Doopleganger

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Rebecca Chambers stared at the clone and shook her head. It was a much better copy than the one they'd worked on of Wesker during the Africa debacle. She sighed deeply and shook her head. 
"This isn't going to work. I don't care how good he looks." She muttered, well aware of the tall man standing in the background. "This is Jill we're talking about. Chris pulled her out of her own virus. There's no way she won't sense something." She groaned again and ran her fingers through her hair, only now remembering she hadn't bothered to have it cut in a long while. "Goddamn it. I could understand him dying in a biochemical outbreak but cancer? Who covers that shit up?!" The headache was there behind her eyes. She needed coffee and sleep. At least coffee. "He's not going to fool anyone. He's too cheerful. Chris was a real son of a bitch there at the end. And what about Claire? She'll smell a rat...oh god....What the hell was I thinking agreeing to this?"

“Oh... congratulations.” Ruby tried to be happy for him, but she couldn’t deny it was somewhat of a stab in the gut for her. She had never known a family, and had found it hard to accept herself as part of Chris and Jill’s at first. But time alone in her cage here had reminded how much she did love the both of them and how patient they had been with her. A baby changed that. A baby was a fresh start for both of them. Ruby knew she had no right to feel this way, but that was her initial reaction. “We should find a way to get you back to them then, huh?” She asked, hugging Chris again just so he didn’t see the pain in her eyes.

“She’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.” Wesker told Natalia simply. “But she was correct, there are indeed more delinquents being set loose, all the more reason for me to find you a way out of here.”

"I don't..." Chris nearly confessed his feelings to her when they heard a howl from the end of the hall. "Found 'em boys!" 
He was quick to yank out his gun and shove Ruby behind him. It didn't help that the grate above them was suddenly oozing slime that dropped into his shoulder in tiny taps. This was going to turn into a shit storm. And quickly.

"Albert, I can't leave." Natalia said firmly. It was a tone she never used with him. "Spencer put the ring inside me and set it to explode if I tried. He's the only one that can remove it. He told me if I wanted to live I have to win his game..."

“Dad... don’t.” Ruby breathed, not even realising what she had just called Chris as her slender fingers tugged in his belt from behind. “We don’t have time for them...” She added, worried she would become a liability that got Chris hurt, or worse.

Wesker exhaled slowly, resisting the urge to shout like a petulant child. “Spencers and their damn games...” He growled. “Did he happen to tell you how to win his game?”

There was a group of five men that stumbled into the room. Chris was quick to notice the one at the back looked as if he was sweating and shaking. The others were oddly covered in some kind of goo. But this didn't seem to be slowing them down. "Where's the other girl?" The shaking man stuttered. "We need them both...that's what he said...we have to have them both..." 
Chris cocked his gun, making sure the lot of them heard the noise. "You boys need to back out slowly before things get nasty."

Natalia began pulling on her braid. "I was supposed to let Ruby bring me to the third floor. Once we were there he would turn it off and let me go." She bowed her head, ashamed of herself. "I couldn't...I didn't want someone to get hurt because of me. He...showed me footage of you...that you had moved on..."

“Too late for that, that bitch already killed three of our guys!” One of the men hissed. Ruby groaned quietly, having not wanted Chris to know what she had done to survive. He would hate her enough as it was when he found out who her biological father was without knowing what she was capable of.

“Why Ruby?” Wesker asked out loud as he pulled Natalia’s fingers from her braid and urged her to walk along side him. “And all Spencer’s are liars. Don’t trust anything he says, or shows, you.”

"I think it's great you guys all formed a fucking friendship circle but I'm guessing when it gets down to it, you are all going to be turning on each other like the dogs you are. One last warning, fellas." Chris growled.
"Frankie .." the shaking one muttered, trying not to be heard. "We gotta get the other one...or he won't let us out. Let's come back when the other things gets this guy..."

"He kept telling at us about revenge. He was using her to draw out the Redfields and...you..." Natalia was fighting for her happy thoughts. But the darkness was creeping in. Alex's hateful whispers were there. It was as if she were walking on the other side, hissing reminders of her fate in her ear. "Red bear...blue suit...black eyes...black nose..." She stopped where she was, screwing her eyes closed. She had to remember Lottie. He hadn't betrayed her. He had never made her sad or hurt her... "Scar on the belly...

The one called Frankie was glaring at the ice blue eyes that were peering around the well built man standing in their way. “Don’t let it fool you, that’s the biggest monster in this place.” He warned Chris darkly.
Ruby has her fingers curled into the back of Chris’ vest as the stand off took place, screwing her eyes shut every few moments to fight the wave of dizziness that washed over her. It didn’t help that she was beginning to sweat without even exerting herself.

“Me...” Wesker murmured the word, so certain there hadn’t been a single person left alive who knew who Ruby truly was. There shouldn’t have even been any way to suspect her. “Natalia...” Wesker leaned down now and places his hands on the young woman’s shoulders. “You need to accept something if you are leaving here with me to return to our life; Ruby must die.”

Chris had no idea what was going on behind him. He moved forward, well aware that the four uninjured men would surround him. He only needed to buy time for whatever was in the vents to decide it was hungry enough. 

Our life...it sounded so wonderful...but what was it really? She'd lied to Ruby about why he'd given her the ring. He'd simply given her a ring. There was no question of matrimony behind it. He'd seen her eyeing it earlier in the day. That was all. 
She pulled away from him, shutting down completely. Spencer had shown her many things about Albert Wesker. He was just like his sister. He wasn't the man he pretended to be when he was with her. And when she was gone..."Red bear...blue outfit...gold trim...Lottie..." She had a hold of her hair, pulling it hard enough to pull away handfuls as she tried to braid it.

“Dad... please...” Ruby pleaded, refusing to look up and see whatever it was that had almost silently crawled out of the vent. Ruby hated this feeling of weakness, even if it wasn’t exactly weakness; it was how it felt to be human.

Wesker had had enough. He grabbed Natalia’s arm and pulled her along. She didn’t need to be willing for him to get her out of this game. He would drag both her and Ruby to Stone kicking and screaming if he had to. But one way or another; his own offspring wouldn’t be leaving here.

This group was blood thirsty. One of them was quick to jump on Chris, a large hunting knife in hand. He was followed by another man and then another until the well built man was buried under a pile of bodies.

Natalia could hear the yelling from the hall as soon as Wesker dragged her into it. She dug in her hells, even if she knew in the end it wouldn't do her any good.

Ruby’s scream pierced through the sound of all the men grunting and fighting to be the victor. She couldn’t lose him, not like this. The young woman threw herself into the fight, snapping the neck of the closest man before another turned on her, his knife cutting neatly across her ribs. It wasn’t a serious wound, but it would be enough to draw the monster from the vent to her.

It didn’t. Wesker simply picked the young woman up, arriving on the balcony over looking to main hall just in time to see several men brawling. He couldn’t see Chris, but he saw Ruby as she was wounded. He felt nothing.

"Ruby!" Natalia reached for the other woman over her lover's shoulder, shouting her name. She could hear Alex's voice in her head, trying to push her forward but she couldn't listen. She couldn't let them win. "Wesker, please! We can't leave her!" She cried, struggling against the impossible hold he had on her. 

As soon as the other feminine voice hit their ears the entire fight stopped. The men that were trying to down Chris turned their heads. "Get the other one!" The shaking man wheezed. "We need them both!"

Ruby glanced down and saw the dark stain spreading through the indigo colour of her vest. The wound didn’t bother her, it was the fact the man who had cut her her damaged the only gift she had ever been given. She was about to lunge at him, murder in her ice coloured eyes when she felt the hot breath on the back of her neck. The young woman barely had chance to throw herself to the ground before the skinless creature thrust a claw at the spot where she had been stood.

Wesker saw Ruby’s quick reaction and almost smiled. Maybe what she had been taught had indeed stuck. He didn’t have time to dwell on it however when he saw one of the men break away and coke charging for himself and Natalia. How foolish. They wouldn’t got close enough to do a damn thing.

Chris grabbed at Ruby's ankles as another beast landed on the spot she'd moved to. The slick blood made it easier to slide her closer to him and would mask any smell of blood that was coming from him. "Come on...another guy has Natty...we need to get moving..." He gasped out.

Natalia did as she always had and buried her face in his shoulder. "Our life." She breathed. "I miss it so much..."

Ruby had a hand pressed to her wound and nodded her head. “You should find the place in the third floor where Stone said he would be, I’ll grab Natalia.” She breathed, like her mother trying to make rational decisions amid the chaos.

“Do you though?” Wesker questioned, surprised that he cared that she had changed in the short time she had been here. He was quite adept at monitoring people, evident in the way he had used Jill and Chris against each other even when they were all still members of STARS.

Chris shook his head. "We're going together or not at all. A Redfield never leaves anyone behind." He reminded her. "We'll force them into the main hall and grab Natty in the confusion."

Natalia felt the rush of air as Wesker moved. There was a tiny sprinkle of wetness on the back of her neck but she wasn't sure what it was from. 
"I think...you were..." Another rush of air and more liquid on her neck. "You are hiding from me. I don't want that. I can't live you if you lie to me."

Secretly, Ruby was almost glad he had disagreed with her. At it stood, she wasn’t sure how capable she was while feeling so weak, something she wouldn’t figure out in her own was simply how the human body was actually meant to function. “Alright, together.” She agreed with the same firm nod Jill often used. “But I’m warning you now, Natalia is a royal pain in the ass and a useless liability.”

“The truth never did anything but create problems were there should be none.” Wesker replied, spinning round quickly when he heard footsteps attempting to sneak in from behind. He wasn’t even out of breath. The poor souls in this mansion were no more than ants beneath his boots.

"Ruby Ann." Chris admonished. "No one is a liability. We are the good guys. Right?"
Wesker knew the best way to hurt Chris. He'd heard the two lovers talking about their dreams of naming a child. Ruby Ann had always been Chris'. 

"It hurt that you thought I couldn't handle the truth." Natalia whispered. "I was broken without you because...you are my world. I love you." It was the first time she'd said that to anyone. She knew how much pain an emotion like that could cause.

Ruby scowled slightly at the use of her middle name. “No, you’re the good guy, I’m a freak raised in a training facility.” She pointed out, pulling Chris’ knife from it’s sheath on his belt to toss it through the air and into the exposed brain tissue of one of the creatures hunting them. It was a move Chris had taught Claire many years ago, and something that had saved her life several times over.

Wesker felt his jaw tighten when she said it, and knew he couldn’t return the sentiment. It was too dangerous for Natalia. The fact she had been brought here in the first place more than proved that. “And what if something had happened before I found you? What good would love do you then?”

Chris saw a black shadow moving quickly not far from them and fired at it several times. He didn't know it yet, but this mistake would cost him. 

The way his jaw worked was enough of a response for her. "No one has ever come to save me..." She breathed. "I think love..." All at once she stopped speaking, her body going limp in his arms. There was a growing warmth on his shoulder as her head simply lolled there now, her sudden silence deafening.

“Wait...” Ruby didn’t know why, but she didn’t want Chris shooting his gun right then. Her slender fingers pushed the weapon down and she pressed a finger to her lips to signal him to simply be quiet and listen.

“Love is what? The answer to the universe?” Wesker teased, though when he felt the sudden warmth in his shoulder he crouched down, setting Natalia on the ground to do what he foolishly thought was keep her out of harms way.

Chris cocked his head, listening for the sounds of a monster or shuffling. But he was watching Ruby, worried by the way she was watching the shadows not far from them.

Natalia's body was limp, her head rolling to the side as he laid her down. Her braid was loose and covered with blood. The first shot had hit her in the forehead the other had struck the side of her neck, pulling hair into the wound.

Though she couldn’t see into the shadows as she usually would have been able, Ruby knew someone was moving up there. And out of nowhere she could all but taste the searing anger that suddenly filled the room. “Dad... Run!” She hissed, shoving Chris aside as a dark shape dropped down on them. Ruby was too slow to get out of the way herself, so now lay on her back with Wesker’s foot on her chest. He stomped down hard, several of her ribs cracking with the force. Yellow eyes saw that Chris was the one holding the gun, which made things extremely black and white.

"Wesker!" It was an age old game. The name left his lips like acid. He felt like he'd said them this way a million times before. He raised his gun at the other man, well aware that this would not save either Ruby or himself. "Get off her or I swear to god..."

Wesker held Chris’ gaze as he stomped on Ruby’s slender arm, the sickening snap all too audible in the vast hall, until the young woman screamed with the pain. “Now now, did I not teach you better than that?” He sneered, kicking Ruby where she had been stabbed earlier. “Why do you even protect this failure, Redfield?” He growled, needing Chris to hurt as he did in that moment. It wouldn’t be a quick pain either, he would cause the both of them to suffer greatly for what the younger man had done to Natalia.

Chris tackled Weaker, though there was no real surprise behind the move. "She's my daughter, you fuck!" He screamed, using his weight to send the two of them to the floor. "You already knew that!" 

Stone didn't have to walk very silently as the two men fought. He turned his head to glance at Claire, wondering what she was thinking in that moment. "Shoot Wesker." He hissed as he passed with Natalia's body. "He's ruining my game." He waited to make sure she hit the right spot and then they'd be gone again. He locked eyes with Ruby for a moment and winked at her, making sure she knew that things had just gotten worse. "Shoot the clone too. To make it fair."

Wesker’s cruel laughter replaced the sound of Ruby’s pain filled gasps as the two men hit the ground. “That’s what she told you?” He sneered before they rolled across the ground and came out on top, powerful fingers around Chris’ throat. “Take a good, long, look boy. There’s no shred of Redfield DNA... she’s all mine.. and Jill’s.” He purred, ensuring Chris would be able to see Ruby as he revealed this information. It didn’t matter how Ruby was conceived, he thought so little of Chris to think he knew the younger man’s thoughts in that moment.

Claire was hesitating slightly when she saw Ruby was still trying to get to her feet even with all her injuries. “I thought games were more exciting if they were unpredictable?” She responded, though had her gun levelled at the two brawling men in the floor below them.

Chris didn't realize his shattered heart was able to take more pain, but there it was. It tore away at his chest and made it feel like he had been stabbed a thousand times over. 
Even then he smiled at the young woman. Her parentage had nothing to do with it. She was his daughter. "She's my daughter, you son of a bitch. No lies you try to spit out will change that."

"This is unpredictable. We shoot them and see what happens. It's called unpredictable science." Stone laughed softly. "My father used to do it all the time. Even to me. But I'm stronger for it I suppose. Now get it done, stop stalling. He isn't your brother."

Wesker, for once, was at a loss for words. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Chris should hate the girl with everything he had. He snarled and dragged Chris up to his feet. “Jill begged for you.” He taunted. “She sobbed and cried like a child, whining that she couldn’t have a child, not like this.” It was all lies, of course, Jill had been as clueless about Ruby as Chris had.

Claire nodded, and even though she was no longer under the control of someone, her once bright eyes were now dull and almost as lifeless of those of the undead.
Ruby was still watching Stone and Claire as she crawled to her feet, hugging her useless left arm against her chest as her right one pressed against the wound in her side. She followed the direction Claire’s gun was pointing and acted without thinking; much like her mother. The shots echoed in the large room, Wesker falling to the ground with a bullet in his temple, and Chris was lay several feet away with Ruby’s unmoving form on top of him. The bullet meant for him had struck her between the shoulder blades as she pushed him out of the way.

"Like I said..." Stone snorted, turning away from the scene. "Unpredictable science." 
Natalia moaned softly and he looked down at her, his thin lips curling into a smile. "You're alive, sweet heart. Makes my job a bit easier. Can't believe your monster missed it."

"Damn it, Jill junior." Chris scrambled to Ruby's side. "Don't sacrifice yourself for me, kiddo." He gently pulled off the vest and tossed it aside. He yanked off his own shirt and began digging for the bullet while dabbing at the blood. "You two are my life. Do you hear me?" His voice shook. It was easy to hear the fear.