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 hadn’t left to find Nikolai right away. She was wracked with guilt over what he had done to their nephew and had needed much consoling from Chris. Her grief had worn her out and left her sleeping in his arms as the night drew on. It was as dawn approached she woke with a jolt, realising she had fallen asleep when she should’ve been helping Carlos. That was when she realised Chris was gone.

Allen didn’t feel shame for what they had done. It didn’t matter that they had torn at each other’s clothes right there on the way to the hangar, it had been a release they both clearly needed. Even now, as he scanned through reports that were coming to his laptop, he cast a glance at Helena every so often. There had been no pretence with her, no needing to justify what she had done, it was... refreshing.

Chris didn't know what to do with a dead Rebecca. He felt stupid for letting her die. He was sure the people from Tricel weren't going to let him live this down. He had no idea Jill had left him. 

Helena finally glanced at Allen as she was pulling her hair up into a ponytail. She wondered what he thought of her. She didn't really want to guess. But to tell the truth, she wasn't sorry. She had wanted him. Jessica would have done it. Perhaps it wasn't so different. 
When his yellow eyes met her green ones she smiled. She hoped he remembered what she had told him.

Jill had wandered the house looking for some sort of scribbled note Chris May have left behind, but found nothing. She tried his phone, but it was going direct to voice mail. After several attempts she finally left a message telling him where she was going, and not to worry, she would fix the mess she had created. That done, she packed up her gear and headed to the location Nikolai had agreed upon.

Allen winked at Helena when their eyes met, then his face remained expressionless to anyone who may be watching. “I hop you won’t slow me down.” He told her sternly.

The room Jill finally arrived to was spacious and well lit. It was also empty. Everything was clean and in place. It didn't look like a monster had beaten a man to the point of death here. 
However,  the feeling of being watched would not leave her. Only once she'd reached the center of the room would a projected image begin to play. It was Chris and Jill teaching Julian to dive off the dock near their house. "Okay, Angel! I trust you." Julian said, inching closer to the edge. "But...what if the silver monster is there. I don't want him to drag me into the weeds..."

Helena snorted, turning back to the window. "I'm not your doctor. I can handle myself." She snapped.

Jill remembered that moment vividly. Julian had been so afraid at first, but after the jumped with him, the little boy had shrieked with laughter and done it again and again. She couldn’t tear her gaze away, wishing she had understood this moment better when it had actually been happening.

“I think what we just did proves you are not her...” Allen remarked with a smirk.

The projector flashed, showing a new image. The three of them camping. Julian had decided to go out looking for bears. He had directed his Angel to stay close to the trees. But...who would save them from the silver bear who wanted to drag him into the woods and eat him?

Chris was there when the helicopter landed. He was looking rather grim. He and Helena spoke for several moments before she returned. "He's refusing to let us near her." She said softly. "He said she died and we have no claim on her. He refused to believe that we can offer any assistance. I...I'm not sure what to do from here."

“Enough!” Jill shouted at last, unable to even look at the chubby little face calling for his Angel to come see the cool looking rock he had found. “You won’t get what you want until I see Carlos!”

“What right does he have to keep a man from his wife?” Allen asked coolly, fishing through the things they had brought with them for the marriage certificate. It didn’t matter that technically it wasn’t him, in the eyes of the law it was close enough.

Carlos came stumbling into the room from the other side. He looked like he'd seen better days. His eyes brightened considerably when he saw her but he didn't move forward. "Super cop...you came." He breathed. "Now leave. Turn and go before you can't. Nic...is worse. He's lost his mind. Please...if you still love me. Go..."

Helena said nothing to this. Instead, she got back off the chopper and instructed the crew to stand in formation. Chris was about to regret telling her no.

Jill’s almost ran time Carlos when she saw the state he was in, but caught herself at the last moment. She couldn’t allow Nikolai any further leverage. “Guess you don’t know me at all then, huh, merc?” She replied, the faintest smile tugging at her lips. “Super cop never gives up, right?”

Allen steppes from the chopped once the men had taken their position. He mimicked Wesker well when he needed to. His eyes remained hidden behind dark glasses, staring at Chris, though he had no real feeling about the other man one way or the other.

"A Carlosless world isn't ideal, honey, but..." His eyes were trained above her head. "It's not in the cards. Go home now. There's nothing to do left stairwell." He muttered. 

Chris' gun was instantly in the false Wesker's face. "Don't you ever fucking die?!" He howled.

Jill didn’t follow his gaze, but she couldn’t deny the chill she felt right the way down her spine. “You always were just a pretty face, weren’t you?” She asked, proving she wasn’t going anywhere.

Allen smiled coolly and seemed to bask in Chris’ anger. “Perhaps you were merely incapable of doing it right.” He mocked.

"You saw what you wanted now kneel." Nickolai's voice boomed. "Kneel before the true god!" 
"I fucking tried." Carlos hissed at her, blood sliding past his lips. "Why didn't you go?!"

Lines appeared across Chris' forehead. He didn't seem to quite understand. The Wesker he knew would have come up with something much worse. "Did that rocket knock a screw loose?" He asked softly. 
Helena stepped in quickly, hitting him in the stomach with her gun. "You're wasting our time!" She shouted. "His wife could still live and you play word games!"

Jill kept her gaze on Carlos, but didn’t kneel. “Why didn’t you?” She countered quietly. Nikolai needed to pay for everything, and Jill didn’t have it in her to simply roll over and accept whatever it was he planned to do to her.

“Tell me, Chris, where is your wife?” Allen asked with a cool smile. “Would be a shame if something... were to happen to her, again.” He added.

"STARS." The call started slowly. The thunderous steps started moments afterward. 
"Where was I supposed to go?" Carlos asked her, jerking his head toward the door at the far end of the room. "You forget. I'm a criminal. Before Raccoon city...I was in prison. They were going to kill me. You don't just walk away from that." He whispered, still looking at the door.

Chris' heart fell into his already aching stomach. "What did you do?" He shouted as men rushed past him and into the house. "Where is Jill?!" 
Leon heard the ruckus and stumbled outside, sober but sporting a terrible headache. He aimed his gun at the woman facing Chris and fired, not sure what was going on.

Carlos would have a clear view of the terror etched into Jill’s face at the sound of that creature. He had been the first to hold her when the nightmares had shook her. “I know a thing or two about former jailbirds, believe me.” She growled, finally forcing herself toward and sliding an arm around Carlos to help him get in notion and head for the door.

Allen has moved in the same way Wesker often had and had Helena pulled against him, safe from Leon’s bullets. “I didn’t do anything.” He informed Chris, though was smiling thinly. “I merely offered a product in exchange for payment...”

Unfortunately the door they were headed toward was the door the nemesis bust through. The creature took one look at Jill and howled in anger, destroying the room. 
"It's amazing what a brain can survive." Nickolai said from somewhere above. "Seems like your old friend missed you." He chuckled. "I'm so glad Wesker was willing to throw in a few bucks to see that the Nemesis project was revived." 

Leon cleared the distance as quickly as he could and was soon standing beside his brother in law, his gun aimed at Wesker this time.
"Who would pay a gutter slime like you?" Chris growled.  Before the other man could answer Rebecca was rushed by on a stretcher. Apparently, these doctors had managed to revive her. But...how and for what reason?

Jill stumbled to a halt, the gaze meeting that of the creature as it smashed through the door way. “Fuck...” She growler that one word, feeling the same kind of hopelessness she had the first moment it crashed through the wall of her apartment. “Keep going, it doesn’t want you.” She told Carlos, swinging the shotgun from where it was hung across her back.

Allen’s gaze darted to Rebecca for a brief moment before returning to Chris and Leon. “It’s astounding the number of enemies people like you make.” He remarked. “Tell me, Chris... does Jill still have the nightmares?”

Carlos wasn't about to leave her and Nickolai knew that. He'd planned for it. What he didn't plan for was the monster not exactly wanting to destroy what he believed belonged to him. 
Carlos grabbed for Jill and hauled her against him, yanking her backward as the first of three tentacles shot towards them. "Did I mention our friend is improved?" Nickolai purred. 

Chris sneered, leveling his gun on Helena. He'd seen the reaction. Wesker cared about this woman.

Oddly, Jill was smiling as she glanced up at the monster this time. “So am I...” She breathed. “That’s why you won’t face me yourself, why you have to kill children in the shadows!”

“I’m surprised she came back to you, given how willing she was to die for that merc of hers.” Allen added coolly, taunting Chris just as Wesker would have. He saw where Chris had levelled his gun, and reacted by doing the same to Leon.

The nemesis pulled Jill close to his face, growling softly. "Pain." He whispered. "R.. Rebecca..." It was almost as if he were asking if she knew where the other woman was. 

His words struck their mark just as he'd intended. Chris flinched, his trigger finger tightening just enough that his gun went off. He was not surprised that even with the woman in his arms, Wesker was able to dodge it. 
"She the new toy?" Leon snarled, not caring that Wesker's gun never left him. "The new Excella? Helena...you are worthless."

Jill seemed frozen for a moment, having never heard it utter anything other than STARS. She quickly collected herself however and yanked hard on one of its fleshy appendages to free herself. “Carlos! You need to get out of here!” She insisted again.

Allen smiled again, though he was almost ashamed how how easily he was able to imitate the real Wesker. “Look at you, both the second choice, the consolation prize for the women you love. That, boy, is worthless.”

Carlos shook his head, firing his own pistol into the monster's stomach. The Nemesis slapped him aside and turned back to Jill. "Where...is...she is...STARS..." The one eye was glaring at her as if she were lying to him. 

"What are you talking about?" Chris snapped. "There was no one else. For either of us. You're a damn liar." 
In his arms, Helena laughed. "Both of you are fools to think you are the first. None of the beautiful ones ever have just one." Her laughter had turned to a hiss.

Carlos shook his head, firing his own pistol into the monster's stomach. The Nemesis slapped him aside and turned back to Jill. "Where...is...she is...STARS..." The one eye was glaring at her as if she were lying to him. 

"What are you talking about?" Chris snapped. "There was no one else. For either of us. You're a damn liar." 
In his arms, Helena laughed. "Both of you are fools to think you are the first. None of the beautiful ones ever have just one." Her laughter had turned to a hiss.

“STARS are dead!” Jill hissed. “I’m... I’m the last one.” She wouldn’t let it continue its mission of eradicating what was left of their team, she wouldn’t put Chris in danger like that.

Allen didn’t offer Chris any more. The poisonous seed had been planted, for both of them, and that was enough. “We are done here, boys. You won’t keep my wife from me, try, and you know how this will end, and it won’t be with either of your deaths.”

"Want...Beck...A...!" Nemesis demanded. More tentacles swept out from his bulging left arm. One caught Jill's ankle and slammed her to the floor. Carlos was once again thrown past her, his gun sliding in her direction.

Helena followed Allen to the chopper and was silent as they flew back to the base. Once there she busied herself with making sure Rebecca was safe before she disappeared. Once in her room she passed out on her bed, exhausted and defeated.

As she was slammed to the floor Jill’s temple cracked against the hard concrete, causing her vision to swim and nausea to rise up in the pit of her stomach. She heard the gun slide close before she could focus her vision on it. It didn’t matter how many time’s this things sounded like it was asking about Rebecca; she would never trust something that had anything to do with Nikolai. Her fingers curled around the gun and she fired several shots blindly, knowing she couldn’t wait for her vision to right itself.

Allen visited The room Rebecca was being held In. He stood over her, watching her in her slumber and wondering if she had done the Same to him before she attempted to kill him. Her actions had altered how he felt for her, but until she woke and gave him answers, he could do little about it. Finally he found himself gravitating to Helena’s room. He didn’t make a sound as he opened the door, the only sign he was there would be the dip of the bed as he sat next to her, gently brushing some of her dark hair back from her face. She had seen the truth of him right away, how had Rebecca missed it? Or had she? Maybe she wanted anyone who looked like her precious Albert dead.

Jill would hear Carlos howling in agony after her final shot. The creature was silent as it waited for Jill to recover. When she began to stir he snarled. "Where...is... Rebecca?"

Helena moaned softly and turned onto her side. "Allen..." She whispered. She had cried herself to sleep, thinking no one else would know. She tried to be strong. She did everything she could to keep her head held high. Some times it became too much.

“She’s dead!” Jill growled, a made up lie not knowing that was what Chris had disappeared to deal with. “Like every other member of STARS she was fucking weak and died!”

Allen kissed Helena’s temple lightly and lay down beside her, pulling her carefully against his chest. He would be gone when she woke, and deny this ever happened, but for now it was exactly what they both needed.

"Smell her....not dead." Nemsis said softly, revealing how he'd been able to find Brad and Jill so easily in the city. "Give...me...her...p...please?" Again his voice was soft, almost as if he were trying to keep people from hearing him.

Helena woke feeling warm. Somehow she'd been dressed and tucked in. It took her awhile to decide to actually get up until she realized what time it was. 
When she did she jumped out of bed and threw on her clothes. She ran down the hall, not even bothering to lace her boots as she skidded into Wesker's office. It was late afternoon and her boss absolutely hated lateness.

Jill stared up at the creature for a long moment. She must have hit her head harder than she realised. It couldn’t be... no. She scooter back slightly as she tried to blink her vision clear. These things couldn’t speak. “You can’t have her... so long as Nikolai is alive.” She breathed, a feat to see if it understood.

Allen was leaning back in his chair, feet propped up lazily on the desk as he read a magazine and ate a bag of chips. It was very ‘un-Wesker’ behaviour.