In the Ashes

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It was all gone. Everything. Her favourite dress, a bracelet a close friend once gave her, hell even the gun she had carried with her since basic training. Those things shouldn’t matter, the entire city was now nothing more than a crater in the landscape, and she was worrying about material possessions. The chopper lurched slightly, snapping her back to sickening reality. Chris, Barry and Rebecca were safe at least, that was the one silver lining to her feeling like she had been abandoned in the city by her friends. They had left weeks ago, wanting to tackle the rotten core of the problem. But what about the city? THEIR city? Was she the only one who had called it home? Jill Valentine let out a heavy sigh and glanced at the figure piloting their chopper; at least she hadn’t tried to save it alone.

Jill knew her answer had always remained the same, but for some reason tonight, something was screaming at her to just take a chance. “We get out of this one, and you’ll have your yes.” She told him, sealing her promise with another kiss.

One of the ‘patients’ was stumbling along with the rest, a bandage covering a large section of his face. He was smiling as he moved, able to hear the terrified screams in reaction to the cry of the hunters. They were pure perfection; maximum casualties in minimum time.

Sam grabbed her hand and slid the diamond on once he pulled away. "I knew you'd say yes!" He cheered, yanking her against him for a deeper kiss. "I love you so much, Jill. You are amazing. You know that right?"

"Hey!" Rebecca's voice wasn't as firm as she'd like it to be. But when she saw the groups of patients heading toward the hunters, she knew she had to do  something. She got on the desk and cupped her hands together, worried she would not be heard in time. "You in the black jacket and face bandages! Stop! All of you be still! Help is coming!" She shouted. A hunter turned at her noise and shrieked again, this time heading her way. "Keep your heads down..." She instructed, trying to keep her tone, rational.

“And you can do so much better than me, you know that, right?” Jill breathed, taking Sam’s face between her hands, though her gaze did drift to the sparkling diamond now settled nearly on her finger.

The man in the black jacket did indeed halt, surprised someone was foolish enough to think help was coming. He glanced back over his shoulder just in time to see who it was calling out like that. Of course it was her. Nothing ever went to plan...

"Only because you cheat at cards." Sam chuckled, patting her bottom before turning to grab his gun. "Mr. Valentine. It has a ring to it." He teased, stepping through the door and disappearing into the darkness.

Rebecca grabbed for her gun and ran for a young man who was panicking not far from her. She was a step too late and the hunter reached him taking his head off with little more than a swipe of the claws. It purred ad it turned to see her closely. She was an easy kill for him.

Jill stared into the darkness after Sam left, wishing she didn’t have such an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach. She took a deep breath and headed in the opposite direction, instantly regretting that decision. The moment she entered the vast room she saw nothing but blood and carnage. People were screaming, hunters were screaming, internally she was sure she was screaming too. She quickly refocused herself and raised her rifle, placing a single bullet between the eyes of a crimson head sprinting after a screaming civilian.

The bandages were off as Wesker made the decision to blow his cover. He was there to collect combat data and samples; he hadn’t counted on are evac working in that same facility. “Get down!” He barked, a shot firing into the haunch of the hunter advancing on Rebecca.

Nickolai wasn't far behind her, smiling wolfishly. This whole matter was about to come to a beautiful close and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Jill would be splattered all over the floor in this place and he would be the Victor. He had worked so hard for this moment. 
Sam was already half way across the gym. He recognized Wesker the moment he pulled off his bandages. He was on the other man in an instant, tackling him to the ground. He knew what an appearance like this meant for them. It was Death on more than a civilian scale.

Jill saves several more civilians from decapitation by taking out a hunter or two. She was constantly pressing forward. This was supposed to be a simple protection detail; keep Rebecca safe, her and Sam got down time in the process. Of course it wasn’t going to happen, it seemed for the past few years the entire universe was against her and Sam doing anything even remotely sociable. A crimson head was coming right at Jill as she allowed her thoughts to wander, while at the same moment her rifle jammed, forcing her to instantly drop it and reach for her side arm.
Wesker grunted out of annoyance more than exertion as Sam brought him to the ground. He pulled a fist back and slammed it into the younger man’s jaw, rolling away the moment he was able.

Sam's jaw was more than broken. In fact his jaw simply hung there. But he didn't give up. He knew if he didn't at least disable the elder man Jill would be in danger. 
He swung his rifle, slamming the butt of it into the back of his head. When Wesker stumbled again he yanked out his pistol and shot him once before beginning to weave, his vision blurring.
Not far away, a crimson head tackled Rebecca to the ground. Her scream echoed through the room.

Jill managed only two shots from her pistol before she too found herself brought to the ground by a crimson head. She could feel it’s got breath in her face and she wanted to throw up. No matter what she had survived, nothing prepared you for the up close stench of death. Her gun had slid from her grip and lay no more than a foot away, but all her focus was on keeping this creature from slashing her wide open.
Wesker stumbled forward, the bullet having lodged between his ribs. The pain was quite searing, but that could wait. He recognised the formerly handsome face of the man who dared attack him; the blond man smiled. How sweet it would be to watch Jill Valentine crumble. He left that thought for the moment however, Rebecca’s screams wrenching him back to reality. For now he simply slammed a foot into Sam’s knee, shattering the bone there instantly.

The pain was so surreal Sam couldn't even attempt to scream. But it wasn't enough to stop him. He was running on burrowed time...a death adrenaline surge. Another pistol shot caught Wesker in the spine. The next was for the crimson that was attacking his future wife. 
He didn't stop there. He kept going. He stumbled toward Wesker and shot him again in the same place, his fogged mind thinking surely he had ended things. 

Rebecca's scream of terror had turned into one of pain. To her horror she screamed for her former husband as the crimson swiped at her stomach. She managed to push the monster away but not in time to keep it from leaving her with a nasty open wound. She wouldn't have time to cure this....

Jill knew better than to stop and check where the shot had come from, instead she jabbed an elbow into the creatures gave while it was stunned and scrambled over to her pistol. Standing over the mutated zombie she fired several shots, no remorse on her face. It didn’t matter that this had once been human, now it was just another creature. Once it was put down she again followed the sounds of Rebecca’s screams.
Jill was just in time to hear Rebecca scream for Wesker, then see her former captain where he now stood over Sam, albeit with a hunch that betrayed his injuries . Her mouth was open, but no sound was coming out. She could see what was happening and couldn’t stop it.
Wesker met Jill’s haze, a cruel smile on his lips as he raised his own shiny silver weapon. It wasn’t a gun this time, it was a cruel looking blade that he slowly slid into Sam’s midsection, never once breaking eye contact with Jill.

Sam turned his head, his last image of Jill. He nodded at her before slumping onto the blade. 
Not far away Rebecca had fallen to the floor, the undead passing her in their desperation to find something living. 
She sighed softly and breathed Jacob's name. She hoped that he was safe from all this. That he would grow up strong. She would never see him now.

Jill could hear screaming again. This time it was her own. She was running, not caring that Wesker could easily turn the blade on her, she only knew she needed to get to Sam. She rammed a shoulder into Wesker, thankfully hitting one of the wounds he now carried. It was enough to instead him and allow her to gather Sam into her arms. “You can’t do this...” She sobbed quietly as she stroked his hair. “You promised...” She didn’t care that anyone would see her grief.
Wesker only took a moment to take in the delicious glory of a broken Jill Valentine. Who knew it was so easy? He taunted her further by tossing the blade that had killed her partner on the ground beside her. Wesker has what he came for, but Rebecca... He saw her unmoving form and all caution was gone. It didn’t matter if Spencer found them now, if Rebecca was dead.

Sam stirred after a few moments, his fingers brushing Jill's wrist. He moaned softly as Jill held onto him, his nails digging into her skin.

Rebecca was cold. But to her this meant comfort. Wesker was holding her, she was safe with him. The darkness was theirs. "I love you." She breathed.

Jill was on her knees with Sam’s head cradled in her lap. Hunters were still swarming around them, but she couldn’t move. Sam had put her back together when she had thought there were too many pieces for that to even be possible, she couldn’t lose him now. Back up was on the way, but it would be too late. “I’m sorry...” She sobbed when she felt him cling to her wrist. “I ruin everything!”

“It’s better if you don’t...” Wesker told Rebecca quietly as he scooped her up. He cast one more glance behind him, comforted by the sight of Jill. Little did he know he had just created an even more formidable foe. He was soon placing Rebecca inside his car, a hand pressed to her wound as his other reached into her own medkit for something to stem the bleeding until he got her somewhere better equipped.

Sam turned his head toward her, his mangled jaw hanging down his neck. The gentle kind look was gone left by nothing but one of hunger.
Behind her Nickolai was shaking with rage. Wesker had once again ruined everything. It was supposed to be his mayhem. He was going to kill Jill and Rebecca too. But now....

"Do you feel the heart beat?" Rebecca slurred, her fingers over cWesker's.  "Our baby is strong" A thin line of blood was sliding down her lip and chin. "Take care of him." She pleaded.

The gun in Jill’s fingers felt like lead weight. She knew what needed to be done, that Sam wouldn’t want to become one of those things, but that didn’t make it any easier. By the time the back up team arrived, they would be a clean up crew and nothing else. They would find Jill still clinging to her partner, a bullet wound in his temple. The woman herself was also unconscious, someone had used Wesker’s discarded knife to stab her in the back, and leave unseen. It wasn’t a mortal wound, but it was one that would require time to heal.

“Jacob is safe, I assure you.” Wesker breathed, cursing under his breath when the bleeding wouldn’t stop. “Silly girl... why were you there? You were supposed to be safe!” He growled, now climbing into the drivers seat and understanding he would need to keep pressure and drive at the same time.

Chris picked up the woman he loved and cradled her close to him after the medical team had pulled out the blade and stitched her up. He traveled with the transport that brought her back to the main headquarters. 
He stayed with her as she slept. When she finally woke up she would find a  necklace laying on the night stand. It had Sam's ring and hers as well as the bullet he'd used to pierce Wesker's heart.

"I found him. So I lied to everyone...said Umbrella was striking here.." the tiny woman was beginning to gurgle as she spoke. It wouldn't be long now. "We came to vaccinate. I saw...the woman who has him...I tried...she said he doesn't know me...I didn't get to see him..." Blood slipped past blue lips in foam. "She left... someone moved...my baby...I was so close, Wesker..." She gasped out, her hand going limp over his own.

Chris would no doubt see that Jill still wore the necklace he himself had given her all those years ago with the broken shard of a knife that could have taken his life, has she not acted. It was a silent reminder that no matter what happened; a piece of her always belonged to Chris Redfield.
“Wow, that’s quite a rock.” Jessica commented from beside Chris when she came to check on him at last. She was picking the necklace up off the nightstand, turning it to catch the light in the stones on the ring. “Guess some guys aren’t quite so afraid...”

Wesker didn’t say anything. What could he say? Rebecca was dying, and he had a hole in his chest that needed immediate attention. He didn’t like this feeling of weakness. I’m he needed to become stronger, invulnerable. He glanced briefly at Rebecca... so did she. They couldn’t finish his mission like this. It was all he thought about even as he unloaded Rebecca with gentle care at their destination, barking that she was to be put ‘on ice’ until he knew how to save her.

"Fuck you, Jess." Chris growled, slapping her hand as he pulled the necklace out of her fingers. "I've given you a necklace before. I can't help that you're just a fuck."

Rebecca dreamed of the life she had loved. She had seen the man not the monster. She had had a baby. She had a family. 
She kept seeing the darkness at the edge of her dreams and she called to it. She knew he was there. She could feel him. She just couldn't reach him. Life hadn't changed at all.

“Right.:. For eight years?” Jessica asked with a snort. “Call it what you want, Chris, but we both know it’s more than sex. If it was just that, you wouldn’t have given me anything at all.” She purred, leaning down and kissing him before he could say otherwise.

Wesker had undergone surgery of his own to fix the damage Sam had caused with his dying breath. He had healed quickly, but was right back to finding a way to fix Rebecca. He was repairing the physical damage bit by bit, but ultimately he knew what needed to be done; and he knew she would resist.

"Don't you have some other dick to jump on for a while." Chris muttered, tucking tthe necklace into Jill's fingers and closing them tightly. "It should have been me." He breathed. "You deserve to be happy."

Rebecca opened her eyes, pain sliding through her slender frame. It wasn't hard for her to guess that she was confined to a hospital bed. But the problem was she was too weak to even try to escape it. Had Umbrella won?

As though she could hear him, a fat tear dripped down Jill’s temple before disappearing into her hair. Her slender fingers flexed slightly as he pressed the necklace into them, but she didn’t yet wake up.
Jessica scoffed and rolled her eyes as she watched the touching scene. “You had plenty of time for it to be you.” She snapped, though didn’t make it clear if she meant time for him to be Jill’s guy, or time for him to get himself killed.

“Don’t...” Wesker was there as she woke, quick to lift his gaze from the papers he was reading. He was just as quick to set them aside and focus his attention on her. “Don’t move. Not yet...” He breathed, carefully taking her small hand in his own.

Chris ignored her as he brushed the tear trail away from Jill's temple. He remembered the nights when he'd lay there and stare at her terrified he'd one day lose her. Then he had watched her fall in love with another man. Sam was good to her. He was everything Chris himself could never be. 
He rested his forehead against hers and took in a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry." He breathed. "This is all my fault."

"Albert?" Rebecca's pale blue eyes lifted to her estranged husband's face and she gave him a confused look. "What are you doing here?" He didn't look so well himself. He was paler than she remembered, his hair falling to the side. He was not well kept. It was as if he'd spent days right where he was. "What's going on...are you okay?"

Jessica couldn’t deny the jealous rage that was bubbling inside of her. It may have been nothing to him, but she had fallen in love with Chris Redfield a long time ago, even knowing he would only ever have eyes for one woman. She finally left the room, leaving Chris to confess anything he wished to his former partner.
Jill’s fingers flexed again slightly as Chris laid his forehead against her own. She murmured softly until finally her long lashes began to flutter. “Mine... first...” She finally breathed.

Wesker smiled with relief when Rebecca said his name. He wasn’t aware of how he looked, and no one had ever seen the usually well presented man look this way. “I am I now.” He breathes, taking Rebecca’s hand and very carefully brushing his lips to the back of it. “You were so close...” He couldn’t force the words out, couldn’t tell her how many times he had lost her and what the cost had been to bring her back.

"I..." Chris' voice broke. He couldn't get the words out to let her know how sorry he was. "Jill...I could have lost you. And I...I let you get hurt. Forgive me. I'm so stupid." Hot tears were dripping onto her cheeks as he stayed there, his body shaking. "Even if I can't have you...I can't live without you...I'm so sorry..."

Rebecca found herself rather confused. The last time she'd spoken to Wesker he'd raised a hand to strike her. He'd told her she was weak and embarrassing. He would be glad to be rid of her. Worst of all, he'd taken her child away from her. 
"Where am I?" She asked, yanking her hand away. "What happened to Jill and Sam?" She tried to sit up only to feel her insides protest greatly.

Jill tried to reach her arm up to gently stroke her fingers through Chris’ hair as she had done many years ago, but the pain in her back brought what had happened flooding back to her. She sucked in a shuddering breath of her own as all the oxygen seemed to leave the space around her. Sam was gone. He had been about to turn and she had had to kill him herself. Even as Chris’ tears dripped onto her cheeks Jill was shedding heartbroken tears of her own. Chris has broken her that night he told her he no longer wanted to be her partner. It had taken Sam a long time to put her back together. And now he was gone. Despite her sobs, she did finally slide her arms around Chris, needing something to cling to.

At that question, Wesker couldn’t keep his lips from quirking into a very slight smile. As far as his information told, the both of them were dead. “I imagine they’re in the morgue by now, or possibly incinerated to quell the infection.
“But forget them, Rebecca...” His smile faded as he realised he needed to tell her what had been done. “Your injuries were quite severe...” He breathed. “In order to save you... the infection needed to remain, it had to fix the damage to your body.”

Chris gathered her into his arms and sat down with her. He held her tightly as he should have done from the beginning. "We were friends first, Jill. Partners. We will get through this together. I'll never leave you again." 

Rebecca's forehead lines deepened as she took in his words. The crimson head loomed into her view and she closed her eyes. "Why did you save me? You had everything you wanted right there. The samples. Jill dead... Everything was wrapped in a neat bow and you...you had to have sacrificed it all to go after me." The virus injection would wait. She was still stewing over that.

That was exactly what Jill needed right then; her best friend. When it came to love, every time she felt she was about to get everything she wanted... the universe ripped it away from her. She couldn’t risk that, not again. “You can’t make that promise.” Jill breathed, still clinging to Chris and curled in his lap.

Wesker was watching Rebecca with a curious expression. “You don’t even care, do you?” He asked with a half smile. “She died keeping your little facility safe, and you’re not even upset.” It wasn’t a question he was asking her, it was a glorious revelation. “But for the record, you dying would have... unravelled my neat little bow.”

"I can and I just did." Chris said firmly, kissing the top of her head. "I'll die before losing you again. Do you hear me? Even if it's just as friends...we belong together and I refuse to let that go." He pulled the blanked over the both of them and laid back in the bed. "So...I hope you don't mine I ordered fudge and some hot chocolate delivered here. Pizza and beer too. I totally had to strip tease for your nurse to get her to look the other way." He teased.

"Fuck you." Rebecca snapped, the first hateful thing she'd ever said to him. "I'm not about to let you know how I feel about losing my friends." She turned her head away from him. "You already figured out the way to rip out my heart and soul. I'm not going to let figure out that there are yet more ways you can tear me apart. You should have let me die."