Warning: This chapter has Resident Evil 5 spoilers. Don't say I didn't warn you. I will not tell you where they are, so you will have to dub what is true and what is not true. This chapter will also have explicit content and may perhaps be my longest, most full-filling chapter yet. I apologize for any typos that you might come across and I hope you can overcome them, I was typing this until 4 am, then finished this morning when I woke up!

Hurt - Rapture

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Chapter 7: Rapture

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In the life of the wrong a love lingered on,
Love lingered on to frustration.
And if our love is so wrong, what should we do alone?
Or am I just a picture in a photograph?
Why are we stuck in this pantomime fearing a god who died?
One who would not deny lovers?
And I don't care what they say, if what you need is your faith,
Then take a look at my face and know.

Our shoulders touched for a split second, just enough for the woman to get by me, but it irritated me to no end. As Excella dubbed her place beside Wesker, who to my surprise had beat us to the destination, I sauntered over towards the other half of the room and stood facing them, my back towards the wall so my view was as open as it gets.

"Excella," Wesker's voice seemed to ask for something by just saying her name. The sound of the briefcase opening caught my attention.

The stench strangled my insides; I could smell the virus within the diminutive tube of the syringe, driving my senses haywire with alert. As Excella brought it to the sky to peer at its essence, I could almost swear the light illuminating the liquid wanted me. Excella lowered the syringe, my eyes intently trailing along with its decent, and then the needle went into Wesker's arm.

"What are you doing?" I said harshly as I advanced a few steps toward Excella, but I was too curious to why Wesker was letting her inject him to rip the needle from her.

"I'll explain," Wesker said quietly, only when the needle was withdrawn did he place a hand on me to calm my nerves. The touch was very brief and went unnoticed.

"Wesker, don't you think I have proven myself worthy," Excella purred, "to be your partner? After all, I am looking at something… much bigger," Her hand graced his stomach as she interjected between him and I.

"Perhaps you have." He grabbed her face after his words; his forefingers, like his thumb, indenting in her cheeks and throwing her head off to the side with a light wrist jerk. Her face was most displeased and mine, behind my mask, was quite the opposite.

"The BSAA are here." I glanced up to view the other woman, who was so much like myself, opening the door into the central control - and I thought three was a crowd.

"It seems your friend…" Excella began, speaking to the woman about my brother being this cloaked figure's friend. What was she babbling about?

"Where is Irving? You were supposed to be protecting him," I called the woman on her post, noticing that I had done my job and she hadn't.

"Look below," Excella responded for her and with a pivot on my right leg I advanced towards a large viewing window of central control. My head tilted until I saw Chris and Sheva enter with a bit of surprise on their faces as Excella joined me at my side. Just below us, was a naked, blonde man. Was it Irving? No, no... This was not him.

"Irving is dead." I heard someone say, but my eyes were transfixed on the man below who was twisting and contorting as tentacle shapes parted from all parts of his body. Come on, Chris…

"Follow me," Wesker commanded, as his arm grabbed my loose sleeved bicep and drug me off towards the door. I didn't want to go, but it wasn't my choice at the moment.

The other cloaked woman took her place a few paces behind Excella and turned as still as stone.

"We will be back shortly," He assured with some sort of order. This time, I could not offer my help to my sibling and his new partner; my heart broke in two.

"You have been searching for Uroboros. Well, here it is. Enjoy." I heard behind me. My stomach dropped.

-=-=-=-=-=-

We had been walking for only a few moments before Wesker took it upon himself to hoist me up onto his back and warp away with me; no wonder he beat us after his "business" was taken care of. The colors within my eyes mutated, adjusting to the speeds we were going at. We rode the twisting elevator down a few more slots then I had traveled, around us were what seemed like millions of tubs. Each tube was filled with a subject, most dead, and this is where we had brought the specimen upon our arrival. Wesker picked up the pace once more once we landed. Ancient, Aztec-looking buildings passed before us along with stone steps, ruins, and old artwork. It was indeed, nothing I had ever seen before.

"Here," He said while I slid from the muscular, arch of his back. Two hands, that of my own, peeled back my hood and lifted my mask to the top of my head. My jaw dropped with awe as I stared up and around with a clearer view.

"What is this place?" I asked intrigued as I began my exploration around the small area.

The perimeter was green with overgrowth and some rubbish of man that had been left for a decade or so. There were tents, dusted and unoccupied, and large, red flowers that grew upon a small, stair steeple in the middle of the area. I advanced towards a symbol that had been touched recently, the dirt was smeared by a questioning person's hand; it was an Umbrella symbol. I knelt before it, placing my hand on top of the still visible hand print a man had left behind. Chris.

"This place…" I began as I crouched before the insignia, jerking around on the ball of me feet to witness the equipment's Tricell logo at the tents behind me.

"Yes," Wesker responded to what I was thinking; he knew I'd figure it out.

"Then the flowers?" I stood and ventured over to the ancient, cracked stairs that was the steeple and placed my hand under a flower's peddle that grew from one of the crevices. There was a distinctive odor roaming in the air.

"We were able to construct the Progenitor virus from these supple environmental beauties. It is astonishing because we could modify a host cell without killing the host. In separate parts of the world, the T-virus and Veronica Virus could be established. Yet, there was nothing we could bond it with to view its utmost power; we needed the Las Plagas. Obtaining a sample of Las Plagas was the only hard part, but with it we were able to mix the two and create Uroboros. The Progenitor virus had been on the back burner for quite some time; it wasn't completely useless…" He seemed to trail off at the last sentence.

"And my blood? What did that create?" I sat upon one of the steps, bringing my knees towards my body as my hand picked a flower to twirl between my fingertips. The stench wasn't as bad as it seemed, by the flies thought so.

"Why, it created you my lady." I was confused, my head turned up to face him through perked eyebrows. He took his place beside me.

"What you saw Excella injecting me with was the Progenitor virus, serum PG67 A/W, named after me," He smirked, " Tricell was able to make a serum developed to correct the erratic nature produced in the later stages of my infection. The "Wesker Virus", developed by Spencer himself, it has a rather mutative nature in my growth."

Confusion struck me, then this virus must be truly old, I responded in my mind as I waited for him to continue, my eyes saying enough.

"Oswell E. Spencer… the fool. He was a smart man who truly wanted to create a superior race of super humans like myself. He didn't ask for brainless individuals such as the zombie. Marcus was testing Leeches, and with that Oswell found the core to true life that the virus was capable of, having had a higher desire for its affect on humans. He eventually asked Birkin and I to steal the T-virus." What was he saying?

"What was the project called?" I pried, interrupting him, knowing he was hiding something uncomfortable because of his vague wording.

"The Wesker Children," My heart skipped a beat, but this wasn't what he was concealing; I pried with fear.

"You're not human…" It was more of a question than a statement, despite how it came out.

"No, I never was, after my injection. The Wesker Virus, was injected to many to which did not survive, meant to work as a filter to find the more "special" of us. Mine, was given to me by Birkin who was unaware." His gaze was locked forward, "Yes, I died once... and I was also reborn."

Years, I had tried to picture in my mind this brilliant man who obtained so much power he was kill by it. I tried to picture the Tyrant, shoving his long claws into the stomach of the man who helped create him, betraying him. Then, watching the virus bring him back to be stronger than he ever was. He was the chosen one.

"The Progenitor virus only bonds with certain blood – and I was made for it. Although in a higher stage of mutation, the injections are also hazardous. It literally poisons my body if given too much," He admitted his weakness to me, I found myself scooting closer with no shame in what he was.

"Where is Spencer now – he must be pretty old," I said suddenly, realizing just how dumb of a comment it was to place after a question; it was clear what I was really going for.

"He is dead. I killed him." I blinked once, but stared at him softly as if nothing he could do would throw me away. I hoped this wasn't his objective.

"He was arrogant, unworthy of such power." In a twisted way, I understood, and by this time I had grown tired of staring at his profile; my hand delicately reached across and touched his cheek farthest from me, directing his eyes where they belonged: staring into my own.

"Though, I still show my dedication to the life he has given me," He adjusted his glasses, "With the Uroboros project, I will find the chosen ones," He was speaking nonsense. After all, if he was thinking of infecting the world... he would tell me, right?

"Why me?" I whispered, my eyes jumping side to side while gazing into his cat-like orbs which were now in my direction, alerted by my question.

"If Wesker Children is ever going to be a project, outside of me, I would like to share it with someone who is just as... 'special'," He refused to answer my question and I found myself squinting with a 'why' expression for a few moments. I was a chosen one? That would mean the T-virus would happen to like me, right? I pushed it aside for now, watching his face become closer to mine.

His lips found my forehead and ventured down my nose to my top lip; he lingered there, without intimacy, for longer than I desired. So for the sake of cravings, I met him half way and calmed my quivering lips by implanting them to his. The sound of his sudden intake of breath through his flaring nostrils sent chills up and down my spine all while the kiss deepened. My body pressed forward, aching to dominate him and show him how much his openness meant, but as soon as pressure was applied I was on my back. He reversed it on me.

"My lady…" He whispered his cool breath into my neck while his lips drug down the length of my cloak from my chest, all while his swift hands worked on undressing me, "The lovely Claire Redfield," He teased in a soft whisper as he continued to move downwards.

A sigh of lust, desire… hunger, parted as my breath left my chest. I arched my back to him, inviting his brute arms to wrap around my near naked body to adjust me on top of the cloak he had just removed and placed upon the ground. I tore at him through the tightness of our bodies, somehow able to work through the absence of space provided.

"Relax…" He cooed lowly in a similar whisper as the hot flesh of his chest touched my own. My hips rose with arousal and his hands grasped them to coax my pelvis back towards Earth. Did he know his breathing alone could send me into pure ecstasy?

My arms sprouted out to him, coiling around his head to guide his face into my bosom, where the wetness of his pink muscle touched my flavorful skin. I moaned and squirmed helplessly as he descended between my thighs; he pleasured me the most intimate way a man could a woman, but I ached for the full, satisfactory sensation.

My hands upon his hair, I hoisted him back up to me while my legs trapped him in by coiling around his waist. He maneuvered to his knees and lifted me from the taut, rump of my behind as if he were lifting air. For support, my arms became a death grip around his neck with my lips upon his and his upon mine; they never parted the whole journey towards the experiment tents.

His arm released me momentarily, uplifting the curtain entrance of the tent to keep my head from snagging. I heard the noise of breaking bottles and fluttering paper once Wesker reached out behind me; the ruckus ceased when I was sat upon a flimsy table with my body still half clinging to his tall frame. His gruff hands found my sides, tilting me backwards until I felt my silk, brown locks move like tiny feathers across my mid-back; how long my hair had got…

I was scooted towards the edge of the surface below in unison of his approach towards me; I felt him deep within almost instantly… moving through my ridges on through until he noticed a dead end. He withdrew and plowed in again with quick entries and slow withdrawals. I could hear the fluids of me as he reentered continuously, my neck curling forward until it dipped under his chin. I planted kisses and bites where I could until his hands wrapped around my neck.

I panicked and quickly grabbed his wrists with my hands, my eyes switching from purple to a bright yellow and red. He smiled down at my glare and moved his hips faster to the scared beat of my heart. I relaxed, my personal commotion coming back into play as his hands moved from his almost violent thrill to gripping my shoulders painfully. I could handle more now: more of his speed, more of his size, more his strange, nearing painful way to control the true pleasure he felt. These love marks would leave a bruise, a bruise that my father would call disrespecting myself – but a bruise I personally will deem precious.

-=-=-=-=-

That till your rapture falls to pieces
Until your rapture falls to pieces
Find in me the room to breathe,
Simple things like suffering
Life had gone this way
Life is gone this way

"Ah," he said coolly as my mask was returned to me. I did the best I could to soothe the rat's nest that became of my hair.

"You told them you wouldn't be long," I reminded him, throwing my hood up.

"It won't take long to return, run beside me – you're just as fast." I was?

"Well, maybe not." He must have sensed my question through my silence. I was fast, but I wasn't that fast. We began our sprint, but I felt as if I was slowing him down.

When we reached the spot we had left nearly an hour ago, Wesker became weary and held his hand to me to slow my pace. They were gone. There, on the floor, lied what was left of an un-chosen one. He said nothing, but within the middle of my being I knew he wished me out of it. He instantly turned, heading back towards the spiraling elevator to a stone building.

The sound of ricochet sent a sharp shrill to my keen ears; there was a struggle taking place between Chris and Sheva… still? I ventured towards and open door way and snooped from afar, seeing the other cloaked woman kicking them about. Anger raged in my blood and instinctively my hand reached to my side for my knife while my eyes fixed on the woman's mask upon the floor; it had been shot off. Wesker made his way into the scene, pressing past me and descending the stairs while I remained in the dark. The now mask-less woman backed up beside him. What was going to unfold?

"Glad you could join us," His accent drew my attention through and opened door, I was able to view them from my post there at the top of the stairs.

"Us?" My brother said with the same face raise as I did.

"So slow to catch on," Wesker said as he removed the hood's casting shadow upon the woman's face.

Jill Valentine stood with a blank, yet frustrated expression across her fair, pale face upon reveal. I knew she was alive, I knew she was being held, but how could Wesker do this to my brother? She must of been the lady we transported, it only made sense. Did he know how my brother refused to eat for three days upon her missing corpse? What was I saying…? Wesker was the reason she sacrificed herself as she did and I was kicking dirt in my brother's face every moment I spent with him… we both were.

"Jill… It's me Chris…" Chris advanced towards her and she became a cornered animal.

"I think this is fair… two versus two?" Wesker's evil, cool tone was the harmony that brought my heart to my throat. My hands grasped the door frame and held onto it tightly for strength that did not come. I watched their battle.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Somewhere along the line, Chris and Sheva became lost in the twisting stone walls of the new area; they were hiding from him because they were no match. I stood there aching and screaming on the inside for Chris to prevail, but cried and wept within when Wesker hunched in agony when Chris and Sheva snuck around the corner and administered fire to Wesker's back. Yet, I viewed what Wesker really was in this battle: the hulk, Ironman, Wolverine… you name it. The man stood up each time and with lightening speed pursued, that was until they disappeared again.

"I don't have time for this," Wesker finally said as walked up the stairs, nearing me, only for Sheva and Chris to come out of the dark.

"Wesker, wait!" The two climbed after him, pointing their guns. They were no match, I closed my eyes and listened to the thwacking sounds as Jill rushed to Wesker's aid and threw the pair around. Then, I heard my brother cry in agony. I opened my eyes.

"Jill, Jill Valentine!" He begged her to wake up from holding him in a painful arm twist. Her face contorted, relaxed, released him, and then she spun in a manic craze towards whatever was happening to her. My attention turned to Wesker.

"Resisting after all this time? How futile," Wesker grunted while removing something from the side of his belt, he pressed a button on a device I had never seen before. Jill began to scream in agony until she ripped the front of her purple battle suit open; it fit her like another skin.

There, upon her chest, was a gem that had visible liquid flowing through tubs that were in vetted into her chest. My eyes widened when I realized that this is why the infection within her was different. She was being controlled.

"What's that thing on her chest?" Sheva asked Chris with worry.

"I don't know, but we have to get it off her!" Chris urged.

"Now that your partner has arrived, I'll leave you two to catch up." He turned my way, but ignored me standing there. Within my core, I was told once more not to interfere, "Enjoy watching Jill suffer." Was Wesker's final comment. He smirked and grabbed my arm as he advanced to indicate me to follow. I slapped it off of me.

For what seemed like a decade we shared a glance, one of confusion and anger mixed. He moved on, ignoring me and leaving me there. My attention turned back to Sheva and Chris who were desperately working to get the machinery off.

My palms closed upon my ears and I remained lost in my own world for as long as I could until the infection within me sensed a dread. I unplugged my ears, opened my eyes, and viewed my brother cradling Jill softly, urging her into reality. They had succeeded.

"You must be Sheva," A tired voice rang out, "I'm so sorry… I was aware of what I was doing, but I couldn't control it..."

"I am tired… weak. It not every day you get something that cradled your emotions for so long get ripped from your chest." My mouth moved into a thin line. How could she try to provide humor?

There was a silence as Jill shuffled in Chris's arms.

"I'll be alright, you have to go on and stop him," Jill insisted and rose to her feet despite how drained she was.

"Jill… I" I shook my head as my brother tried to interject; it seemed everyone had survived.

"If you don't stop him, Uroboros will be spread all across the world! Millions of innocent people will die!" Jill explained in the most serious voice. Wait... I turned away, I couldn't listen for the rest of their conversation.

Then, sure enough, my brother departed.

Jill stood until they took an elevator which I craftily re-hid myself away from, then she collapsed to her knees and laid there for just a moment until the sound of my boots clicked in the distance. I had forced myself up to speed walk up to Jill, throwing my mask away by hers and dropping my hood.

"Not -" She began to argue with me, her emotions unsure of what or who I was until she gave me her gray hues... after the sound of my voice.

"Jill…" I said softly, taking her up in my arms far more delicately than my brother hand. My hands ran across her face, relished her long, blonde hair, and positioned her head within my lap. Her eyes caught mine, confused and angrily at first, then they softened

"Claire?....!" She tried to scream and sit up at the same time. I shushed her and set her back down.

"It was you?" As she asked, I was searching for her power that seemed nonexistent now that the device was removed. I was probably making this a lot more difficult for her.

"Yes," I responded quickly, "What happened to you?"

"Wesker had put a controlling device on my chest… he could up my rage whenever he wanted, control me however he wanted, and simply make me obey." I felt bad for making her explain.

"I never knew..." I whispered more so to myself. How could that have existed? Why would Wesker continue to keep stuff from me, even now?

"Chris was able to remove it. The device kept my vitals moving, even when submerged under water when I was transported. My powers were only temporarily, after all. It was some new experiment – the Progenitor virus only binds with the made to do so… Excella will be a prime example of that." Was Excella dead? Or close to it?

"How did you get here?" Her eyes squinted as she asked and my heart was in my throat again.

"I was captured... like you," I said softly as my head hung in slight shame. I knew she was still staring at me, trying to figure me out.

"Your eyes are a beautiful purple-lilac...contacts?" I recognized the suspicion in her voice.

"Internal contacts," Somewhere in the tone of my voice, or the way I phrased my statement, Jill understood and the suspicion was put to rest.

"It bonded with you?" Her eyebrows rose with surprise. I nodded and again she began to shift below me to sit up.

"Lay… where is Chris heading?" I coaxed her easily down.

"There is a warehouse with a plane they will be taking out of here. Wesker plans to use it to spread Uroboros. You and I will follow them soon," I half smiled to the way she said 'you and I', ignoring the bit about Wesker about to make a doomsday. The wonderful thing about Jill, is she didn't over question things. She knew I was in a similar situation, kind of, and that we needed to escape.

"Are you aware how long you have been gone?" She asked me while staring deep into my eyes.

"How long have you been gone?" I reversed the question.

"Two years," Her voice was heavy with a sense of loss.

"You were pronounced dead six months before my imprisonment," I said quietly.

"Claire... your brother has been looking for you for almost a year and a half?" The tone of her voice told me that her strength was coming back. I helped her up a bit.

"I guess so…" I knew Jill wanted to know how I could be so calmed, so uncaring when really I was.

"It's so hard…" She said finally after a moment of silence.

"What is?" I insisted.

"Being under the control of someone else, making you fight past your limits and you have no say who dies by your hands." I smiled down at her, my hand brushing from her forehead back to through her hair.

"I do… only mine is a more interior battle," Her expression became questioning, her eyes begging me that was written across my face was not true -- that I did not obey because my heart was in it.

"Help me up," she insisted while she ignored the fact I was madly in love with her enemy as I did as she asked. What was I saying? Our enemy.

"I'm going to go get us a ride out of here. Get what you need." That's it? I'm free? I forget Wesker just like that? What was my life becoming…?

I stared at her figure as she left me standing with a longing in my heart and soul. After a moment of thought, I headed to the elevator and back down to the central control. There, I found an empty USB disk and slid it into one of the computers. I downloaded what I needed and had access to a master key card in the matter of minutes. All I had to do was type in the password "Flower".

From the window in the center, an object's sparkle caught my eye and lead me to veer around the corner to return to where my brother and Wesker had battled before. It had slid to a corner and I approached it slowly before kneeling in front of it. My fingers touched the old leather exterior and eventually the metallic clip that caught my attention aloft; it was a journal – and a very old one at that. I opened it and viewed who it belonged to upon the first page.

"Albert Wesker, 1978," I read out loud; this was when Wesker was eighteen years old. He must have kept it with him at all times. I mean, how embarrassing would that be? Wesker, have you written in your diary today? I turned the first page to read what he had placed upon the old, yellow-white paper.

"Claire!" The sound of my name, produced by a woman, called forth for me. I stashed the journal in a small carrier at my hip, hidden by my cloak, and advanced towards the elevator.

Once at the top I approached the mask I had thrown beside Jill's. Scooping it up, I placed it back where it belonged and pursued the sound of Jill's voice that was now closer.

When I saw her, my arm flew out and slung around her back to help her movements until she could sit properly upon a seat within copter. Her head lolled slightly with exhaustion as she tried her best to smile and give orders. A dark-skinned man with a BSAA badge, Africa division, was our pilot.

"See that smoke?" She pointed, "That's where we are heading… Chris's plane has been downed," My lips parted with fear, "Wesker is there too, no doubt," I felt vomit burn my throat.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Still in the life of the wrong we all moved along
Another life evolved to gestation
And so we made our way with the mistake we made
But she was just a picture from a photograph

"Grab on!" Jill had made her way past me to throw down a rope to whoever lay below. I tucked myself in a corner and refused to deal with the realization that whoever came up meant that they came out victorious. Either or, I lost someone I loved deeply.

The forms of Sheva and Chris were hoisted up into the copter with mere struggle as Jill sat herself back in her position.

"CHRIS!" A monster was screaming his name and was soon accompanied by the jerk of the plane downwards. I could still hear the accent within the agony of whoever lied below; they were not upset about losing the battle, but in pain. It was Wesker! He is still alive! I rolled to the balls of me feet from where I was sitting; I had to do something.

"Chris, Sheva – use those!" Jill pointed towards two rocket launchers that were on the Northwest wall of the plane near the door that they climbed through. I reached forth with one hand as they grabbed them.

"NO!" I screamed as my mask distorted my voice into something that resembled jack rabbits being clubbed; the boom of blasting rockets droning my cry into nothing. Yet, I could not push myself to that ledge to jump over and die with that man, or save him.. or throw Chris and Sheva out for all they had done… or even kill the pilot and take us all down.

Chris turned his attention to me and with a bounce in his angered step, approached me.

"Who are you?" The hate within his eyes sent daggers into my core. His hands found my shoulders.

"Who are you?" He tried again, giving me a shake.

"Chris –"Jill tried to intervene, forcing her aching body to a stand. I saw her stumble in the corner of my eye.

I tasted how drained he was the moment I slapped his grip on me away. He had been through more bullshit than I could ever ask of a human being. His burly arms were like noodles.

"Sit down…" Sheva said coolly as she eased him back, "are you a captive of Wesker, too?" I nodded once and rolled my head off to the side. Sheva's was so tender and relieved.

Tears bubbled below my eyes and soon overflowed down my cheeks. I was able to hide most of my pain with my mask, but the rest of the tears darkened the cloak on my lap. I upturned my hands to catch the tears that fell, to return the agony drops to my body through my skin so I could cry them over and over again. I wanted to sob, bash my fists upon the walls and floor, but all that came were slow, gradual tears that moved as my emotions did at the moment: sluggish and asking for death.

"We're over Europe," Someone, who cares who, announced as my body swayed through the turbulence of the plane.

Without much more thought, I lifted my masked face and stood to saunter over towards the Northeast wall.

"What are you doing?" Jill asked, my hands snatching up a parachute quickly. Soon after, my heeled boot pressed off from the wall and sent me out of the plane as soon as I could move open the sliding door.

"WAIT!" I heard Jill call after me, not daring to say my name – it was not her name to tell. I pictured her saying nothing but a sweet cover about me, that I was just another lost soul looking for where I fit in the world. Nah, she would probably say something vaguer with a hidden, heartfelt meaning.

I pulled my shoot and glided to the ground easily, leaving the complete pack there. Next, I threw off my cloak somewhere into the grass-grown plain I had landed in. Uplifting my mask, I advanced onward somewhere between Czech and Germany, or so I thought from the first sign I viewed.

-=-=-=-=-=-

But, if this must be, then burn with me
Anything
Just don't leave
So find in me the room to breathe
Sinful things like suffering
Till your rapture falls to pieces

Hours had gone by and I had hitch hiked and walked until I reached the town of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. The town held history and I could sense it within my fingertips the dread it had caused to some of the elderly when we crossed paths on the streets. I knew that it had been bombed before, but imagine their lives if Wesker would have succeeded.

I had left my cloak behind in the field I had landed in, but kept my mask with me for the purpose of I didn't have any money. In my fitted black shirt and black cargo pants with mangled auburn hair, and purple hued eyes, I must have seemed like a drunk. However, my mask did come in handy, I was able to haggle it and obtain enough money to buy some clothes and a small coffee at one of the shops.

In a pair of fitted blue jeans and a blue, sleeved turtle neck I sat down at one of the tables at the coffee shop to access one of the computers. As it loaded, I swallowed the hot liquid of my mocha; the sweet, chocolate taste was something I had missed.

"Oh my god," My email was flooded with mail from the members of similar N.G.O. programs as well as Terrasave, but Leon's name was first to catch my interest, "Lets see." I clicked the most recent one.

"Claire,

If you can somehow get access to a computer with internet – we haven't forgotten about you. We are still looking for you, missing you, and hope that you decide to come home. We don't know what happened; don't you think your brother deserves an explanation? Rani and her Aunt? Where are you?

Leon"

My heart was pounding in my chest as I moved to the reply button.

"Leon,

I am alright, but I am not ready to discuss (especially over e-mail) what I have been doing all this time. I can assure you, that it was none of my doing – being plucked off the face of the Earth. Now trace this e-mail,

Claire"

I hit send with the quick downward press of my finger and then scooted the chair back from my computer. I didn't know how long it would take, but I had to keep occupied so thoughts of my lost love would not cloud my mind. I rested my head on my folded arms as a memory drifted back

I would like to share my life with you, his voice stung her a thousand times within her mind, bouncing about and repeating over and over.

"Shut up," I whispered painfully with tears in my voice. I had failed him. I didn't save him. I was paralyzed and unable to come for him as he would have for me. My fingernails dug into my palms as I squeezed my hands shut, drawing blood with no wince.

Exhaustion became of my body and my eyes began to shut. Yet, I fought hard to keep them open, for if they were closed I would see him. I would see his blonde, tamed strands and his crimson, tired eyes piercing through my soul. I would see the smile he gave me as he shared a moment of intimacy. The 'I love you' that he had said in the depths of his hypnosis-like sleep now haunted my thoughts.

"I love you," I whispered in response before I succumbed to sleep.

-=-=-=-=-=-

"Claire." a pressure was applied to my shoulder in my dream, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I responded towards the figure that was approaching me.

"Claire!" My ears ached, my body was trembling or being violently shook.

"Wake up!" The command was followed by warm hands upon my face. My eyes gradually opened to stare at a blurred figure of Leon. When sharpness set in, so did reality and I awoke violently with widened eyes. I pushed away from my table and glanced about.

"How long was I out?" I turned to face him, my eyes softening upon the sight of his worried face.

"Come with me," He spoke softly with and extended a hand until I took it. With his other hand upon the arch of my back he eased me up and towards a vehicle.

"Get in," His voice was still soft and once in we rode in silence until we reach a helipad. The helicopter started up and we headed in, only to sit in the same silence.

"So…" He broke the silence, my head stared at the back of the passenger pilot's seat; this copter was much smaller than the other.

"When do you plan to tell me?" His voice was lacking emotion from his distant nature. I went ahead and reached outside the box with the sensations of my power to feel about. A gasp took place and I pushed my body away from him the best I could.

"Claire what are you doing?" His arms reached towards me with no intentions of touching me.

"I can't believe I didn't sense it before!" I blinked. His face contorted into confusion towards my words.

"You're infected!" I threw my head back to peer down my cheeks, my nostrils flaring with fear and concern.

"Ah.. oh.. eh.." He was at a loss of words, and then his head fell with a shake of his head, sending his dishwater blonde locks side to side. He didn't even bother to question how I "sensed" it, Leon forgot things like that.

"Yes… as are you." He glanced up at me. Could he sense my infection too? Impossible, his infection levels were low.

"When we were in Raccoon, we were indirectly exposed to several viruses. Somehow, our blood bonded with the multiple types of virus, G and T, which were in the area we explored. I was able to conquer missions by myself, be thrown around and be fine… and you possessed the ability to run faster than any human I've met, with not completely knowing your potential," He paused for a moment to able his words to register, but he had no idea how rapid my brain was working. I had all the pieces to my puzzle.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I said softly. I was not upset. I now knew why the Progenitor virus bonded with my blood the way it did.

"You were fine not knowing," He answered and it angered me that he was so casual about such a sensitive subject. A fire danced around my pupils and I glanced towards my lap to conceal the ranging power within me.

"I'm tired," I said suddenly and pretended to sleep, eventually – sleep became true.

"Claire, I'm sorry --" But he had failed at apology and he knew it. Little did he know, at this time, I held him accountable for all my sadness and no apology from anyone would make Wesker come back.

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"It seems a little strange that you would show up a little over twenty-four hours after your brother returned," He said suddenly as I crouched before his fridge in search of anything I could use. To my surprise, the boy had carrots.

"Yes, indeed," I agreed as I moved towards the drawers to find a peeler and then the sink.

"You don't want to tell me where you were?" I began to peel the vegetables towards the hole in the sink.

"It is the past," I said with a sigh while moving back towards the fridge.

"We looked for you for ages. We were still looking for you when you e-mailed me. We had no leads. We searched old Umbrella files – found nothing. Everything was red filed. We couldn't hack into any system. Plus, if you would tell me, maybe –"

"It would help?" I finished the last part for him, moving my head away from the innards of the refrigerator to stare at him blankly. I observed as his shoulders fell.

"Wesker didn't have you?" He tried again.

"What difference does it make where it was?" I said, moving back to the refrigerator. He didn't deserve my coldness. He had been looking for me for a year and a half...

"Your brother is coming over after he awakens," He threw in there after a moment of pause. the only sound the shuffling of condiments by me. I stopped in place as the sound of footsteps before the door of Leon's house caught my attention.

"He's already here," I said, a knock proving what I said to be true. He did not ask how I knew or heard, but simply went to get the door after a short double-take. I shut the fridge and was at a loss on what to make for food. Well, fuck, what was I going to say to Chris? I groaned.

"Where is she?" His voice was accented with concern and relief. He had gotten Jill and me back all in a forty-eight hour period. His rushed steps made the beat of my heart accelerate. I was now slightly afraid what he would think.

"Claire!" I saw a shine of lubricant within his eyes as he threw his burly arms around me tightly. His body was tired, I could feel that still, but nothing beat hugging a rock statue.

"Chris… you're alright," Of course he was, but his body was trembling in a strange way.

"I have been through hell… my first sleep home was filled with nightmares," He breathed into my hair as he spoke, soft enough for Leon not to hear. Then added louder: "Jill is back… you are back." he trembled again.

"It will take time," I could never tell him where I went, it would crush him despite his arch enemy being dead. What was I suppose to do? I had a feeling this rapture of reunion would only last for so long before we experienced the stress from what we both had been through. With a manly sniffle, he released me and stared at me. I couldn't stare at him with my eyes.

"I'm glad Jill is back," I began, but he was more focused on me.

"We will start training soon, yeah? Like the old times?" He was already thinking of starting back up? He was talking so rapidly, trying to hide the own hurt and loss he had felt.

"Chris –" I started.

"You two can discuss later, you both need more rest. I find it hard to believe you slept very long at all, knowing that she was here and you were there," Leon said as gently as he imposed. From the look on Chris's face, Leon was right.

"Your eyes..." I about barfed as Chris commented on their new appearance. Thank god for controlling the lava within them, that couldn't have come more at a perfect time.

"What about them?" I spoke as nothing was wrong, Leon squinting at me in suspicion.

"They're so dim – they almost seem purple… you must be tired," Chris finally agreed to what Leon had said and we moved into the living room to sit upon the couch.

Leon's house was very comfortable, but blandly made with its white walls and blue rimming. It was obvious he didn't come home often, and when he did he didn't do much.

"So, Chris, why don't you tell us the full story about Africa… That is, if you don't mind." Leon broke the ice once again, "It seems like a good one." He added while viewing the beaten stature of my brother, my head resting upon Chris's shoulder.

"Well… when I landed in Africa…" He began to tell his story, my eyes slowly opening and closing to his words.

I listened to the sound of his voice, he spoke about Sheva and the similar enemies to what Leon had faced. After all, Uroboros had Las Plagas within it.

"I had a feeling Wesker was behind it, right from the moment…" Albert? My eyes drew closed, the vibrations of Chris's voice touching my cheek bone as my head remained steady upon his thick shoulder. I wanted to cry, but soon fell into a trance until I was deep asleep.

I was dreaming of him… holding me, caressing me, and telling me everything was alright. I didn't believe the memory within my mind.

She swore she heard the voice of Jesus
Telling her it was wrong to keep it
And one more thing, it looked like me
Back when it breathed
Rest in peace…
…Until the rapture comes to meet us