H.S chapter 8- the end

Authors note: When it's all said and done, was the goal really worth dying for? Silent Hill belongs to Konami; Resident Evil belongs to Capcom.

Heathers knees felt the cold touch of the metal floor, her environment now changed back to the hellish and bloody world that Silent Hill was notorious for. She stood up slowly unsure of what had just happened; the monster that held her safely in his arms only moments ago was now nowhere to be seen, it was as if none of what she went through ever happened.

"Was it all just a dream?" she stepped forward into the light, her eyes setting on a very large monster that lay dead on the floor in a pool of its own blood; in the center of the room Claudia's dress rested on the ground, the woman nowhere in sight. Heather only assumed the dead monstrosity was the end result of the mad woman trying to rebirth god, her foot standing only inches from the things head.

"Looks like god didn't make it." She said under her breath. Hate and revenge fuelled every powerful kick she delivered to the limp head, a grunt following the final blow and her breath heavy from the strain. She walked back into the darker parts of the room hoping that if she kept going she'd reach the doorway out soon.

"So I guess that's it huh? Time to role the credits." She said to no one but herself, her exhaustion finally getting the better of her, falling to her knees with her hands bracing her upper body. Confused and alone in the dark world, she could do nothing more but sob to herself now that it was all over, but what did she have left to go to.

"Dad." She cried out, her tears flowing freely and her shaken sobs echoing in the room. Standing back up her sniffling subsided and the only sound to be heard was her heels scraping off the ground as she walked forward; there was one person she had completely forgotten about when the whole fiasco had began, the man who had helped her get to Silent Hill, Douglas. From the ceiling a pair of nonexistent eyes watched her leave the chamber, a low growl of disappointment leaving the shadowed beings throat; god may have been dead but that didn't mean Valtiel would leave Heather, she seemed dazed and confused and he wondered if she could even remember him. He crawled silently across the ceiling willing to go whatever distance it took to be with her, his light in this everlasting darkness. Outside in the amusement park Douglas heard the soft sound of approaching footsteps, waking him out of his short nap. He never expected to see the young woman again let alone right in front of him, a smile showing how glad he was to see her.

"Heather." His voice was tired but joyful as he spoke. "So I guess this means it's all over?"

"Not yet, you're still here." A hint of malice was in her tone, her switchblade gripped in both hands; it seemed that the hate fuelled by Claudia had finally driven the teen over the edge. Douglas could only stare on bewildered, unable to move or defend himself in the situation.

"Heather...what..." he stuttered unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Boo!" Heather yelled suddenly with a large grin on her face, laughing all the while after while Douglas tried to put his heart back in its place. "Relax it's just a joke." She giggled and he shook his head sighing.

"You have horrible taste." He commented quietly. "Heather-" she interrupted what he was about to say by shaking her head.

"You don't have to call me that, I'm not hiding anymore." She said.

"You want to use your real name? What was it again?" the older man asked scratching his head.

"Cheryl, the name my father gave me." She said proudly knowing now that she could reveal to the world who she really was without fear.

"Are you gonna let your hair change back too." He asked remembering from his research that she was really a brunet.

"I don't know; don't you think blondes have more fun?" she said playfully flicking a few of her strands with her fingers, the detective only chuckling. She knelt down and slipped one of his arms over her shoulders.

"Come on, let's get out of this dump." With support at his side, the detective slowly but surely walked along with Cheryl back to the Inn. The streets were still foggy but something was different, they were eerily quiet; it was as if all the monsters had disappeared. Douglas said he'd be fine to drive regardless of his broken leg and he shifted into the driver seat; Cheryl quietly taking her place beside him shutting the door. Metal rattled and the engine turned back on, gravel crunching under tire once it moved forward and out of the parking lot. The fog remained thick, even when they drove past the welcoming sign, following them like a ghost that could not be put to rest. A thought hit Douglas like a brick wall and he decided to inquire Cheryl about it.

"On your way to me, did you by any chance run into two people about your age named Claire and Steve?" he asked, his only reply a raised eyebrow and headshake. He set it aside assuming that the two made it out of the ghost town and forgot to tell him. Cheryl watched the trees whip by and remembered only running into one person on her travels, and without him she never would have made it out alive.

'Valtiel, were you real or was I dreaming?' she leaned her cheek on her propped up elbow, trying to put the surreal adventure all together; she was just relieved that it was all over but, what exactly did she have to go home to? Her mind tired itself out and she drifted into sweet slumber, Douglas concentrating on driving her back to the apartment. The fog clung to everything outside, as did a figure on the back bumper of the car, his intentions towards the passengers unknown for the moment as he stayed hidden. The station wagon all but vanished in the fog never to return to Silent Hill again, but even if Cheryl left the town, Silent Hill would never leave her.

Unbearable pain surged through Steve's torso like a thousand knives yet he still found the strength to hold Claire's hand up gently, caressing the others skin against his cheek with care.

"You're warm..." he said relishing in the feel of heat against his deathly cold, pale flesh; an aftermath result of the virus transformation. Claire's breath came in short pants, panic and sorrow overruling any other emotions. A white piece of paper against the cold grey of the concrete floor caught her eye and she swiped it up quickly, reading the short message and recognising her brother's handwriting straight away.

'Claire I'm here.' Was all it said and for the younger Redfield it meant a promise that he'd come back.

"Hang on Steve, m-my brothers here. He's going to get us out...we can escape." Her voice was shaken and upset, a complete opposite to the confident tone she held through the entire journey and it only told Steve that his condition didn't look good; his vision blurring when he glanced back down at the crimson wound that only continued to allow his life to leave him.

"Your brother kept his promise...I'm sorry I cannot..." he felt weaker with every breath he used, his head feeling light from lack of blood. Claire was using the hand he was not holding to try and cover the wound, but it did little as red liquid only seeped through her small digits.

"No don't say that, we've gotten so far....I said we'd make it through. You can't die now." On the brink of tears and knowing he had very little life left, Claire slipped her hand out of his and pressed her body against his naked and wounded torso, arms wrapping tightly around his shoulders as she buried her face in his collar bone.

"You've risked everything for me, this isn't fair." She muffled, Steve's breath becoming ragged and difficult. His hand rested on the small of her back as he prepared to let out one final thought.

"Claire I...love...you..." no words, no breath left him after that. His young life ended there and all that was left to show of his existence was his empty shell of a body.

"Steve, Steve!" she called out his name but he could no longer hear her and feeling the cold grip of loneliness wrap around her, Claire could do nothing more but lean forward and sob into his chest. She was frustrated, angry, and sad; so many things were flowing through her that for once in a long time she had no idea what to do. Half an hour had passed but Claire had no way of telling in the blank square of a room she was trapped in; she had dozed off, lying on the shoulder of her dead companion who she missed so much that it actually hurt. The metal door rattled and startled her from her sleep; a shadow cast by two feet could be seen under the door.

"Heather are you still there?" Chris called out causing Claire to stand up immediately.

"Chris?" she called to her older brother, the other Redfield double taking at hearing his sister in there.

"Claire how did you end up in there? Where's Heather?" he asked.

"I have no clue who you're talking about and I'm just as confused as to how I got back here. I was traveling with this prisoner named Steve and we got trapped in this hellish dimension filled with all sorts of demons; but he got hurt badly and... he..." she found it difficult to talk when her throat clenched, her tears stinging her eyes once more and a sob leaving her. Chris knew something bad had happened, even though he found the hellish dimension part weird, and felt helpless that he couldn't get through the door to comfort her.

"I'm sorry Claire, he must have meant a lot to you, but I'm sure Steve would have wanted you to live on. I found a security room and set a timer for the self destruct. With any luck it should open all the electronic locks." A red light blinked and a siren followed only a few seconds after and as if on cue, Chris heard the door in front of him click and he opened it quickly. He was met with smaller arms that ensnared his neck with a loving and much needed hug, his younger sister crying quietly into his chest when he returned the gesture.

"There's no time to wait we have to leave." He said pulling back to look at Claire.

"Right." she said putting up her strong exterior for their sake. They both turned and began to run, but as they left Claire glanced slightly over her shoulder to the room where Steve was left feeling her sorrow continue to follow her.

'Goodbye Steve.' Her final thought as she followed her brother to the escape route. Wesker cursed under his breath at the cameras monitor, watching Claire and Chris begin to leave. He had failed in capturing Alexia even after a lengthy battle and Chris was still alive even though he'd been left with the tyrant form Ashford.

"Now that both of them are reunited there's no telling what they'll do if they find Alexia. Even if I can't stop her from being destroyed I can always dispose of Chris afterwards." Before he left he looked at Steve's corpse, noticing the green tint that was left in the boys flesh; whatever had caused it had to be a mutant strain. He dialled Ada's number and heard the spy pick up after only two rings.

"Have you made it to my location yet?" he asked her bluntly. He had called her to come only an hour ago when things appeared to be going belly up.

"Yes I'm entering the building as we speak." She said.

"Excellent, I'm marking a location in the building on your GPS where a corpse is waiting; I'd like you to pick it up and head back to the lab. With a few experiments we may just be able to find out what the boy died from." He finished still glancing at the screen.

"I'm on it." Ada replied before hanging up. Wesker had no time to waste standing around; he had to go cut the Redfield's off before they reached the jet and escaped.

'This time I won't let you live Chris.' His thoughts were only evil, fists clenched while bolting down the hallways. Claire stood behind Chris when she met up with him again just as he and Wesker had finished an intense battle that the S.T.A.R.S member was lucky to get out of alive. The evil man boasted to the two how his people had picked up the corpse of young Steve and were bringing him to the lab to extract the virus from within his body; even going so far as taunting Claire with the aspect that they may be able to revive him which only made her blood boil. Through all the explosions, Wesker had managed to get away but not without seriously damaging his face in the process. The final trials of their journey involved Claire prepping the jet and Chris defeating Alexia and making it to the hatch just as the facility went up in a hellfire of flames, his body flying through the air and landing with a thud on the hood of the jet. He quickly pulled up and soared through the skies, the both of them watching the base down below vanish in a plume of smoke and fire. Claire had completed her mission and found her brother, but despite it all she felt like she lost; her promise was that both her and Steve would make it out together just like he had promised to always protect her; he kept his promise and went so far as to dying for her to show he was no liar, but her promise could not be kept. Wesker said he may be able to revive the redhead but when it came to what that man did; Steve would most likely come back as a monster.

In two different dimensions, two girls shared very similar stories. One only wished to find her brother; the other wanted nothing more than to find her home. Through the many horrors that each of their worlds had to offer, they fought with all their might and pulled through, but even though their goals were completed they lost something valuable in the end; their partners. To survive sometimes means to make sacrifices, no matter how hard that seemed; leaving the nightmares was possible, the nightmares leaving them was not. That's how it works in the world of horror survival.

The end is now, and thus concludes my first multi chapter, crossover game fic (mouthful or what XD). It has been a pleasure writing this and I do believe I have another one-shot for Cheryl/Valtiel that could be an aftermath type thing for this story. Thank you to all who have read and goodnight, Silver Fox 89 out!