I should be sleeping.
My Blue-eyed Angel
"Welcome to Africa. My name is Josh Stone," a deep voice spoke in a Kenyan accent. Jill turned to see an African man, much taller than her. He held his hand out for her to shake.
"Jill Valentine," she replied, giving him a small smile and shaking his hand.
He smiled in a friendly manner. "Your reputation proceeds you, Ms. Valentine. It's an honor."
"Just Jill, thanks." She brushed a piece of hair out of her face and glanced around, then returning her gaze to his face. "So, you'll be accompanying me to the destination?"
He nodded. "Yes. Tentions are running high ever since the change in government."
Jill nodded, eyebrows going up and nodding as well. "I'll bet. Intell says it's a haven for terrorists." She had done as much research as she could before leaving for the mission. The case file didn't give her much. She got more information from reporters that made their living by traveling to the place everything was happening.
"And they're not going to be happy to see an American. BSAA, or not. That's why I'm your partner, to put them at ease." His eyes flickered away from her to something in the background before returning to her.
"I'm sure you'll do just fine..." she smiled lightly. He turned to walk away and she frowned. "Partner..." she mumbled. She saw a quick glimpse in her mind of her only real partner. Christopher Redfield.
Josh stopped and looked back at her. "Are you okay?"
She shook herself out of her short day dream. More like a nightmare. "Yeah, sorry. It's... Nothing. Let's go."
"You two... This way." The dealer led them farther into the butchery. He walked with an unnatural gait, like his legs had healed from some injury wrong. "It may because of the new government, but people around her are a little on edge." He gave them both a dirty look. "You should do what you came here to do and go home."
Jill raised her eyebrows in half amusement. "Yeah. They really role out the red carpet for us Americans." Josh chuckled lightly.
The dealer gestured to the silver cases on the counter top. "I have your weapons for you here. Check them."
Jill stepped forward and unlatched the case's lock. It glided open to reveal two bullet proof vests, two melee gards, and two hand guns. She took the gear that was in her size and put it on. The vest was a bit loose, so she tightened the side straps. The same went for the arm guards. Josh retrieved his gear from the case and slipped it on. His fit him almost perfectly compared to how hers fit her. He examined his hand gun and loaded a clip.
"Destination coordinates?" he asked.
The dealer jerked his head towards the door, or lack there of. "Town Square's up ahead. Go through there. Alpha teams waiting at the deal location."
"Good."
"What do you know about Uroboros?"
Jill looked up at this. "Mostly just rumours." She shrugged, placing her gun in it's holster. "Something about visions of a doomsday project."
The dealer nodded. "Doomsday sounds about right." He sighed. "And apparently, it is no rumour."
Both of the BSAA agent's eyes widened. "You're kidding, right?"
"You must find the man named Irving. He's our only lead." The dealer began to walk away, but stopped before he exited the door. "And be careful out there."
Josh and Jill watched as the helicopter flew over. "Take cover!" came the command through the headset. They both dodged behind the nearest building, Josh insinctively guarding Jill from the brunt of the blast tht tore apart the door. She was thankful for it, but it made her horribley sad. The only man she ever wanted to feel the need to protect her was dead, and while Josh was a good man, she didn't want his protection.
She wanted Chris's.
Josh kicked the door down and Jill followed him in. "What the hell happened in here?" she mumbled, not really asking anyone. Dead bodies lay everywhere. Of people she had known. The Alpha team. It was just like over ten years ago when she and Chris had found the bodies of their friends being chewed on by the undead, or even one of the undead. She looked around the room, gun at the ready. But then she saw someone alive. She rushed to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey! Who did this?"
"Something attacked us... Irving... He got away... W... Was a set up..."
"A set up?" The man lifted his hand slowly, shoving a bloodied case into her hands. "What is this?"
"Data regarding the deal... I downloaded it from the computer... You... You gotta get it to HQ..." His head rolled to the side, his life leaving his body.
"Hey! Hey, hang in there!" She shook his body gently, but it was too late. She leaned back, closing her eyes.
"I saw someone. But they ran away," Josh said, returning to her side.
Jill punched the ground lightly before standing and placing a hand to her headset, radioing in. "Kirk, do you copy? We got the data. But Alpha team is down. Irving got away."
"Roger. Relay the data from the vehicle at the storage facility."
Jill sighed and shook her head lightly. Josh approached her and they looked at each other in a form of slight exasperation.
Jill went to place the key in the door. And then something caught her eye. A black ooze was coming out of the ceiling, combining into a seething mass of tentacles.
"What the hell is that?" Josh spoke, voice showing his disbelief.
The tentacles shot out from the being as it fell to the floor. They twisted into the dead bodies that littered the floor, dragging them back to the main body of the monster. It grew, mutating into something worse. "I think that's what got Alpha team," Jill said, raising her magnum, firing off a few shots into it. Josh followed suite. It lashed out at them and they dodged, being backed into the hallway.
Jill and Josh entered the warehouse with their guns raised. BSAA all terrain vehicles sat abandoned there, put out of commision by the enemies they had been fighting. Jill glanced into the window of one, finding the device they needed to get the information to HQ with. She stowed her gun and opened the door. "I got it."
"What was that thing?" Josh asked, not feeling comfortable enough to put away his gun. She placed the disc inside the computer and let the information load.
"A B.O.W. that scumbag Irving left behind to set us up." She began to type into the computer. "Considering what it did to Alpha team, I think we're lucky to still be breathing."
Josh lowered his gun. "If we only could've gotten there sooner..."
"If we had, we'd probably be dead too," she pointed out. She finished on the computer and placed a hand to her ear once more. "Jill, to HQ. Do you copy?"
"This is HQ. Excellent work out there. We'll analyze the data immediately."
"This whole towns gone to hell. The people here, they're acting like those Ganados detailed in the Kennedy report. And aside from that, there's something new. Something we've never encountered before," she informed.
Josh added in. "Our transportation's been taken out too. Requesting a mission update."
"The mission stands. Capturing Irving is our top priority. We believe he may have fled to the mines on the otherside of the train station."
"Wait!" Jill spoke loudly. "We're the only two left! You want us to go in there alone?"
"Delta team has been dispatched and are on their way. They'll assist them in locating and aprehending Irving."
"Wait, we can't-" Josh as cut off.
"I repeat. The mission stands. We can't afford to let Irving get away. Proceed to the mines beyond the train station. Over and Out."
And like that, they no longer had a link to HQ.
Jill sighed and looked over at Josh. "This is insane!" he spoke bitterly.
She shrugged. "Ever get the feeling you're expendable?"
"Man, am I glad to see you guys!" Jill exclaimed, approaching the woman who stood at the front of the Delta team.
She extended her hand and Jill shook it. "Delta team Captain Alomar."
"Jill Valentine."
Sheva looked at Josh. "Josh," she said with a small smile.
"Thanks, Sheva. I owe you one."
Jill looked over at Josh. "You two know each other?"
Sheva nodded. "I trained under Josh. He taught me everything I know. He's a single agent now, though."
Josh nodded. "She became like a little sister to me."
"Josh," Sheva spoke. "You must continue your search for Irving. According to the data we retrieved from the hard drive, we believe he has moved on to the mining area." She held up a USB. "There's more info inside." Jill took it from her. "We'll follow after taking care of buisness here." Josh nodded. "And keep you're radio handy just in case."
"Thanks, Sheva."
She nodded and left the room with the other two Delta team members.
Jill plugged the USB into her phone. It took a moment to load. She glanced through the files until a picture came up. Her breath stilled to almost nothing. It was Chris. He appeared to be unconcious, suspended in some sort of clear liquid. Her rocketed into over drive. "Chris..."
She had another flashback. This time of Spencer Mansion, entering the room in which Wesker stood. Being thrown back and then lifted into the air. Watching as Chris tackled Wesker out the window in order to save her life. Screaming his name as he fell to his death...
"Jill..." She turned to look at Josh. "Are you alright?"
"This picture, it's..." She trailed off and Josh looked to her expectantly. "Forget it... It's nothing. Let's move out." Josh set his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently in a comforting manner. She was greatful for it, but only wished Chris were there.
"Freeze!" Jill yelled.
"Oh, shit!" Irving swore, grabbing his gun.
"So, you must be Irving!" Josh exclaimed.
"Wow, perceptive, aren'tcha?" Irving spoke, raising his gun to their two.
"You think this is a joke? You're just like all the other scum terrorists!" Josh declared.
Irving smiled. "Oh, I'm not like them! I'm a buisness man with stahndahds!" He laughed.
"Drop the weapon!" Jill ordered.
"Or," Irving breathed heavy. "How 'bout you drop yours?"
Jill stepped foreward and Irving's gun wavered in between Josh and Jill. Suddenly, something was tossed at Irving's feet and he looked down, surprised. It began to push out smoke. Jill dived to the ground where the least of it would be, followed by Josh. The window shattered and suddenly there was a cloaked figure in the room. The figure was large and masculine. It grabbed the back of Irving's collar and dragged him backwards. "Hurry!"
"Haha, suckers!" Irving called as he fell out the window.
Josh made a run for the window with Jill shortly after. Jill risked looking out and found no one to be seen. "Great..." she muttered.
"Looks like Irving has a partner," Josh stated.
Josh walked among the bodies. Glancing back and forth. Kneeling by one, he picked up a chain complete with dog tags. "Where are you, Sheva?" he mumbled.
Jill approached slowly. "Josh, you don't have to do this, you can still back out."
He looked at her as though she were insane. "What about you?"
She looked away and back up. "I've got a personal stake in this."
His expression became one of disbelief. "A personal stake? Jill, look around! We should both get the hell out of here!"
She shook her head. "I'm not here just for the mission."
"What are you talking about?"
She bit her lip. "A while back I recieved some intel that my old partner is still alive. At first I didn't know what to think. But when I saw the data file from Delta Team, I knew for sure. Chris is still alive."
"That man in the data file?" Josh asked slowly. "Are you sure it's him?"
"We were partners. I'm sure." She turned and began to walk away.
"Wait!"
She paused, shook her head, and continued on.
"Jill, you are not going alone! Jill, wait!"
She kept walking. "I don't have much time. I have to find him."
"I'm going with you." Jill stopped, and turned to face him. "These... These are my people that are dying here."
She gave him a skeptical look. "You sure about this? A second ago you were ready to cut and run."
He took a deep breath, admitting silently that she was right. "I can't just turn my back and walk away."
"There are no more orders from here on in. It's just us," she warned.
"We're partners. To the end." Jill looked down, back up at him, and nodded. "Now let's get moving."
"Copy that..."
"What happened to your old partner?" Josh asked.
Jill bit her lip and sighed. "Chris and I were pursuing a man named Albert Wesker..." she began. "Wesker... He was a top official with Umbrella. A member of our STARS unit. Chris met him again after the Raccoon City Inccident on Rockfort Island. Since then we've been trying to track him down. And a few years ago, we got a tip from a reliable source. The whereabouts of Umbrella's founder, Oswell E. Spencer. We paid him a visit hoping he'd lead us to Wesker." She shook her head sadly. "When we got there, Spencer was dead and Wesker was standing over his body. We, well, we got our ass kicked... I can remember every single freaking moment of that fight. All the way to when Wesker grabbed my throat, holding me in the air... And Chris tackling him out a window before I could be killed..." She dragged her hand down her face. "Goddammit, why do I always cry?" She wiped the tears away. "Anyway... Chris's body was never found and he was presumed dead. The person I saw in that data looked like him. I... I have to know if he's still alive."
"You two were close," Josh noted.
"We were partners," she stated simply. "What about you? Why'd you join the BSAA?"
"My country needed my help. And... I was to be married to a woman. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. And she was killed. I don't want that to happen to others." Both sat in silence for a few moments, thinking back on those they had lost. "They're using Africa to test their experiments. Ruining lives every day. I wanted to do something to stop that. But there's only so much one person can do. We are not all super heroes, like you."
"I'm no super hero..." She shook her head once more. "But we can do this."
"What the hell...?" Jill spoke. The walls of the large, bottomless room were lined with capsules in which to hold bodies.
"This was in the pictures too," Josh pointed out.
"Wait..." Jill whispered. "That means Chris might be here!" An alarm went off and they looked towards the sound. One of the capsules had turned a glowing orange and was emerging from the wall. It opened and a dead, withered man fell out.
"What have they done?" Josh muttered.
Jill disregarded the comment and jogged up to the central panel. She began to type into the computer. 'Christopher Redfield' she typed. The picture of him came up and she murmered his name. "Chris..." ACCESS FLOOR read the screen and the floor began to move.
A capsule emerged from the wall and began to open. Some sort of liquid poured out. Jill swore when it was reveiled to be empty. "Dammit! Where is he?"
"Ms. Valentine." Jill turned to see a face on the monitor. "How nice to make your aquaintence."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Excella Gione..." Josh spoke. "She works for Tricell."
"Nice," Excella commented. "You've done your homework."
"An officer of the Global Pharmacutical Consortium. But why?"
Excella let out a petty laugh. "As if I need to explain myself to you. Although... Weren't you two given orders to retreat?"
"It was you!" Josh said aloud. Excella laughed.
"Where's Chris?" Jill spat angrily.
"Chris?" Excella said the name like she knew exactly who she was speaking of. "Even if I did know, do you think I would tell you?"
"Cut the crap! Tell me where he is!"
"As soon as you two are done with your little... Vigilante mission, you should leave. There's nothing here worth throwing your life away for." The screen went black and Jill swore.
"That's a lie... Chris is here..." she murmured to herself.
Josh and Jill entered the room with their guns raised. The room was eerily silent. They saw a man with sores all over his skin, head down.
"Well, glad you could make it." Excella's voice. They glanced around, unable to find it's source. "Up here, you two."
Jill looked up to see the Persian standing non-chalant on the opposite side of the glass. Behind her stood the cloaked figure.
"Excella! Where's Chris?" Jill was angry and wanted her partner back.
"Chris, Chris, Chris. You're like a broken record, you know that? I was never told you had such a one-track mind." She shook her head, acting dissapointed. "You've spent so long trying to track down Uroboros. Here. Enjoy." The man stood and his skin seemed to writhe from within. Tentacles burst from spots in his skin.
"Excella Gione! Stop right there!" Josh ordered.
"Bravo," the woman replied.
"Dammit, where's Chris?" Jill demanded.
Excella rolled her eyes and laughed. "Chris? Maybe I'll tell you, maybe I won't."
Suddenly, the cloaked figure dropped from the ceiling, throwing a punch at Josh, which was dodged. Jill tried to fire at the figure, but he managed to grab her arms and she lost a decent grip on her gun. Josh opened fire, forcing the figure to retreat.
"Stop playing around! We want some answers!" Jill hissed.
"You haven't changed." The voice sent a shiver down Jill's spine. Wesker was walking down the stairs.
"Wesker... You are alive," Jill stated calmy, moving her gun's aim from the cloaked man to Wesker.
"This is Wesker?" Josh asked rhetorically.
Wesker continued down the stairs. We last met at the... Spencer Estate, wasn't it?" He reached the bottom and continued to talk. "Isn't this one big, family reunion? I would expect you to be happier to see us."
"Us?"
"So slow to catch on..." Wesker jerked the hood back on the figure.
Jill nearly dropped her gun. "Chris!"
"Are you sure that's him?" Josh asked quietly.
"The one and only."
Chris threw the cloak off and attacked again.
"Chris! It's... It's me! Jill! Snap out of it!" Chris had Jill knocked to the floor, lying on her stomach. He had jerked one of her arms back at a painful angle, and one of his knees held her down. Josh lay incapacitated a few feet away, trying to move and help her.
"Great job, Jill. But now that your... partner has arrived, I'll leave you two to catch up." Wesker headed back towards the elevator. On que, Chris forced her arm farther, threatening to remove it from it's socket.
"Chris!" Jill cried through pain. "Please! Remember who you are! Chris! Chris Redfield!"
Chris pushed himself back and she heard him mutter, "Jill..."
"Resisting at such an advanced stage... Remarkable. Yet pointless." Wesker stepped back from the elevator and pulled out his PDA. Chris reached towards him, trying to stop him, but it was too late. He fell to the ground, wreathing in pain and pulling at the collar of his jet black suit.
"What'd you do?" Jill cried out, suddenly standing with her gun in her hands.
Wesker smirked. "Have fun." He boarded the elevator.
Chris tore at the fabric until it gave, exposing a bright red jem attached to the base of his neck, just below his collar bone.
"What is that?" Josh asked, finally able to stand.
"I don't know, but we have to get it off!"
Chris reeled in pain before finally collapsing. Jill cried out his name and kneeled by his side, pulling his head into her lap. "Chris!"
He opened his eyes and smiled at what he saw. "Jill... Oh God, I'm so glad to see you..." he murmured. She realized that she had tears in her eyes as she gently ran her hand through his hair. He looked around and saw Josh. "Hey... You're Josh, right?" Josh nodded. "I'm sorry for this whole... thing. And... Thanks for protecting Jill."
"It was no hassle," the African-American said with a friendly smile.
Chris returned his gaze to Jill. "God... You're amazing... You know that? An angel. A blue-eyed angel..."
Jill smiled through her tears. "I'm just so glad I found you!" She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Never die for me again. I'm better off dead than without you."
He frowned. "Don't say that."
"When all this is over, ask your sister how I took your death." Jill's tone was dark and filled with pain.
Chris pushed himself off the ground, managing to stand. She stood as well, keeping one hand in his as she faced him. "I'm going to be fine, okay? You need to stop Wesker." Jill shook her head.
"But you-"
"I'll be fine. In a few days, you and I will be back in the states eating potato chips and watching cheesey movies. But you need to stop him now." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. "You can do this..." he whispered in her ear. His lips met hers in a short burst of longing before he pushed her away. "Now go. Save the world, Valentine."