Old Vendettas

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.

"Hello to you too." Chris Redfield grumbled, rubbing his cheek. "So glad you're not dead." He added, wishing Glenn had been a better shot.  
He'd left Jill behind on purpose. Along with not telling her about the mission. She would have insisted on coming, especially when she knew Rebecca was involved. "I'm alive by the way." He added with a snort.

Maria Gomez was shaking with rage as she picked up Glenn's cellphone from the street. It was in terrible shape but the chip still worked. She placed it in her own phone and dialed the number that made her stomach tighten. Glenn only thought himself evil. "We need to talk." She said, trying to keep her tone dark.

Jill narrowed her cobalt eyes at Chris, in no mood for his sarcasm right then. “Something you regret, no doubt.” She shot back as she stuffed her PDA in her back pocket and folded her arms across her chest. It was unlucky for Leon that Jill happened to glance in his direction. “What? You conveniently lost my number?” She snapped, now laying blame on him for not calling her either.

There was a lengthy pause on the other end of the line, though the owner of the voice she would soon here was smiling. He was watching the large screen in front of him, watching events in New York playing out. “Why yes, I can see why you would think that.”

Leon shoved his fingers through his hair as his mouth dropped open. "That's entirely unfair." He protested. "When was the last time one of you guys called me that you didn't need something?" He turned and gave Chris a dark look. "Claire hasn't spoken to me in years." He added, not sure why that statement had left his lips. 

"It's time for you to take care of them." Maria's voice shook ever so slightly. "It's time for you to wake up and see that Chris Redfield can no longer run around unchecked. I'll give you the sample you asked Glenn for."

“Can you really blame her?” Jill shot back. “More to the point, do you even care?” All this time behind a desk had left Jill without the means to release all this pent up anger, and here it was, erupting for no real reason on someone who didn’t even deserve it.

“You had him in your grasp.” Wesker pointed out coolly. “Why should I clean up your mess?”

"Caring is a two sided street you know." Leon growled. "She disappeared on me after that whole ordeal with Rockfort island without so much as a kiss my ass." He crossed his arms over his chest, daring to glare Jill down.
"Cool it, Valentine." Chris said firmly. "No reason to take things out on Golden boy when you're pissed at me for something stupid."

"I was simply following orders." Maria said, her tone returning to the darkness it had begun with. "Redfield is your mess. Glenn told me he always has been. I am offering you a deal to do as I've suggested. Will you take it or not?"

Jill was visibly trying to reign her temper in, something only Chris would know the visible signs of. “She asked for you, Leon. She was lost and scared, she asked you to come get her... and you couldn’t tear yourself away from whatever was so fucking important!” She finished that final statement by shoving her hands roughly against Leon’s chest. 

Again there was that infuriating pause. Wesker wasn’t truly thinking the deal over, he had already made his decision on that. No, he simply enjoyed pushing peoples buttons. He again watched the screen in front of him, the camera showing a close up of the sickening mess that were parts of Glenn’s remains dripping off a building. He smiled, knowing that he knew Chris Redfield’s weaknesses better than anyone. He saw the other mans weakness the moment she had walked through the doors of the RPD. “I’ll send you the address where you will meet me.”

"It's not like she didn't find someone to shack up with in the meantime!" Leon shouted, having to right himself to keep from falling backward. His hateful words were a bigger mistake than he realized. Chris was there in a moment with a punch so hard he tumbled to the ground. There was no backing up to save himself this time. 
"You watch your mouth!" Chris roared. 
"Oh for heaven's sake!" Rebecca came limping toward the group, shaking her head. "Do you two ever stop being brats?" 

"Fine." Maria hung up, now staring at what remained of her father. Glenn had done this. Her father had agreed to it. But she was certain he hadn't truly understood what was being asked of him. To die for a bastard. A bad man. And for what? Glenn had been defeated. His virus was no more alive than he was. Except...

Jill was there to press her hands to her husband’s chest, keeping him from following up with any further attacks. “She asks about you.” Jill breathed, though she had her back to Leon now. “Every time she knows you’ve been involved in something the BSAA are also into... she asks about you. She worries about you, just like she always has.” The taller woman nodded to Rebecca, a silent thank you for calming the situation down.

Wesker rose gracefully to his feet, rolling his head from side to side until he heard the satisfying crack. It had been some time since he had gotten his own hands dirty. He could almost smell the blood already.

"Ask about new ways she can shove her lovers in my face is more like it." Leon snorted. "Look...the Claire and Leon thing is dead. It lasted a single night when she thought she was going to die. There's nothing else to it." He kept his back to the duo. It hurt to see them, even when they weren't so happy. "I've got to go. My vacation, remember?" He added, looking over his shoulder at Chris. 
Rebecca gave a heavy sigh, mostly trying to get out the darkness that was still so heavy in her heart. Despite what he'd done she felt bad for Glenn, just like she she had Albert Wesker.

“I’m sure Ada is wondering where you are.” Jill spat, unable to look at Leon as he once again walked away. She knew Claire better than any of them. Jill had carried Claire’s secret all these years.
It was as Jill was refusing to watch Leon walk away that she saw the dark cloud settling over Rebecca. “Hey, rookie, why the long face?” She asked with a smile she had yet to offer even her husband.

"That's Professor to you." Rebecca said with a weary smile of her own. 
Behind them, Leon had gotten to his feet and thrown his hands in the air.  "Like I said, I am finishing my vacation. Screw you, Jill." The subject of Claire Redfield was always a touchy one. He had tried so hard to keep his mind off her he ended up lost in the memories. She was the reason he drank.

Jill laughed quietly and patted Rebecca on the shoulder. “Always rookie to me.” She breathed before returning her attention to her husband. For a long moment Jill simply looked up at him, wishing she could turn back the clock. Take back the things she had said these past few years in anger. She knew why he had done what he did in taking her off active duty, but it didn’t mean she had to like it. “You deserve better.” She finally breathed, taking hold of his hand and looking down at the blood on his knuckles. “You both do.”
“Professor?” A male doctor was approaching the short haired woman. “Very young for such a stuffy title.” He teased, gesturing for her to take a seat.

"What you mean, Leon?" Chris snorted, pulling his hand away and shoving his fingers through his scruffy hair. "I need a haircut." He added, looking around for one of the men who'd remained alive in the ordeal. "Damn it, guys! Get that shit cleaned up before it infects someone else!" He shouted, simply walking away from Jill. She'd hurt him in more ways than he wanted to admit and a simple touch wasn't going to fix it this time. 

Rebecca sat with a grimace. "No more poking and prodding please? I told you guys I'm fine. I'm not infected."

Jill remained right where she was stood, now staring down at her feet as Chris simply walked away from her. She felt she had lost him the moment they stopped being partners, and got married. Putting her behind a desk was like caging a tiger stolen from the wild; it was slowly killing her and he had either not noticed, or didn’t care. 

The doctor grinned and shook his head. “I know, but you’ve been through a lot these past few days. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t make sure you were healthy, right?” He asked, his green eyes crinkling as he smiled at her.

Despite being in pain, Chris threw himself into the clean up. He knew what he'd done to Jill wasn't right but it was the only way he could keep her safe. Wesker was dead but he wasnt the only threat out there.

Rebecca sighed and held out her arm. "I suppose that's fair. I've been where you are you know."

Jill had sent a message to Claire, knowing Chris wouldn’t think to let his sister know he was safe. Once that was done, she joined the clean up. She didn’t get in Chris’ way, but she was close enough that she was within earshot of the young female agents who seemed to constantly flirt with him. 

The doctor smiled again and set the blood sample inside a case before taking out a pocket light and checking her eyes for residual signs of the infection. “They say doctors make the worst patients, are professors exempt from that?”

Chris was clueless to the flirting. He always had been. He simply spoke to the women and laughed.

"Oh yes." Rebecca laughed. "I'm the worst. I broke my wrist a few years ago and refused to go to the doctor because I was sure I knew more than he did." She added with a smile.

Jill knew how clueless he was, and rolled her eyes. Despite their problems, she trusted him. There was nothing for her to worry about... right? It was as one young woman laughed excessively at something Chris had said that Jill got a reply from Claire. She let out a heavy sigh, not knowing how to answer when the younger woman had asked if Leon was okay.

“I don’t doubt that you did, but setting your own wrist isn’t exactly pleasant.” She doctor chuckled. “Trust me, I know first hand.”

"Let's pretend I didnt ask this." Leon said, coming out from the alleyway nearby. "How is Claire? Is she still working with you and Chris?" He seemed nervous, turning his head to make sure Chris wasn't watching.

"Yeah. Now someone tells me." Rebecca said with a playful snort. "It starts to rain and I know it days in advance. Good grief...I'm getting old."

Jill glanced in Chris’ direction too, not that she expected him to be looking for her anyway, then joined Leon at the entrance to the alley. Slowly she shook her head. “It’s always been Terra-Save that had her, no matter how hard I tried to get her to join us. You know Claire, just full of that Redfield stubbornness.” She breathed, casting a brief glance down to her wedding ring. “I haven’t seen much of her lately, since everything that happened with Alex Wesker she’s been pretty hard to pin down.” Jill pursed her lips together, knowing she was rambling. All these years, and this was the moment she found herself almost spilling everything and telling Leon the truth. “You miss her, don’t you?”

The doctor chuckled again and nodded. “It happens to the best of us, but unlike us mere mortals, you don’t look a day over twenty.” He replied with a playful wink.

"More than I ever want to admit." Leon said softly. "We see each other every once in a while. It's always dinner and...then I wake up and she's gone. I can't win." He gave a shaky sigh and closed his eyes. 

"I don't feel it." Rebecca admitted. "You know you haven't told me your name." She gave him a warm smile, holding out her hand.

“Oh sweetie...” Jill reached out and hugged Leon tightly, the complete opposite of the way she had been acting less than an hour previous. “Why don’t you tell her?” She breathed. “I know Claire... she probably thinks this is how you want things.”

“Maybe I don’t have one? I’m just... the doctor? You know, like a Bond villain or something?” The man replied with a grin, though he took hold of Rebecca’s hand and shook it warmly.

"I'm starting to think it's what I deserve." Leon admitted, revealing that the darkness he'd been fighting was still firmly in place. 

"See...that was a terrible answer. Now I'm all on edge." Rebecca laughed. "Or I'm really in the mood to watch a Bond movie I'm not sure!"

Jill was still holding onto Leon, her face buried against him as she fought to bite back the secret that wasn’t her’s to tell. “You’re so much like Chris... the job is everything to guys like you, how does any woman compete with that?” She finally asked, taking a step back. 

“Or maybe you’re in the mood for coffee when this is all done, and I can convince you I’m not actually an evil genius?” He teased. “It’s Aidan, by the way. Aidan Willis.”

"How would she know if she never asked?" Leon whispered back. "Ada was a rebound. When Claire told me she couldn't do it...whatever it was...there were rebounds. But you know the funny thing? She calls and I drop everything. I love her so I go. Even if I know she'll leave." 

"Coffee sounds great." Rebecca said with relief. "It feels like it's been forever." The guilt hit her where it hurt. Remembering the last person she got coffee with. Maybe it was a bad idea.

Jill watched Leon for a long moment, wishing she had the answers he was clearly looking for. “You’re the one guy she’s afraid to let in.” She finally replied. “Guys she actually gets serious with, they have a habit of, you know... dying. It started with that Steve kid. She thought you had given up on her, let herself fall for him. Dead. That guy she worked with, Neil? Dead. Piers Nivens, one she especially blames herself for. She asked him to look after her brother, and he died doing just that.” Jill sighed and rubbed at her eyes, feeling the worst woman in the world for being glad to have Leon’s problems to think about, it took focus away from her own failing marriage. “Claire is terrified that making a life with you is exactly what is going to get you killed.” Again Jill wanted to add that there was a whole other bag of worms to address, but didn’t. “What I’m saying, with way too many words, is talk to her. Tell her she can’t hold you at a distance out of fear.”

“Coffee sounds great in any situation.” Aidan agreed with a grin. “So what is your poison? Me? I’m old school, long black for me. Like my soul.” He added with a goofy grin before laughing at his own lame joke.

Leon shook his head. "I can't. She never wants to talk and I...I don't think I know how anymore. Just tell her I said hi, ok?" 

"You sound like an old friend of mine. He was always trying to tell me he was too dark for me. Emo guys." Rebecca shook her head. "Unfortunately for me...I should have listened. He was way darker than he admitted to." She sighed softly.

“No.” Jill replied bluntly as she folded her arms across her chest, glaring at Leon in the same way she often had Chris. “You two are beyond impossible! You love her, she loves you! What else is there to say?!” 

“Old boyfriend?” Aidan asked gently. “Would it make you feel better if I told you I put little heart shaped marshmallows in my very black coffee?”

"She loves me..." Leon could barely get the words out. He took a long moment to process this. After a while he shook his head. "I've seen her evidence of love. I'm better off alone."

"You're full of shit." Rebecca laughed. Then like Leon her thoughts again turned dark. She remembered someone else who drank very black coffee. She should stay clear of it. "Listen, I need to go..."