Means to an End

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Parker smiled at Chris slightly, patting him on the shoulder. "For what it's worth... I'm sorry too. I was so obsessed with finding Alex... I didn't stop to see the signs. I should have found out Jill was pregnant... Had I known that..." He paused and ran his fingers through his hair. "I do blame myself for what happened to her."

Chris never responded to this. As soon as they were inside the building he muttered something about needing to get Parker certified and left the other man to navigate the holding cells alone.
Jessica, it seemed, had been waiting all day and half the night for him. She visibly brightened when he was let into her cell. "Parker!" She gushed, leaping to her feet to throw her arms around him. "I knew you wouldn't let me down!"

"I'm Leon S. Kennedy." The blonde man told her, nodding his head cordially. "I'm an... acquaintance of your father." He finished, wincing when he heard Chris retching somewhere behind the girl. "Is he okay?"

Rebecca shook her head, glad that her laughter had changed things. She had again avoided answering him. "Come on." She told him, handing him the gun Chris had left her with. "Claire's given us the slip."

"He's infected." Violet replied bluntly. "He needs to be far away from here, but... I don't think he will leave without J... My mom."

Parker scowled a little, well aware what Rebecca had just done. "Who's that guy you said she's in love with? Maybe we should hire him... That's sure to keep her in one place." He muttered, realising their task was more dangerous than either of them were admitting, given how heavily Claire was bleeding.

"you mother?" leon asked with a frown. For a moment he found himself wondering if Chris had cheated on Jill."

"I'm surprised mr government isn't already here." Rebecca sighed, beginning to follow the trail of blood.

"Yeah." Violet replied with all the sass of someone much older than she was as she rolled her bright blue eyes. "Who else do you think my dad would be waiting for?" Suddenly the little girl frowned. "Oh... Yeah, My aunt Claire, she was shot."

"So what's the story with them anyway?" Parker asked as they walked, making sure he was at least a pace in front of Rebecca.

Leon opened his mouth to say something about the young woman's mother but shut it quickly when he heard Claire's name. "Is she...Is she alive?" He breathed, terrified to hear the answer.

"I don't know much about them. After everything that happened with Raccoon city and then the birth of Alex...I just haven't been able to bring myself to talk to her." Rebecca admitted. "They kept trying to send me to see her when she got her license but I kept telling them I can handle it on my own. It's not her problem."

Violet shrugged her shoulders. "She was bleeding pretty bad, more than my dad. She wasn't conconscious when I left her with Rebecca."

"So you avoided her, and for some reason so did the guy who supposedly loves her, and who she feels the same way about? Wow... There must really be something wrong with her." Parker snorted.

Chris was on his feet by this point, a hand resting on Violet's shoulder. "We're all right." He said gently. "Go and check on Claire...We'll meet up in the parking lot..."
Leon nodded, turning without a single argument to go and find Claire. His care for her spoke much louder than his words. He'd been gone a few moments when the Nemesis decimated the stairwell below them and came charging upward, Chris' name a snarled whisper.

"Actually, Mr. Know it all, Claire and Leon had a fight not long after Alex was born and they broke up. They got back together about a year ago but they've been keeping things secret from Chris." Rebecca said matter of factly.

Violet reached for her father's hand, squeezing it tightly. She wasn't scared for herself, only that something may happen to him not she had found him. "Wesker talked about these... They never stop." She whispered, tugging on Chris' hand now in a bid to get him moving.

Parker couldn't help the sudden grin. "Oh boy would I love to be a fly on the wall when Chris finds out about that one!" He chuckled.

"Go find your mother." Chris said, sliding his fingers out of Violet's and grabbing for his gun. "I'll meet you in the same place I told Leon. Okay?" He turned away from her and began firing at the creature, hoping it was enough to get Violet moving.

"He's your friend." Rebecca reminded him, pausing when she saw a strange looking zombie ahead of them. This one was standing very still with its head cocked. It was almost like it was waiting for something.

Violet hesitated, her unnatural eyes fixed on the ouster her father was firing at. "Promise me you won't be a hero?" She breathed, never knowing her mother had often asked the same thing of Chris.

"Yeah... But it's funny to see him squirm, and kinda makes me feel sorry for his kid, when she grows up." Parker remarked, pausing when he too saw the zombie.

Chris smiled down at the young girl and ruffled her hair. "Get going." He ordered gently, never answering her question as he ran in the direction of the Nemesis. "Round two, Ugly!" He shouted at it.

Rebecca wasn't responding. Instead she was looking for a direction to push Parker into. She recognized the unmoving zombie and it made her stomach roll. Someone had added Crimson heads to the mix.

Violet was wise enough to know that the sooner she found her mother, the sooner she could get back to her father. The little girl jumped onto the street below from the remains of the now useless fire escape, deciding to reenter the hospital through the front.

Parker was still watching the zombie, perhaps a little too curious about it. "Do zombies usually have claws like that?" he asked, not keeping his voice quite low enough.

Rebecca was gritting her teeth as she inched closer to Parker. Every move was made with the greatest care. There was no sense in setting it off too early.
The next wave of things happened too fast. Rebecca made a grab for the gun she'd given Parker and shoved him aside, beginning to fire as the lightning quick zombie made its move. She only got away with knocking her husband over because he hadn't expect it.
The claws slashed at her as she began to retreat, still firing. "I fucking hate these things!" She shouted.

By the time Parker had rolled onto his stomach to push himself back to his feet, Rebecca and the crimson head were gone. Empty bullet casings lined the hallway, but there was no sign of woman or beast right then. "Goddammit!"

"Good to see someone alive." Leon said, the gun he'd had at the back of Parker's head lowering slightly. "You are alive, aren't you? I mean, I've heard a zombie say something before. But never a curse word."

"And you are?" Parker grunted, thankful at least a little for the fact that his head was still intact. "You know what, Nevermind. I have to find my wife."

"Leon S. Kennedy." The other man explained, pulling another gun from the back of his pants and handing it to the other man. "I'm looking for my girlfriend. Someone said she might be on this floor."

"Claire's Leon?" Parker asked, gladly accepting the weapon Leon held out to him. "Wow... I kinda thought you would be... Wait, are you here for Claire, or on assignment?"

"Both, actually." Leon said, looking Parker over. The man didn't look overly well. "Have you been bitten, scratched, gotten anything on you?" He asked, taking a step closer to the other man. "How did you get into this hospital and how are you still alive? Name. Add a name to all that while you're at it."

Parker scowled at Leon, not liking the interrogation. "I don't owe you anything." He snapped, already turning away. "I don't have time to play twenty questions while my wife is out there!" He added, only pausing to check Leon had actually loaded the gun he had give him. "But for the record, my name is Parker Luciani."

"The Parker Luciani?" Leon asked, this time the one to be rather surprised. "I've heard a lot about you. Claire certainly thinks you're something." He added, matching pace with Parker as he moved down the hall where Rebecca had disappeared.

"She does?" Parker asked, startled to hear this. "I don't know why, I mean, it's not like we ever spoke a lot..." He murmured. "In fact... Claire spoke very little about herself, or you."

"She used to tell me you were the only person she'd ever met that didn't need counselling." Leon told him, pausing to glance behind them. "She told me once that you were a true man and that next to Chris, you were the world's greatest father." He laughed softly at this. "I have to agree with her. Any man who could love a child that is not his own as much as you do...has got to be worth his salt."

Parker made a show of pretending his hair had fallen into his eyes, when in truth... What Leon had just told him had moved him beyond words. "She's just being kind, like she is with all those head cases she sees every day." Parker relied gruffly. "Besides, I'm sure she thinks you will make the worlds greatest father."

Leon laughed. "Oh god no. I'm terrible with kids and she knows it. We had to babysit one time for a friend of hers and I couldn't figure out what to do with the diaper. I think I cried more than the baby did."

Parker genuinely smiled at this thought. "Well, at least I missed all that messy stuff." He chuckled. "So... You and Claire, kids aren't in your future then?"

"I don't know." Leon sighed. "She's kind of iffy about it too. I think..." He paused, holding a hand up. There was the sound of something light pattering in their direction. Not heavy like one of the monsters. Almost like a rat or something only slightly bigger.

"That's never a good sound, isn't it?" Parker sighed, thinking he preferred masses of Hunters who at least came right for you, instead of making you sneak around like a child.

"I haven't heard that one in a long time." Leon confessed in a quiet whisper. "It's almost like a kid...it sounds like a child's footsteps..."

The footsteps suddenly halted, as though knowing they had been heard by someone else. "Chris' daughter was running around here somewhere... Wishful thinking has me hoping it's her, and not some demon kid that escaped the paediatric ward..."