Claire put the receiver down and sat back breathing an audible sigh of relief. It was good to hear Chris' voice again. He had been out of touch for so long and while it had shocked her to learn about the newest out-break in Africa it was heart-warming to learn that Chris' thought to be dead partner, was alive and they were currently enjoying a drink together. She imagined there was a lot of catching up to do since Jill had been MIA for over a year.
"You look happy." Claire looked up from her desk and flashed Glenn a smile. He was the office manager, tall, blond with a kind smile. He had asked her out on more than one occasion but Claire wasn't interested. It wasn't that she didn't find him attractive or that she didn't enjoy his company. Simply, right now, she didn't have the time.
"I just heard from my brother." She explained and Glenn nodded.
"Well thank God for that. Did you tell him about your new boyfriend?" Glenn's eyes twinkled with a hopeful smile and Claire returned it. Times like this she was sorely tempted to just go for it.
"A little hard to tell my big brother all about a boyfriend I don't have."
"Well, never hurts to try." He winked.
"And try and try and try." She added and turned back to her computer screen as a new email arrived.
"As long as it takes." Glenn stepped around behind her to place a folder on her in-tray just as she opened the mail. "Who's Leon?"
Claire tried not to appear uncomfortable but he sounded like a jealous lover when he had no rights to her at all. "Jealous are we?" She asked injecting humour into her tone and Glenn quickly shrugged and started to walk away. It was amazing that all it had taken was those few seconds for her perception of him to change completely and she silently commended herself for sticking to her guns for so long. "That was so inappropriate." She muttered to herself as she opened the message.
There was nothing in the body and the title read 'Urgent'. There was however an attachment, Claire promptly opened it and instantly wished she hadn't.
Without waiting another moment she picked up her phone and started dialling.
~~~
Chris joined his friends back at their table smiling at each of them. "Sorry about that, my baby sister insisted on hearing me tell her I'm okay at least fifty times before she would let me go."
"Claire's hardly a baby anymore." Jill reminded him playfully.
"She'll always be a baby to me."
"I can understand that." Josh agreed before downing what was left of his beer. "I shouldn't think of Sheva as a baby either, but I can not help but be protective of her." Sheva smiled across at her commander appreciative of the spoken affection rather than insulted and Chris once again got the impression there was more between the two than perhaps should have been. There were regulations about fraternization between the troops, not that Chris had any intentions of pulling them up on it. As far as he was concerned it was the close bonds between people that gave them a reason to keep on fighting.
"I must say this is quite a nice place." Sheva sat back in her seat holding her glass of wine. "I thought it would be more busy and noisy." Chris chuckled.
"Oh this place is a well kept secret and I'd like it to stay that way."
"You two should feel very honoured." Jill added as she stood, her sheer black dress fluttering around her thighs and Chris couldn't help but admire the view. "Chris only invites those he considers worthy to his home."
"Oh I am very honoured and very grateful. I have not had a vacation in a long time." Sheva took a sip of her drink while Jill handed Josh another beer.
"You're spoiling me, Miss Valentine."
"That's the idea." Jill replied while Chris lifted his half empty bottle in a silent toast. He was about to drain what was left when his mobile started to ring once more. He retrieved it from his pocket and smiled.
"Claire again. Maybe fifty-one times will be enough." His three friends laughed as he answered, but the humorous mood didn't last long. "What? Claire, calm down." He stood putting his beer down and shot Jill a knowing look. "What's happened?"
~~~
"So much for the vacation." Josh stated as he climbed in the jeep beside Chris while Jill and Sheva got in the back. There was absolutely no disappointment in his tone, if anything Chris was sure Josh was pleased. Not that Leon was in trouble, no, Josh was pleased to be working again. "So who is this Leon fella anyway?"
"An old friend, and one of the original survivors of Racoon City. I owe him big, he helped get my sister out of that place before it was blown to dust."
"Did Claire forward that email?" Sheva asked as she logged in on her notebook, Jill buckling up beside her.
"She should have. She was in a bit of a mess, apparently it's not pretty." Chris started up the engine and kicked the jeep into gear, the dust from the road spilling out behind the rear wheels as they sped off.
"Apparently she was right." Sheva muttered, to unsettled by what she was seeing to be bothered by the speed at which they were now going.
"Good lord..." Jill gasped as she too witnessed the state of the beaten and bound man. "Who the hell could have done this?"
"Unknown." Replied Chris keeping his eyes on the road while the notebook was handed to Josh. "My first guess would have been Wesker, but he's dead."
"How many times have we thought that before." It wasn't a question from Jill, but a statement and Chris had to give it to her, she was right.
"Granted he's tough, but no one is so powerful as to survive a volcano." Sheva added.
"And two explosive rockets." Chris glanced through the rear-view mirror at Sheva who didn't look so sure anymore.
"Wesker stopped being human a long time ago, who's to say he didn't crawl back out of that pit? He's done it before." Jill's tone was sombre and Chris wondered, and not for the first time, just how much Jill had been through in the last year.
"Which is why we're not taking any chances." Chris cast a glance at the computer screen and his mood darkened a little more. "Leon's not a rookie anymore. Who ever, or what ever done this to him, is dangerous."
~~~
Claire got out of her car, pulling the hood of her jacket up in a feeble attempt to keep out the rain. DC was always wet this time of year and always gloomy, but for some reason it felt more so than usual. She wasn't sure if the sensation of foreboding was because of what she had seen earlier that day. The picture of her friend, bound and covered with injuries, most of which were minor but no less painful. It was clear Leon had been tortured and the strain and fatigue was evident in ever pixel and all Claire wanted to do was scream. Seeing that and not being able to do anything about it was more frightening than anything she had ever faced back in the Midwestern town.
The building across the street was were the email had been sent from, an apartment building with internet service for all its residents. Chris had told Claire to hold off her investigation until he'd arrived, but that wouldn't be until tomorrow when his plane landed and there was no guarantee that the trail would still be warm. Leon's life was on the line and Claire owed him to much to just abandon him, even for a few hours.
The building was shrouded in darkness as there were barely any working street lights and as Claire got closer she could see that the building was in a state of disrepair. The people in and around the building were in a similar state, local people down on their luck and living cheaply. One guy walked with a limp and the sound he made as he dragged his injured limb sent memories of darker days flashing through her mind but she had to push those aside and press on despite her unease.
The lobby of the building was surprisingly tidy with plenty of lighting. Directly opposite the main doors was a reception desk where an old man stood smoking his cigar while watching the TV which was annoyingly out of tune. The bleary picture was frequently interrupted by static yet the man watch unperturbed.
Claire approached the desk and as she thought was spared no interest, until he realised she was a young woman. His watery grey eyes leered longingly at her but she didn't shrink. Instead she slid the one picture of Leon that she had towards the guy.
"You ever seen this man?" She asked, her voice steady. The man glanced down at the photo and shook his head.
"Can't say I ever have." He sniffed and then coughed obviously the guy was suffering from a cold.
"How many people are staying here right now?"
"We got a full house, but if you're looking for some where to sleep, I'm sure we can come to some arrangement."
"Thanks', but I'm not looking for a room. You have wifi here, I need to know who's logged onto it recently."
"Sorry sweet thing, confidentiality and all that."
Claire rolled her eyes and pulled out her badge, fair enough she wasn't anyone official like the police but the badge looked the part and he didn't seem to realise she had duped him. "Look, I don't care what kind of crap your perverted guests log on for, I'm just trying to find my friend. Okay?"
"Fine. But I don't want trouble, you hear?"
"I hear." She stepped back pocketing her ID case as the guy who's name tag read Marty stepped out from behind the reception and lead her to the back office.
"This is where the main computer is. The modem is wired to it, but the guests log on remotely, I have no idea how it works. I just pay some guy to install in and he gives me this stuff." Marty handed Claire a booklet which held the log on details for guests to connect to the wireless signal.
"It's fine, I know my way around this stuff." Claire took a seat and started the computer up. It wasn't long before she was able to access the modem itself and track down which computer had access Leon's email account. The suspect had used the user-name and password provided by the 'welcome pack' of the hotel. Each room had a easily identifiable user-name and Claire wasted no time in heading for the elevator.
The third floor of the building was a converted loft with only a hand full of rooms. The decor was old fashioned and the furniture held a blanket of dust that suggested the place had not seen a cleaner in a long time. She wasn't sure how people could live like this, but she pushed it all to the back of her mind as she approached her destination.
Room seventeen was located at the furthest point of the hall and the door was illuminated by the large moon shining in from a nearby window. The rain clouds from earlier returned as Claire knocked upon the sturdy wooden door and waited.
Nothing.
Taking a breath to calm her nerves, Claire called through hoping to get the residents attention, but again she was met with silence. There was just no other choice, Claire had to get in there.
With the gratest care, Claire slipped the lock pick into the key hole and in a mere moment the door was open.
The solid beach door swung back slowly revealing a dark dirty room beyond. The bed was the first thing she saw, unmade with suspicious dark patches on the mattress. The wall behind the head board was home to some tacky wall paper while the rest of the room was painted though the paint had blistered in places while one corner of the room was home to a putrid damp patch. The smell wasn't all that great either and as Claire stepped inside the carpet under foot squelched the reason for this being a rather energetic leak directly above the door. At least half of the carpet had suffered and if the proprietor wasn't careful the damage would end up being more than cosmetic.
It was clear the room was in no fit state to be used, yet clearly it was...or at least had been.
Claire paused briefly and she looked at the abandoned notebook suspiciously. It was a rather nice piece of equipment to be left in such a place, Claire figured anyone who could afford something like that could afford to stay some where decent. But then she was assuming that this laptop hadn't been stolen.
Regardless of that fact, this was obviously the machine that had been used to access Leon's email and send her that awful picture. Claire shuddered as her mind brough back that image with crystal clarity wrists were bruised and cut from being clasped in shackles, while the rest of him was bruised and battered, chains linking each of the shackles and wrapping intermittently around his naked body. His hair was matted and wet, blood stained his fingers and knuckles where he'd obviously tried to fight back...
"Damnit..." Claire muttered while shaking her head. She had to focus.
Claire didn't carry a gun, but she still moved ready to strike should anything jump out at her from the darkness. It was habit now, having lived though a calamity like Racoon City, Claire knew she would be forever scared by that. With one last check of the room she examined the screen of the notebook. It was completely blank but the machine was still very much on. It was almost like every last piece of data had been wiped. She sighed, closed the lid and quickly placed the lightweight device in the bag on her hip. All she had to go on was this thing even if no information could be salvaged there had to be at least one print.
She turned and started to search the draws of a nearby nightstand, trying to get an idea of the type of person that had been staying here, indications of the circles they may have ran in, even evidence of a previous address and if she was really lucky, a name. The search was proving futile but she just couldn't accept that there was nothing here besides the computer.
Claire was about to give up and leave when she heard movement behind her. There was someone here!
She turned quickly but it wasn't quick enough. A shadowy figure had already closed the space between them and now Claire's left cheek was stinging painfully as the figure had unleashed a devastating kick. Claire rolled back onto her knees at least and brought her arms up successfully blocking a second attack. She grabbed the offending leg and stood, bringing the limb up with her and threw the attacker off balance. They went down, toppling over to the other side of the bed and rolling clear out of the door before getting to their feet to make an escape.
Part of Claire wanted to kick herself for all but helping them out of the door, but that would have to wait. She threw herself over the bed and rolled out into the dark hallway in time to see the end of a rain coat flutter around the corner.
"Stop!" She screamed and threw herself after them. She had barely made it to the stairs when the entire building shook and a fiery blast from room seventeen helped her descend the rest of those stairs.
~~~
"What the hell where you thinking?" Chris asked of his sister and then quickly clammed up. The look on Claire's face said it all, it hurt her to much to listen to a 'telling off'. That was fine, Chris would hold off for now, right now he just wanted to get her home or at least back to her apartment. She had been damn lucky, from what Chris had been able to gather half of the third floor had been taken out in that blast, if Claire hadn't made it at least to the top of the stairs she would've been a lot worse off than a concussion and a fractured wrist. "I told you to hold off until I got here." It was no good, he couldn't help it. As much as he felt sorry that she was hurt and miserable because of it, he *had* told her damnit!
"And if I had, we wouldn't have this!" She patted her bag with her good hand, the one not currently in a cast. "Who ever attacked me obviously came to cover any tracks."
"Yeah, they certainly done a good job."
"Or would have if I hadn't have gotten there first." Claire was upset, she had always been very independent and would often draw back from Chris' attempts to shelter her. He couldn't help it, like he'd said to Jill, he would always be protective of Claire. But he had to accept also that Claire didn't want to be protected, she was a fighter too so he figured the bast way to protect her was to teach her how to protect herself. Yet here he was, reprimanding her for using the skills he'd taught her.
"Alright, look I'm sorry. I just didn't want you out there alone."
"I've been through worse alone." She pointed out quite bluntly and Chris had to concede defeat.
"Hey I'm not doing this, I already apologised." They exited the hospital Claire shouldering her bag more securely, a hand over it protectively as if expecting someone would come rushing out of the night to take it and after what had happened, perhaps she was right to do so. Chris sighed and led her to the hire car. "Look, I'm taking you straight home, you get some rest, we'll check out the laptop and see what we can come up with."
"No way, Leon's my friend, I'm not about to sit this one out!"
"I'm not asking you too." He unlocked the car and held the door open for her. " Sheva's pretty good with computers, but the restoration of the data will still take some time."
"I. . ."
"Claire, I promise as soon as we find something I'll let you know."
"No, as soon as you find something you'll come and pick me up, *before* you make a move." Chris shot her a look and reluctantly nodded.
"Where the hell did my little sister go..." He muttered and Claire shook her head before getting into the car.
~~~
Claire sighed as she watched her brother drive into the night towards the motel he and the others were staying at. She would have put them up herself but truth was there wasn't that much room for one person living alone. She really wished she had stood her ground and insisted she go with him now, but Chris was ten times more stubborn than she was. Besides that, Claire really was wiped out. The explosion had left her very sore and the headache she bore was borderline unbearable. It would be a fist full of pain medication, bed and then nothing more until she got that call from Chris.
But all her plans were suddenly forgotten as soon as she closed the door. The hairs on the back of her neck rose as she heard a scuffle behind her, followed by the steady rhythmic sound of someone breathing. There was someone here...
~~~
Jill let herself relax probably for the first time since she arrived back in the US but then the hot water beating down on her still bruised body made it easy. She closed her eyes and let it caress her pale skin and let her mind wander. She tried to keep it from dark places, but when people live in darkness for as long as she had, they were difficult thoughts to avoid. She whimpered, wrapping her arms around her as a single tear was swallowed by the cascade of water.
She hadn't been able to tell anyone, not even Chris about the terrible things she had been made to do during those last three months in Africa.
A knock at the bathroom door brought her mind right back to the present and suddenly she felt the pain in her sides as she slowly unhooked her nails from where she had dug them into her skin. She looked down in confusion at the blood dancing in the water before it was taken by the drain.
"I'll be out in a minute." She called distractedly.
"Its fine." Sheva called through. "Just, making sure you're ok." The African woman sounded unsure and Jill stepped out of the shower not bothering with a towel while she checked her watch. She'd been in here an hour which was something of a shock.
"I'm fine." She called back realising she had not answered Sheva.
"Alright."
Jill listened, sensing as Sheva lingered a moment more before she cleared the doorway. Jill didn't mean to sound so rude but the truth of the matter was, she was scared. Sure she was back in control of her own body again, but there was still something behind her eyes. The scars of the last year had changed her. For the better? Only time would tell.
Sheva sat herself down at the table and went back to what she had been doing. Chris had brought the laptop back hours ago and the restoration of the data was taking longer than she had expected. At first it looked like the wipe had been complete but she was able to access some of the OS files and start the rebuild from there. The machine would never work the same way again, but it might just be enough to find out who where the machine had originally come from.
It was quiet, both of the guys were sleeping it made Sheva's job easier though she was starting to get sleepy herself.
"Coffee?" Sheva looked up from her work to find Jill stood there still wet from the shower but wrapped in a warm bath robe. Her hair was shorter, having had it cut when they arrived in the US and it was also starting to darken, returning to the more natural shade.
"I would love one." Sheva said with a grateful smile. She had been very worried about the other women, Jill had to have been through hell a prisoner in her own body, forced to kill innocents and turned against those she loved. Normally Sheva would have made a passing comment about raisins, but she didn't want to draw any more attention to it than she already had. For all she knew, Jill could be an hour long shower kind of person. . . "I kinda need it." Sheva continued as Jill headed into the kitchen and poured out two mugs of the Kenya blend. "Who ever wiped the data done a pretty good job of burrying it."
"Can it be restored?" Jill asked placing down Sheva's drink before taking a seat opposite her.
"It's not impossible, but it will take time."
"Something Leon doesn't have." Sheva tried not to take offence, she was sure Jill hadn't meant it in any malicious way. She was just worried about her friend. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that to sound. . ."
"It's alright." Sheva smiled. "I unuderstand and I believe me I feel it too." Sheva turned back to the screen following a sip of the hot beverage. A comfirtable silence fell as Sheva continued her work while Jill seemed to relax. It wasn't until Sheva vocalised her delight at finally making progress worth mentioning. "I've managed to locate the data. . ."
"What do you mean, locate? I thought it had been wiped?" Jill asked as she got up to watch over Sheva's shoulder.
"No, it was just made to appear that way. It's why my innitial restore didn't work, the data was never dumped, it was locked away behind a virus."
"Is that hard to do?"
"Incredibly, someone went to a lot of work, not to destroy it, but to hide it."
"From us?" It was a valid question after all, it hadn't escaped Sheva's attention that the computer itself had simply been left behind at a traceable address to be taken.
"I don't think so. Anyone with the knowledge to do something as advanced as this, well erasing it completely wouldn't be half the effort."
"Are you saying they hid the data specifically so we could find it?"
"I think so."
"Well who?" It wasn't a question directed at Sheva, more to herself and Jill stood straight a curious expression on her face. Sheva continued to work, fixing the once lost fragments of information back together before she was left with everything they needed. She wasn't even aware it had taken her well over three hours and now it was very late. Sleep was out of the question as soon the sun would be up soon anyway.
Jill was dozing quietly in her bed as Sheva continued to work and by the time everyone had woken, the African BSAA agent was fit to drop, but she had done it.
"I've been able to complie a conological time line of exactly where this machine has been, I have every IP address the computer has used to access online services. Mr Kennedy was last seen in DC before he was meant to be shipping out on a secret assignment by your government, he never made the rodezvous. It just so happens that on the same day Leon disappeared, this machine logged onto a wifi connection in a cafe just opposite the building he is based and the next time the computer is live. . ."
"Is in Montana. . ." Chris muttered as he studied the map that Sheva had pulled up on the screen. "That's some pretty wild country, what could possibly be there apart from trees and critters?"
"Solitude." Jill added quietly. "We all saw the state Leon was in, you don't do that kind of work with out the need for privacy."
"We still don't know why." Josh put in. "You said Leon is a government agent. . .perhaps who ever has taken him is trying to extract information. It may have nothing to do with Umbrella or Wesker."
"Is there anything else on the computer that can back that up?" Chris asked and Sheva nodded.
"I'm afriad so." Sheva's gaze lingered on Jill before she turned back to the machine and brought up a new file. "There. . .was a communication sent three months ago containing details of an experiment. The message said that the first test subject had responded well and to proceed with phase two."
"What kind of experiment...?" Jill asked, but Sheva could tell she had figured it all out for herself.
"You should have called Claire." Jill snapped as Chris picked up his bag and trailed after his moody partner. She had been quiet the entire flight and quick to temper. He knew why. The information recovered from the laptop had been a blow to them all but mostly to Jill. To learn that her ordeal had been nothing more than a test run for a more devious scheme had to be hard. Having experienced it, lived it and hope that no one else should have to again, only to have that hope denied had to be a blow for anyone.
"She would have insisted she come along and she's just not up to it." Chris again stuck to his well rehersed argument since when he finally came to explaining it to Claire he had better sould convincing or face a wrath harsher than the firey pits of hell itself. The ear bashing he was getting from Jill wasn't much better. "Hey, slow down. I'm the one with all the bags rememeber?" He kept some levity to the request since it was more than obvious a big guy like him could manage their two hold-alls. In reality he just wanted her to calm down. Jill seemed to understand his motive and slowed letting him catch up.
"I just don't want to mop up what's left of you when Claire finds out, that's all."
"Sounded to me you'd be the one making the mess along with her." He smiled and Jill tipped her head in affirmation.
"Well, would you have stayed behind and let someone else come and pull my ass out of the fire?"
"No." He hated when she was right and he sighed. "Fine I'll call her."
"I already tried, she's not answering." Jill said and shot him a smile at the face he pulled.
"You mean to say you've been having a go at me the entire flight and you'd already called her?"
"Yeah."
Silence.
"Wait, why didn't she answer?" Big borther mode had well and truely kicked in and now Chris was reaching for his phone. "She was expecting the call, there's no way she would miss it. . ." He let it ring but the call was never answered and he tried another three times before looking at Jill. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" He snapped then thought better of it, this wasn't Jill's fault.
"I just thought she was probably sleeping. . ."
"I know. I'm sorry I didn't mean that." Jill nodded in understanding.
"She is probably just asleep. At least now she can't have a go at you for not calling." The attempt to lighten the mood was appreciated and Chris had to accept that he was probably just over-reacting. "Lets meet up with the others and make a move. I'm sure she'll call back when she can."
"Right." He tried to accept that but, he had an awful feeling there was more going on.