Another One Down

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Leon Kennedy couldn't remember what it felt like to breathe. His chest hurt. As he stood there in front of the president accepting a medal for his bravery in the face of overwhelming danger he found that he couldn't force himself to drag in that much needed air. 
He was horrified to realize he couldn't hear a word the other man was saying. It was all the whispering of the monster that once controlled his body. He couldn't even return the handshake that was offered to him. All he could do was stand there as the audience watched him on a world stage. 

Rebecca Chambers leaned back in her chair and rubbed her face. "Turn that song off!" She shouted at her lab mate. It wasn't the first time he'd played a song that simply repeated, "The devil's gonna make me a free man..." 
The guilt was tearing at her and she couldn't stand it. Frustrated she shoved out of the chair and stomped to her car. So far the devil had done nothing but made matters worse. Not that she blamed him. 
She got into the drivers seat and checked her phone. She was sure the loss of Krauser was going to come back to bite her.

"He's probably just bad at fishing." Chris said, with a grin. He had come back inside for a smaller cooler and was now giving Leon that challenging look. 
The other man took the bait without even realizing it. "Bad at fishing?! I hardly think so. I survived in Spain on nothing but giant bass! That I caught myself, thank you! I took down an enormous mutated fish that was trying to eat me alive! Don't tell me I am bad at fishing! Give me a damn fishing pole and we'll see who's bad at fishing!" He roared, shrugging out of his jacket and stopping out the door. 

Rebecca's breath failed her. She remembered the feel of those rough fingers as they moved across her body. "I...wanted to be good." She finally whispered. "I wanted to...do good..." Finally she managed wrap her fingers around Wesker's wrist. "Stop. You need to leave. There is nothing for you here."

Claire was scowling at Leon’s back, the fact he hadn’t wanted to stay until challenged by her brother wasn’t lost on her. Jill saw the look and handed Claire a beer from the cooler. “Don’t think too hard, he may be your entire world, but he’s still a man. They’re not that complex.” She commented, having always known how Claire felt for Leon. “Let them have their little pissing contest, then he’ll be too drunk to think about going home.” She added with a playful wink. Clearly Jill had played this game many times.

Wesker’s almost mocking laughter could be heard and he pulled his fingers away from her. “You’ll never be good, Rebecca. You’ve tasted darkness and can’t step back into the light.” With those words, he seemed to have melted back into the shadows and was gone.

A few hours later, Leon didn't look anymore relaxed. He was steering clear of the water as he fished. This was nothing like Chris who was waist deep and grinning like a fool. 
The two were still shouting and holding up their catches. So far neither man had an advantage. However, both were six beers deep.

Rebecca dropped to her knees where she was. Shame and guilt were eating away at her. She'd almost let that man in again. 
She couldn't go back to Billy. Not after letting another man touch her. She didn't deserve to be near him. He was a hero. She was not. Wesker was right. She was darkness.

Claire and Jill were lay on a blanket on the grass nearby, working their way through beers of their own. Claire was on number four, though she also had several tequila slammers in her too. It was this reason that had her somewhat loose lipped with Jill. “This is so not fair! I was this close to getting laid!” She whined, uplifting her thumb and finger as a measurement for Jill’s benefit. “So close… and cock blocked by Mr meat head frontiers man there!” She added, gesturing to where Chris stood in the lake, the contents of the bottle she held sloshing into the grass as she pointed at him.
Jill concealed her smirk by taking a sip of her own beer. She felt genuinely bad for the younger woman, knowing how frustrated she herself would’ve been had the roles been reversed. Without saying anything to Claire first, Jill finally pushed to her feet and walked out onto the jetty to get close enough to where Chris stood in the water. “You know, you could toss a grenade in there and be done with it.” She called to him. It was no secret Jill did not share her partners love of fishing.

“Becca?” Billy was stood in the doorway behind her, yawning as he ran his fingers through his dishevelled hair. “How long have you been up?” Ot was taking him a moment to fully wake up and see she was on her knees by the window. “Babe?” He edged closer, worried she was hurt.

Chris turned toward his lover, holding up his arms. "You had me at grenade." He laughed. He tossed his gear on the dock and made a grab for Jill tossing her over his shoulder and slapping her on the bottom. "I caught big one. I win." He grunted, heading for the cabin.

"You need to go." Rebecca said softly, not yet moving when she heard him behind her. "I'll wire the rest of your payment as soon as I can. Just... don't touch me and leave..." She sniffed, her fingers gripping the carpet so hard her nails were beginning to snap.

Jill was shrieking and kicking her legs, though made no real effort to Ed ape her partners grasp. “Caveman Chris in big trouble!” She could be heard shouting as they disappeared into the cabin, though she winked at Claire before disappearing from view.
Claire rolled her eyes and ventured out onto the jetty, dangling her bare feet just over the water. “Don’t feel bad, he’s been fishing since he was like four.” She commented, though was still looking out across the lake.

Billy stayed where he was stood, his large frame seeming rooted to the spot. Steel coloured eyes swept the room, settling upon a STARS issue combat knife that was resting on the table by the window. It hadn’t been there last night. He knew that much. “You think I did all that for the money?” He finally asked, his gravelly voice filled with sorrow.

Leon turned his head and smiled at Claire, looking relieved. "Didn't you tell me he used to fish to feed you two after your parents were killed?" He began tossing his fish back into the water. 
He came to sit with Claire, wrapping his arm around her. "You look great." He told her. "You have no idea how much I've missed you. I've thought about you every day. That time we had wasn't enough..."

Rebecca shook her head. "You don't understand." Fat tears were dripping onto the plush cream fabric and she was sniffing loudly. "You just need to go. Please? I made a mistake. I keep doing it. He...You." Finally she pushed to her feet and stood in front of him. However, she didn't dare meet his gaze. If she did she knew she would fall apart.

Claire smiled and let her head drop down against Leon’s shoulder as his arm hugged her close. “I don’t look that great, but you… apparently playing mr secret agent man does you good.” She teased. ”No time will ever be enough.” She added with a mournful sigh.

Billy wasn’t leaving. He reached out and pulled Rebecca against his chest, instantly able to feel her tears on his bare skin. “I will never consider you a mistake, and I don’t think you really feel that either.” He breathed, thinking that was what she meant.

Leon knew that his time with the woman he loved was now very short. It was for this reason he kissed her deeply and insistently. 
It was later as he returned to his apartment alone that he tried to imprint the night into his mind. It was one of the very few he got to spend with the woman that possessed his soul. 

Chris Redfield sat staring at his phone and shaking his head. He'd been waiting for this message for a long time. Spencer had been spotted. He would get his answers. 
All he had to do was make sure everything fell into place.

Rebecca's shoulders shook as she allowed Billy to hold her for as long as she possibly could. "You have to go. Do you hear? Don't ever contact me again. Stay as far away from all of this shit as you can." She shoved herself out of his arms and began gathering all of his things from around her tiny apartment. She was horrified to realize his dog tags were missing. Wesker warning to her was clear on so many levels. 
This had her running back to her lover and shoving his items at him. "Get out! Get out now!" She screeched.

Claire hadn’t gotten to drive Leon home the next day. She had entrusted her bike to him, and opted to get a ride back with her brother and Jill. In some way, it was her trying to ensure they had a reason to see each other again. That night on the jetty by the lake..: had reminded Claire just how much she loved the boyscout with the heart of gold.

Jill had peeked out the window at one point, seeing Leon kiss kiss Claire and it had left her returning to Chris with a giant smile. Jill had always known what Claire needed, and when she needed it. It didn’t matter that come tomorrow, Leon could break the younger woman’s heart, tonight was what truly mattered.
That morning, as Claire returned out to the lake, Jill was brewing coffee in he kitchen as Chris checked his phone. “You know… any other woman would think you had a side bitch or something, the way you’re focused on that thing.” She mused.

Billy hadn’t said anything the entire time Rebecca had been gathering up what few things of his that were in his apartment. As she shoved them at him, he was half tempted to jerk his shirt over her head though, if she truly wanted all trace of him gone. “For the record, you contacted me.” He told her quietly, then finally turned his back. He was almost out the door, when he paused and reached into his back pocket, dropping something small onto the table by the door where Rebecca dumped her keys. It was not me of the yellow diamonds Leon had often traded him in Spain. His plan had been to have it reshaped and set into something suited to Rebecca’s taste. Instead, the raw gem would now sit there and remind her how much Billy had risked… to keep the man her best friend loved safe. He had done it because she had asked him, because he loved her, not because he cared what happened to Claire or Leon.

Chris barely heard Jill as he got up from the table. He was dialing the number before he'd even left the room. He could feel his heart beating in his chest. 
He glanced at his partner as he turned to close the door to a room he and his sister swore never to enter. He'd never kept that promise. Why should he? Those people had lied to him. He owed them nothing. 
As he spoke to his contact he was thumbing through a file on the rolltop desk. It contained so many things about their family. A family that never truly was. Bitterly, he took out his lighter and set it on fire. He watched it burn as he finished his plans to make a new life and a true family for himself and Jill. 

It wasn't long before Rebecca found herself called into the BSAA offices. She'd been rather hard to pin down over the last few weeks. 
She'd picked and moved from her apartment. At the moment not even Claire knew where she settled at. 

When she arrived she met with Chris and Jill. She gave the other woman a tight hug then held out a hand to Chris. Already she was rattling off things about the location the needed to look out for. "You should probably take a dose of the vaccine as well. Who knows what you'll find there."
"We'll be fine." Chris said almost sounding curt as he began checking weapons. "You just watch our backs from our here. Got that?"

Jill had avoided most of the conversation, opting to distract herself with checking her beaten up Samurai edge was loading smoothly. That done she reached into the locker and pulled out a vest and a side pack and began strapping herself into them. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Chris was acting sketchier than usual, and since they had returned from the cabin, Claire hadn’t returned any of her calls of messages.

Chris passed by Jill, throwing his semi automatic over his shoulder. He seemed unaware of his sister's state of mind or her absence. Not that it was anything unusual. 
He was mumbling as he climbed into the helicopter. He glanced back at Jill. They were so close. But he couldn't tell her anything. 
"Babe...I love you. You know that, right?" He asked, as he lifted them into the air.

Rebecca settled herself in a dark room of the mansion. She set up monitors and sat back, rubbing her eyes. She wanted to be anywhere but here. This place was like being in hell. This place was an exact copy of the Spencer mansion and she couldn't even warn the others. The storm had them blocked off.

Jill’s brow kitted slightly as she heard Chris say those words. He’d said them a thousand times over the years, but this time they left a feeling of ice cold dread in the pit of her stomach. Setting aside her own rifle she grabbed for the headset that hung above her and pulled the mic down to her lips. “Red… what’s going on? What aren’t you telling me?” She asked over the roar of the chopper.

The lights flickered in the room where Rebecca was sat, though it could easily have been caused by the storm. The ancient homestead seemed to moan like an entity all of its own, isolated out here by the unforgiving North Sea. If anything went wrong… no one would get there in time. If someone else were already there… she had no way of knowing.

Chris didn't answer. Even as they searched through the mansion he was silent. It wasn't until he began to realize someone had beaten them there that he finally reacted to anything. 
"Fuck!" It was the room of torn up files on Ozwell Spencer that he knew they'd arrived too. late once again. "Come on. We're not getting any answers here." He grumbled, managing to push over a bookshelf in his wake.

Rebecca couldn't see Chris and Jill, let alone hear them. She felt utterly useless. Finally she decided to abandon the observation room and find them herself.

Jill’s whole body tensed slightly as the bookcase crashed to the ground. She stared at Chris’ back as he stalked back into the dim light beyond the study they had found, wishing she had whatever answer it was he was looking for. “Red, how can I help you find something, if I don’t know what I’m looking for?” She asked, jogging to catch up with him. “Tell me what’s going on in that melon you have.” She breathed, pulling him to a halt and gently running her fingertips up his temples.

The moment Rebecca stepped out of the surveillance room, the lights in that hallway went out. The small woman would find herself pushed against the wall, her wrists pinned beside her head as cool lips descended upon her own. Not a word was said, and as soon as it had happened, Rebecca was alone again, the light returning, and a STARS knife now embedded in the wall where her wrist had just been.

"This was going to be our way out." Chris finally ground out. His eyes were red rimmed. "Spencer had all the files. Everything I needed to... " He shook his head. "It's all gone. Someone destroyed what I needed. But... We have one last hope. The old man himself. He can help us... Help you... We have to find him before whoever else is looking for him does." Chris knew she wouldn't understand him but he had to say something. 
Finally he pulled her against him and hugged her tight. "Just trust me. Ok? We get through this and we're home free."

Rebecca grabbed the knife and ran. She was sure at this point thing were falling apart for her teammates. It was unfortunate for her that she was a witness to Wesker's murder of Spencer. However, she had no time to react as below her the door to the library burst open and Chris and Jill arrived.

We’re home free. Words that would haunt Jill in the years to come. He had said that, then held her as tight as he dared while she simply breathed him in. Sandalwood and spring water. Earthy but fresh. They would try to rip the memory from her, but nothing could take its place. How did it all happen so quickly, only for those final moments to play in slow motion? Wesker had pulled his fist back, his other hand holding Chris helplessly by the throat. Jill could see it coming. She could see her lover’s heart tossed on the ground and stomped on by a man they could never truly escape. She didn’t even think what she was doing. It was done. Chris was alive, and the only thing she knew was ice cold darkness.

Rebecca had followed Wesker and Jill down to the water. She pulled Jill out of the water first, making sure she was at least breathing before she turned to Wesker. 
"Come on..." She wheezed, pushing on his chest in time with a heartbeat. "The...storm is worse...I can't do this alone...You idiot!"

It only took several pumps in his chest for Wesker to suddenly gasp and open his yellow eyes. He lay for a further few moments, his mind piecing together what had just happened. “Valentine…” he hissed the name with almost as much hatred as he often did Chris’.

"Figures that's what name you'd call out." Rebecca said gently, brushing the wet hair out of his eyes. "You lost your ear piece and last I heard there's a hurricane blowing in. We need to get somewhere safe." She got up, pulling on the edge of her shirt. "Jill is bleeding out. I need to find something to work with. Are you...okay to walk?"

Chris was running blindly out of the mansion. He couldn't see where he was going or what he was doing. All he knew was that his entire world had fallen apart. 
He pushed open the front doors and stumbled over something. He couldn't see what it was and didn't care. He didn't even feel the blood that was now sliding down his face from the open wound on his forehead. All he could hear was himself screaming his lover's name.

“She pushed me.” Wesker muttered as he finally sat up. “I always thought her to be the smarter of the two.” He spat, casting a glance to Jill’s broken body as Rebecca checked her over. “Let her die. I’ll send her back in pieces to Chris.”

Chris would wake to find himself strapped in an evac chopper, a familiar voice barking order to the pilot. The younger Redfield had never been as off the grid as she had her brother believe. Claire would always be there when he needed her, and when the call came that he and Jill had missed several radio checks, she was already on her way.

"And miss the chance to see if the T virus bonds withe las Plagas? Even better... See if they all bond with the progenitor flower?" Rebecca grunted as she yanked Jill toward a nearby cave she'd seen. "If it worked... It might be something...to get you away from being a Wesker child." She added, not totally focused on the idea as she kept moving. 

"No! Stop!" Chris found himself unable to move as he howled. "She needs me! She's down there! I'm not leaving her! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He had never felt so helpless. "She needs me and you are making me hurt her again! Fuck you!" He was screaming now, though it sounded more like he was croaking.

“You think about that?” Wesker asked curiously as he followed Rebecca, taking hold of Jill and all but tossing her into the cave, which earned a painful scream from the dark haired woman.

Claire knew her brother was hurting, and didn’t mean those things, but they still hurt. Leon had ghosted her since he left the keys to her motorcycle inside her mailbox without so much as a fuck you and thank you very much. “You’re hurt Chris. You needed stitches, and probably have a concussion.” Claire told her brother gently. “I have several teams down there looking for her, but…” She glanced out the window, her sapphire eyes betraying her thoughts. Spencer’s mansion was on a cliff that dropped directly into the North Sea, Jill didn’t stand much of a chance.

For the next few hours Rebecca outlined her plan to exchange Wesker's blood for a more powerful kind. While she did this she worked on making Jill more comfortable. Even finding an herb that would relieve her pain somewhat. 
She knew by the dark look in Wesker's eyes that she and Jill were about to enter the pit of hell. But to make sure the other woman stayed alive, she knew she had no choice.

Chris found his strength at his sister's halting word. He sat up, tearing off the restraints. "I'll find her. I always do." He growled. " I'm the fucking hero. Right?" He jumped off the helicopter and landed hard, ignoring the loud crunch of bone in his leg. 
He forced himself to keep moving, shoving himself off the cliff's edge. 
He'd promised her they were home free. All his mind could see was the haunted look on the ancient man's face as he lay there staring at nothing. Wesker had once again stolen everything. He wanted to see that same look on his face. 
He gripped the side of the cliff as he tumbled down, imagining it was indeed the other man. Oh how he would enjoy tearing him apart. 
As he hit the rocks at the bottom and stumbled forward he saw a strangely familiar face. "Billy..." He managed to shout through a mouth full of blood. "Distract my sister.." he paused his hand brushing against a thin piece of metal. It was Jill's necklace. 
Chris fell to his knees, a sound of grief and agony leaving him that could be heard above the storm.

Wesker and the women would be gone by the time Chris ever stumbled upon their hiding spot. He had listened intently to Rebecca’s words, enthralled by how much care and attention she had put into her plan to make him the god he knew he was. The sub he had used to get here was soon on its way, Jill stowed below deck in the very same spot once reserved for another bio monster dear to the Redfield bloodline.

Billy couldn’t. He needed the BSAA to find Rebecca, and in that moment, Claire was its acting commander. He had tracked Rebecca all the way here, only to walk into what looked like a military operation there were that many bodies milling about. “Chris…” He breathed the younger man’s name, glancing down to the necklace he held. “If you don’t let them help you, you’re going to die.” He had to be blunt. “What use are you dead?”

Chris Redfield couldn't remember what it felt like to be sober. He had spent the last six months at every bar he could find. All he wanted was release. He didn't care about finding the truth. None of it mattered anymore. Not with Jill gone. He had nothing left to fight for. 
That night he was listening to some stranger talk about selling weapons to a young kid for diamonds. If he weren't so drunk he'd call bullshit.

Rebecca was doing everything she could to keep Wesker from hurting Jill, even using herself as distraction. But it didn't work as often as she would have liked. 
Their former Captain was a cruel man. Even to the one he believed was going to make him a god. 
That night she was sitting in the cell with Jill, watching as Wesker injected her with the Las Plagas. The first step in her plan to join it with the progenitor virus.

For six months Claire had been holding her brother’s dream together. The BSAA had been something he and Jill had worked so hard for, and she couldn’t sit by and watch him rip at the seams. It had been tough if Chris and Jill running it as a team, but for one person who hadn’t even wanted the job… it was hell. Claire couldn’t recall the last time she slept right the way through the night. There was always some emergency, or worse… some bar calling to tell her she needed to go collect Chris before they called the cops.

It didn’t matter how much Rebecca told herself she did that in the name of protection, Jill couldn’t forgive the young woman she had once considered a friend. Jill’s grey eyes watched Rebecca as Wesker held her arm in a vice like grip. The young woman had learned the hard way not to resist, not now Wesker knew that he could break her arm several time a day with the speed she healed. She had fought back in the beginning, once her body had healed from the fall. She needed to get back to Chris, she needed him to know she was alright. But that had proven useless. Even if Wesker wasn’t around, he had eyes and ears everywhere.
Wesker noted the stink eye Jill was giving Rebecca in that moment and smirked slightly. “That won’t change anything, Jill.” He mused, watching the parasite he had just injected disappear under her skin. “Death is the only escape, but even then you know as well as I… that isn’t the end.”

Leon found Claire where he thought she would be. She was sitting on a park bench starring at nothing at all. He sat down on the other side of the bench, placing down a styrofoam cup and a large pink box. "You know those pigeons are going to eat these pastries. This hot chocolate is going to go cold too." He sighed loudly, sounding as if the very thought was breaking his heart. He waited a single moment and then began digging into the box, eating the one he knew his beloved liked the best. "Damn those pigeons..." He said through a mouthful.

Rebecca sat with her knees to her chest later the next day, watching as Jill screamed in her cell. She could only take so much. Finally she reached over and turned over and turned off the monitor. It had been six months. Maybe it was time she realized that no one was coming to save them. 
If she gave in fully to Wesker's advances, maybe he would leave Jill alone. Or maybe if she simply embraced the darkness like he kept telling her to it wouldn't bother her so much. She'd saved Billy. He was truly gone. So what did any of it matter any more?

Claire didn’t turn her head, though she did cast a sideways glance to the offering. “So that’s how it is, huh? The pigeons are more worthy of your time than I am?” She asked, doing her best not to laugh at how goofy her friend was being.

“Why do you still feel anything at all for her after all these months?” Wesker asked when he finally found his captive. “Jill Valentine died six months ago. There is nothing left to feel, other than relief that she is gone.” He added rather coldly. “My only disappointment is that I can not be there to watch Chris’ misery myself.” He paused, seeming to think about something. “Though it begs the question… is anyone out there in misery over the loss of you?”