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.

“I’m sorry...I don’t... know where... Claire is.” Jill grunted between the kicks she was throwing at the zombies. Her gun wasn’t something she carried as an everyday item, especially since she had been a desk jockey for so many years now. It didn’t really matter though, Jill liked the hand to hand more than firearms any way. “Not seen her since before... she told... goddamn it!” She didn’t finish her sentence as she huffed in frustration, every undead seeming to have sniffed this room out.

That was another way in which Ciara differed from her mother. Claire was the care free spirit to Leon’s order. They were total opposites that complimented the other perfectly. 
The light flickered on on Ciara’s cell as Wesker unlocked the door. The first thing he noted was that’s Billy’s scent lingered here, and he could explain it until he saw what Ciara was wearing.

Chris realized the undead were not going after Jill. He'd been healed of his sickness. It was hard not to be the tiniest bit jealous.

Ciara narrowed her eyes at Wesker. "What do you want asshole?"’ she asked almost cheerfully.

Jill hadn’t even given it any thought about the the undead seeming to just want to get past her to the warm, large body behind her. 

Wesker said nothing for a long while, choosing to simply watch Ciara. He was looking her over closely, nothing which features were the Redfield genes, and how he would enjoy eventually snuffing them from existence. What annoyed him, was how she outwardly seemed to be very much Kennedy’s offspring. It took the fun out of it. “You assume I want something.” He finally replied coolly.

Chris didn't have to do much of the fighting. He tried hard to push this thought to the back of his mind. Watching his wife move in much the same way Wesker's had, took his mind into the even darker paths.

"Why else would you come here?" Ciara challenged.

Jill didn’t think she was doing anything wrong. While achris had been out on all those missions, leaving her behind, she had trained hard. In Jill’s mind, she was no better than human, when in reality she still moved a lot like she had when she had been forced to battle her now husband. It wasn’t long before the room was clear she and was turning to smile at Chris. “Piece of cake, old man.” She teased.

“You are my property. Can I not simply come to check on what I own?” Wesker mocked.

Chris wasn't smiling. The memories of the night he'd battled her and his former Captain were still there and they were still stinging. "Come on. We need to find Claire."

"Excuse me?" Ciara hissed, shoving to her feet. "No one owns me." She add, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jill’s own smile faltered and rejection flashed in her eyes when she saw the stern way Chris looked at her. She nodded once, then stepped over several of the bodies she had just incapacitated with little effort. Things weren’t okay. She had been fooling herself when she believed Chris when he said he forgave her. At least, that was how this scenario played out in her head.

Wesker snorted and pushed Ciara backwards with no more than a jab of two fingers to her forehead. “You are mine until I find a use for you, child.”

Chris followed Jill, staring at her back. The fact that she still carried a virus inside her scared him. She hadn't told him. 

"Let me guess, you're going to use me as a bargaining chip?" Ciara snapped, angry that she appeared weak. "I hate to tell you this but no one is coming for me. Nobody gives a shit about me. Kind of like Rebecca."

The silence was eating away at Jill as they fought their way out of the hospital. Chris hadn’t said so much as a word to her since he had gotten dressed, and she didn’t know what she had done wrong. All she could do was hope Leon and Claire were safe, or at the very least on better terms than she and Chris seemed to be right then. They still had several floors to navigate before they were free, but even that was no promise of safety. Jill didn’t want to think that the city outside would look like Raccoon city had in its last days. That was another memory Chris couldn’t share with her; he hadn’t had to watch their home disappear in smoke and fire. 

“The Redfield’s are like an entity all of their own. They will not leave a part of themselves behind when it is in peril.” Wesker replied coolly. “I know you met with dear uncle Chris. Now that he knows of your existence... he will need little prompting to come riding to your rescue. Of course...” Suddenly he smiled very slightly. “I could also understand you hating him, hating them all. As you say... they didn’t give a shit about you before.”

"I hate hospitals." Chris muttered, shooting a sole zombie that managed to get past Jill. "This shit will never end!"

Ciara shrugged. "I don't care enough about them to worry one way or the other."

“You think I like them any better?” Jill asked thinly, stomping on the zombie Chris had just shot. “Clearly hospitals aren’t the reason you currently have a stick up your ass though.”

“You somcergain? Why else would you seek them out?” Wesker asked. “They could have found you once you were eighteen, but they didn’t. Why... your mother was so ashamed, she didn’t even tell your father you existed.” He added, simply to be cruel.

"I'm worried about Wesker." Chris confessed. "I'm worried that since you seem to still be carrying a virus that he'll find you."

Ciara cringed. His hateful words having hit their mark. She tried to remmerem all the kind things her uncle had said but it was lost in a bitter cloud.

There it was. The words that made Jill doubt she was still the woman Chris had first fell in love with. “I carried this virus since Carlos gave me the t virus vaccine all those years ago.” She replied thinly. “You’ve always known I was infected, why does it suddenly matter to you?”

Wesker saw the darkness forming in Ciara’s eyes and he tried not to smile. It was always so easy to sow the seeds of doubt with these people. He didn’t say any more, instead choosing to let the words fester inside of her. Silently he closed the door, once again plunging the cell into darkness.

"not that virus." Chris said softly. "It's His virus I'm worried about." He was glad he didn't have to elborate as another undead doctor stumbled through the door.

"What does the darkness do?" Rebecca asked, looking up from what she was doing. She couldn't help but wonder why Wesker hadn't done the same to her.

Jill could see the undead doctor in her peripheral vision, though she was staring at Chris. “You think I’m not me anymore, don’t you?” She breathed, though several more undead had sniffed Chris out to their location now. 

Wesker sat down beside Rebecca, though he seemed to be choosing his words carefully. “How much did Claire tell you about what Alex did to her?” He finally asked.

"No..." Chris was stuttering, trying to find the right words. Again he was saved by a monster as a licker fell down on him from the grate above.

"Nothing. She got really touchy about the whole subject." Rebecca said, sadly. "She even yelled at Chris for bringing it up."

Jill groaned and rubbed at the pulsing pain in the centre of her head. She hadn’t slept in days, and these new developments weren’t helping. A moment later she had lunged at the creature attempting to stab its lance like tongue into Chris’ chest. The tall brunette faltered at the last moment, that tongue reminding her of the pain of the nemesis impaling her in much the same way. She ended up slamming into the skinless creature, sending them both sliding across the polished tile, it’s claws ripping three long wounds down her back.

Wesker modded, having assumed as much. “Much like Jill, Claire is still a carrier for the virus she was once infected with.” He replied. “The T-Phobos is a variant of the same virus both Alex and myself were given. Alex was obsessed with fear, and how to use it to control people. In the literal sense, in that anyone infected with the virus who was overcome by their fear, would mutate and become a drone to be controlled by her.” He paused and brought up what appeared to be surveillance videos of Claire and Moira Burton. “She failed to take Redfield’s past experience into account. There is little to scare her with any longer, so she never mutated. It has been several years since she was infected, so I would suspect her body has adapted to the infection in much the same way Jill’s did.” He was watching Claire lead Moira through the darkness, having to constantly stop and rescue the younger woman from attackers. “Darkness is a fear all creatures share in one way or another... until they see the things that lurk within it. Then there is something much greater to fear.”

Chris shoved to his feet and shot the creature. All the while he watched Jill, seeing her wounds heal up like Sherry's had. He needed nothing more to confirm what he already knew.

"I can't believe it takes people a virus to figure that darkness is not the worst of our problems." Rebecca whispered.

Healed or not, the pain still took Jill’s breath away. She was on her hands and knees, sucking deep breaths through her teeth as she waited for the painful burning to cease. It was only when she happened to glance up and see her own husband standing there looking at her like a freak that she realised this void between them may not be something that could be fixed. Silently she got to her feet, walking ahead of Chris so she didn’t have to see that look in his eyes again.

“Claire is still infected.” Wesker told Rebecca. “There is every chance of something eventually putting enough fear in her that she will mutate, but there is also the possibility that the virus has already adapted her into something else entirely.” He added, now watching the infra red feed that showed Ciara. “The fear of losing her grown child, that would be an appropriate test, don’t you suppose?”

Chris slipped his phone out of his pocket and dialed Rebecca's number. He could count on her, he always had. She would fix this.

Rebecca looked down at her phone, showing the number to Wesker. She wasn't about to answer without his permission.

Jill was tearing apart any undead that she found. If Chris ever decided to join her, her would find his wife covered in blood and sat in the middle of all the bodies she had just treated like rag dolls. Where did he get off acting like there was something wrong with her?

Wesker smiled slowly and nodded. “Answer.” He told her simply. “What could the meathead want this time?” He asked, though they both knew what was wrong. “I do so hope he received my gift.”

"Rebecca, I need your help." Chris began speaking before she had even said hello. "Jill still has His virus in her. You can get rid of it...right?" 
Rebecca stared down at the phone, her face a mask of hurt and betrayal. He hadn't even asked if she was okay. "I can't help you, Chris." She said after a moment of silence. "I paid my debt to you. I don't owe you anything else."

Wesker was entirely too pleased with Rebecca’s reply. He was almost... Proud. It had taken her a long time to understand Chris and his associates weren’t entirely good; they were simply selfish. 
Jill had come back to check what was taking Chris so long. It had been just in time to hear him basically telling whoever was on the phone that she was broken and needed fixing. She was stood round the corner with her back pressed to the wall, trying to process this fresh betrayal.

"Rebecca, please. I can't lose her again." Chris all but pleaded. "You don't understand what it's like."
"I don't?"  All at once Rebecca was shaking with rage. "I don't have idea what it's like to watch the person I love die? Fuck you, Chris!" She shouted into the phone. "You're the hero so why don't you find a way to fix it?" She didn't give him a chance to answer before she'd hung up on him.

Jill screwed her eyes shut, the vulnerable tremble to Chris’ voice not something she wanted to be responsible for. She wanted him to depend on her. She needed him to see that they couldn’t change what had been done to her, they just had to live with it, and use it to their advantage. 
Wesker didn’t say anything at first. He hadn’t been expecting such rage from Rebecca, but slowly he smiled. “I could have my men drop a tyrant on his location, if that would make you feel better?” He mused after a moment.

Chris leaned back against the wall and buried his face in his hands. All of this was his fault. He couldn't get past that.

Rebecca laughed through her tears. He'd never tried to make her feel better before. She wiped her face and nodded. "Can we...watch?" She asked softly.

Even if Chris hadn’t been her husband, he had been her partner long enough for her to know that look. “You’re an idiot, Redfield.” She told him bluntly, standing in front of Chris with her arms folded. “A goofy... stubborn... beautiful idiot.” Her voiced softened with each word and she reached out, running her fingers gently through his hair. “I know you’re strong enough to survive it, but please... stop carrying the weight of both our pasts on your shoulders.”

Wesker let his eyes trace over Rebecca’s face for a moment, and his smile turned a little more wicked. “You want to watch them torn limb from limb? Or... would you rather watch one of them shrink in terror.” He breathed, reaching across and touching her cheek lightly. “I wish you could hear Jill’s screams from her nightmares. Still so terrified of that nemesis.”

"Jill...I can't lose you." Chris said hoarsely. "Weskers virus...you saw what it did. What if that happens to you someday?"

"Have them torn apart." Rebecca breathed. "They deserve it."

“It won’t.” Jill promised firmly. “That’s the part that is just killing him.” She added with an impish grin. “All those years of having the t virus antibodies means my body can handle what his, and so many others, can’t. If it can handle the Chris Redfield freight train, it can take anything, right?” She breathed, hoping to at least make him smile. 

Wesker took Rebecca’s chin in his fingers and kissed her firmly. It wasn’t in the least gentle or tender, simply because he had to fight so hard not to simply squeeze his grip a little and shatter that perfect little jaw. That was his constant struggle; holding back all that strength.

Chris smiled but it didn't last long. Soon enough it faultered. "He really is back. Isn't he?" He whispered.

Rebecca returned his kiss, knowing the effort he was making. She turned so that she could wrap her arms around his neck pulling him impossibly close.