Into the Clouds

First topic message reminder :

Wesker had removed the hood from the mystery man and Chris could barely find his ability to breathe. 
All he really wanted to do was step forward and take his lover into his arms and beg forgiveness. The floor fell away. None of it mattered. Not even the hand on his arm or the sharp hiss in front of him mattered. His life had been restored. 

Rebecca wasn't far behind. She had instructed Carlos to go ahead and make sure Chris and Sheva were safe. Finding out the mess that Umbrella had left behind was becoming an enormous task. Finding out Wesker was involved only added to her stress.

Carlos shook his head. "He doesn't know any more or less than I do. Ask me. We were partners once too. Probably longers than you were with him." He doubted that was true but he had to try. 
The young man shoved the needle roughly into her shoulder blade. "Sorry! There's nowhere else to go!" He wailed. Another untrue statement.

Rebecca closed her eyes, very much wanting to stay in the moment. "You're not ready for this." She whispered. "You don't have to be strong for me...I won't tell anyone."

Jill had given fair warning. She grabbed the young man and threw him against the wall with an arm across his throat. “When did I say you could stick me with that?” She hissed, pulling the wicked looking needle from her shoulder and jabbing it into his thigh. 

“And if you did, I would just have to kill you.” Wesker responded, though didn’t let go of her. “You’re the one who has been strong for too long. You held Chris’ pathetic organisation together, with little thanks from any of them.”

"Goddamnit, Jill." Carlos snapped. He was behind her while the man was still screaming. He shot him in the head. "That's cross contamination. You know it's a death sentence." Another lie. No one really knew what happened. "If you let them draw your blood, I'll bring in a screen to let you talk to Redfield." He said gruffly, pushing a button on the wall. 

Rebecca swallowed hard. She should have known he'd been watching her. 
She'd forgotten how well he knew her. She'd also forgotten just how much the feel of his arms could make her world feel right. Darkness and all. 
"You just need a little more time." She whispered. "I can rest when I'm dead. You on the other hand..." Reluctantly she got off the bed and moved toward the medications. "A few more days and your virus will have you fixed. Okay?"

Jill turned to scowl at Carlos, blood and brain matter from the younger man splattered across her face. “No.” She told him simply. Her steel coloured eyes were narrowed, beginning to see the line in the sand between them. How long had they been on opposing sides? “I want to see him first.”

“I was dead. I have rested enough.” Wesker pointed out coolly. “How did you get both of us out of Africa anyway? Chris doesn’t suspect I’m alive?”

Carlos handed her his phone and shook his head. "We start here, Jill. I can't promise you the world for something so small." 
He dialed the number and almost instantly the man in question appeared on the screen he was now holding out to her. "You son of a bitch. You better tell me something this time or I'll be rearranging your face. No one will think it's so pretty this time!" Chris snarled.

Rebecca rubbed her forehead. "You really have been dead. You never ask so many questions." Her mind was full. The thought of someone rummaging through her former home was only adding to the pile of worries. "You are at a lab across town from Jill. The staff lives on sight and are staggered as to when they come on shift. They work for me. Not for the BSAA. I took over your funds during this mess so...I guess that makes them yours really." She paused, chewing on her lip. "Chris thinks I'm working on a cure for Jill. He doesn't know I'm taking her blood to cure you." She admitted.

Jill found herself smiling, as though hearing this man threaten to punch someone else has triggered a deep buried memory. “Wow, after the ass kicking I gave you last time?” She commented with a smirk. 

“A cure? He thinks she infected with something that NEEDS a cure?” Wesker asked curiously. “If he had even half a brain, he would be wanting her blood infecting everyone she came into contact with:”

"Jill." Her name was spoken with utter relief and obvious love. "You look like shit." He was smiling widely. "Where are you? Do I need to kill some people to get to you?" He pulled a drag off his cigarette and raised an eyebrow. 

Rebecca sighed. "I would have said that too if Excella somehow managed to inject her with a cocktail of Uroburos on the side." She reached for a syringe and held it up. "I've had her get a paper cut and make a Licker."

“Assuming I need rescuing?” Jill retorted, arching her own brow in response. She reached a hand up and ran her fingers through hair that was still too long, and blonde. “They won’t give me scissors to cut my hair. As if I need them to draw blood.” She smirked slightly, that same feeling returning when she tried to recall memories with Chris. 

Wesker looked as close to excited as a monster like him could get. “Surely that’s nothing but a dream.” He mused. “I xxella finally did something right. How does Chris not suspect?”

"I always said those hands needed to be certified." Chris agreed. "Listen, I think we should call it for you being in there. I'm coming in." The call dropped almost immediately and that was when the gunshots began. 

Rebecca's smile was vague. "I've kept them apart since returning. It's been no small feat to be honest."

Jill’s gaze instantly flicked to the door. Her stomach was in knots thinking of Chris getting himself hurt trying to break her out, but at the same time… those knots fluttered away, hating that the idea of him rising to her rescue filled her with thrill. 

“Apart? Those two?” Wesker queried. “How? They barely function when not acting like lovesick teenagers and breathing each other’s air.” He snorted.

Carlos sighed. "He does realize he's assaulting his own people,  right?" He shoved his phone into his pocket. "I'll head him off before he does something stupid. You stay out. It's not safe for you to..." 
The door slid open and Chris stepped in, cigarette still between his lips. "You ready, Valentine?" He asked, holding out a hand to her. 

"It won't be long until that changes." Rebecca said. She returned to Wesker's side, gently running her fingers over his arms. "You're not completely healed. I don't know how many more times I can say it. Give me more time before you start tearing things apart." She whispered, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Jill stared wide eyed at the figure in the door way. “Do you do everything this quick?” She asked with a smirk. Her hand was reaching out, unable to resist the undeniable pull she had felt since he tore that device from her chest. 

“I see, you wish to keep me all for yourself?” Wesker teased, the smile pulling all the way to his yellow eyes.

Chris gave Jill her space over the next several weeks. He had taken them to his family's cabin by the lakeside. He hated to admit how much it was killing him that she still didn't remember him. He had even contacted Claire to come and see if that might jog her memory somewhat. 
That day he was out near the dock grilling fish he'd caught. For the first time in years he felt alive. He was holding a beer in one hand and still fishing as he watched their dinner. This was home. He wished they could stay here.

Rebecca had slept for several days after returning to Wesker's hidden labs. After making sure everything had been transferred correctly she had simply shut down. For the moment she was going to have to leave everything into someone else's hands.

“I figured you would have outgrown beer by now.” Claire commented from behind her brother, her bag slung over her shoulder. She still wore the now faded leather jacket he had given her with her goddess on the back all those years ago. “Pegged you for a whiskey guy, now you’re in your golden years.” She teased. 

Those hand hands belonged to the very man whose assets she had been handling all these months. He stayed mostly out of sight, but as always was pulling the strings from behind the scenes. He loved to watch his willing puppets dance. For instance, he had demanded one of them bring him a larger sample of Jill’s blood. Without Rebecca to rein him in, chaos was on the cards.