her heart start to pound when Leon simply smiled at her, the words he breathed were simply a sweet bonus. “Hey...” She breathed, not sure what else to say. For once Leon had been the one to slip away after one of their rendezvous, and she understood how much she must’ve wounded him by trying to keep him safe. It seemed that was the Redfield curse; to lose the one you loved simply by trying to do what was best. 

“Redfield.” Billy replied simply, though didn’t move from his sentry position by the door. “Everything Wesker has ever tried to do has been foiled by a Redfield, in one way or another.”

Leon didn't care if she later scolded him, but he stepped close to Claire and gave her a searing kiss. "I've missed you." He said softly.

"So of I'm one of those then..." She brushed back her long blonde hair and grinned. "I've got nothing to worry about."

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Claire didn’t answer. Instead she pulled leonks lips back to her own, taking one last moment of pleasure before she had to face what was happening to her brother. “I missed you more...” She assured him just as softly. 
“That coffee isn’t going to get itself...” Jill commented without looking at them, though she was smirking as she said it. Chris would not be happy to see Leon and his baby sister like that.

“You’re also a Kennedy.” Billy pointed out. “Daddy might come for you instead, and that will just piss Wesker off even more. He doesn’t give a shit about Leon Kennedy.”

Leon made a face at Jill and stepped around Claire, patting her bottom as he went. He wondered what was so important that they needed him gone to talk about it. 

Ciara shook her head. "Wesker's is weird. I don't know who Leon Kennedy is or why I should care."

Claire was grinning all over again as Leon patted her bottom. It was such a small thing, but it made her feel the same kind of safe as that night in Raccoon City when things had gone from him telling her it was just a really big moth, to them suddenly tearing at each other’s clothes. She shook the memory away and sat down next to Jill. “So spill. What has big Red gotten himself into this time?” She asked, though the redness to Jill’s eyes told her everything she needed to know.
“Claire...” Jill glanced over her shoulder to make sure Leon was indeed gone. “Chris knows about Clara.” She breathed. “She found him when she was too nervous to reach out to you and Leon.”
Claire was silent, then simply nodded. “I know. That’s why he stopped speaking to me right after he walked out on you...”

“He’s the guy so desperate to get laid, even imminent death didn’t keep him from fucking your teenage mother.” Billy snorted. “Tells you all you need to know about the both of them really.”

"And now that Leon is here, you can tell him too." Chris croaked out, looking at his sister. "Especially since you two are heading out to rescue her."

"Are you trying to see if you can upset me, meathead?" Ciara snorted. "I figured out a long time ago that nobody cared about me. I was dumped at a hospital and then tossed from house to house until I finally ran away."

“If I tell him, he’s going to hate me... just like you do.” Claire whispered, unable to lift her head to look at her brother. 

“And you think a rookie cop and teenage mother would have given you a better life?” Billy snorted. “They’ve been running since the day you were conceived, kid.”

"You two had no business lying to me about her. It wasn't fair. It isn't fair to Leon either." Chris said hoarsely. "If you don't tell him, I'll go get her. Screw being sick." 

Ciara sighed. "So this Wesker really thinks people who didn't want are going to come rescue me?" She asked, still watching him from where she lay. "What about Becky?"

“It wouldn’t have been fair to her to keep her!” Claire insisted. “Look at how Wesker used Jill to hurt you, you don’t think he would’ve done the same with Ciara?”

“He doesn’t. Think it, he knows it.” Billy corrected. “It’s what people like them do... they can’t leave anything alone.” He added with a bitter snort. “Rebecca double crossed a very powerful man, no doubt he is making her pay for it right now.”

Chris shook his head. "I don't know. I think a child would have been easier to protect..."

Ciara sat back up, her blue eyes sad. "Why did she do it? Does he have something of hers?"