Disclaimer: All respective characters unless created by own are property of Capcom or Konami, used on basis of fanwork.

WARNING: Do not read on if you are appalled by possible depiction on themes of death, depression and explicit abnormal sexual behaviour ('Possible' as this is currently a work-in-progress). Read at your own risk.

Notes: I've realized how hard it is to write a chapter, polish it, polish it, and re-polish it again. I'm anal in the most stupid things. Comment if you will, but more importantly, try to relax and just enjoy it. See ya all.

P.S: Kudos to all those fast-updating authors out there. I really don't know how you do it!

Chapter 9 very slightly amended. Nothing big.

Sachael In Purgatory: Agnus Dei

Chapter 11: Vision Tribulation

"Agent…Agent Redfield…!"

"Hrmm…" Chris grunted and rubbed his eyes. "…what is it?" His groggy eyes shot wide open at a flying Alex. Wait. He wasn't flying, but more like floating in the air.

"Alex, why are you…" Chris reached out his hand but met a little clink and came to a cold hard stop. Chris felt the space with both of his palms. It was cool and hard. He came to realize that an invisible cold glass surface were separating the two, and Chris could hear bubbling and realized that Alex was in water, but somehow still breathing and talking to him while gliding around.

"Redfield. Listen to me." Alex looked intently at him while he stopped swimming around. "I know this sounds very stupid, but I need you to hear what I have to say."

Confused. He was really confused. This must be a hallucination. This must be. How did he get here in the first place? He could see that the man was naked but he didn't really register seeing his privates. Everything was white. So bright. Chris had his trusty handgun on his hand but somehow he felt that he shouldn't shoot to break the barrier and held onto it firmly in his right hand.

"Chris?" Whoosh. Alex glided to hover in front of him.

"Yeah?" Chris's mouth dropped open to let out the word. He couldn't move. Maybe he was too in awe to move? Alex looked so serene. He wasn't smiling. In fact, Chris didn't remember he ever did. But he looked at peace. And his usually spiritless eyes were fully opened, not cast down like he always do and was looking straight into Chris's eyes. In fact, this must be the first time he heard Alex say full sentences without any pauses or unconfident stutters in between.

Angel. The way he just moved reminded him of an angel somehow. Ha. Why was he here in the first place again?

"I always wanted to say...Thankyou, Chris." Alex held up his right hand to touch the invisible barrier between them. Chris was still stunned. But his left arm was functional and he held it up to connect their palms through the glass wall. "I'm glad I've met you and Jill…if only I had met you sooner…" Chris's mouth was slightly open, unable to say a single word.

"But it's time to let go," Alex slowly backed down and laid down floating in mid-water. "Or else, you won't forgive me…" Alex said something else but Chris could not hear a thing. He only heard the loudening bubbling and sloshing. But somehow his heart was starting to pound with alarm. Alex started to close his eyes while looking at Chris at the corner of his eye. All Chris could do was stare helplessly with his hand on the invisible wall as his eyes began to flow uncontrollably with tears. Somehow inside him he knew Alex was weakening, and dying as Alex's body arched upwards, mouth opening as the last effort to breathe, like a fish out of water while ironically being in water himself.

Suddenly there was a splash and a few figures entered from the top. They started swimming around gracefully.

Mermaids…? They have fins, no…

No…

Oh God. They were not fins, but two feet fused together. Oh God.

They started to swim around Alex. Alex's body was unmoving for a second before starting to convulse violently.

Get away from him…Get away from him! Why can't I move or talk!? Damn it!

Of the three of the figures circling Alex, one of them swam faster and faster…and charged towards Chris at full speed.

OH GOD!

It had no face. A large gape slit from top to bottom of the face was filled with sharp teeth where the facial features would be.

That was all he could make out before the "mermaid" clawed at the barrier with a ear-piercing screech.

SHRIEK

What?... Chris balanced himself, struggling to stand straight with blurred eyes and a staggered mind.

Oh…That scream…

Horrible scream. That scream was horrible. Horrible! Loud would be a misstatement and an understatement. Was that actually the creature's voice or was it the sound of rusty metal scratching glass?

He lifted his heavy eyes, and there was Alex, thrashing as one of the creature dove at him and-

Oh God. This is just like a Piranha movie…

The next swimming monster lunged at Alex with open arms (and extremely long…metal fingers?), then the next came after the other, then another, and another…Red slits appeared on the man's body whenever a creature swam away from him. He saw Alex covering his slit upper arm and right abdomen, turning away each time he was slashed as he had no hands left to shield himself with. The damned creatures did not stop. Then came the screams. Sobbing screams that came each time a creature touched the victim. When he dared to look up, the water around Alex was starting to cloud up in red, and he was just unfortunate enough to catch the glimpse of two creatures lunging at Alex's back and side with their non-existent face while the third one jerked away with blood trailing from its head. One millisecond of it and he saw it all. Seconds turn to minutes, minutes turn to forever.

I am not watching this I am NOT watching this! Move, body damn it! MOVE!

Chris prayed frantically in his mind that someone or something would make this short. Save him, kill him; whatever to shorten the time he had to watch Alex suffer.

No. This is not happening! No! How did we get here?! Why is this happening?! Why is he suffering like that?! Why can't I move?! Why can't I move?!

Scratches lead to slashing. Slashes came to gouging, gouging turned into ripping actual flesh. Crimson spread downwards in front of him; he was too glazed to care, eyes clouded with his state of denial. If those creatures could laugh at his helplessness, they would. As brutal as they were, one of them stayed in mid-water with it's…sharp metallic fingers stretched out and pointed towards Alex's back, and then it- oh God, slid almost naturally into Alex's back when he was jerking back from another slash to his chest. These monsters were not mindless. They know how to torture…And they're enjoying this.

He thought he was willing his numb body to move when his stomach trembled and his fingers twitched, but his mind told him "NO!" - It was the direct opposite. It was HIM who was fighting NOT to move when his fingers were audibly crackling from the force they were protesting his unconscious efforts to keep them down. It was funny because he did not remember deliberately fighting against his body keep himself from moving; he wanted to move. Now that he had realized that, he did not know why. But now he knew that his fingers were itching to curl up since those swimming creatures started to feed. But why? It HAD to have something to do with those creatures. But what?

Eyes glued to the grotesque mermaids, his stomach dropped when a chunk of flesh floated away from the shoulder and sunk right in front of him.

The other one…that other one's gonna go for his gut…

Swish. Weary eyes closed, the mind and ears fully comprehending and seeing the image in their stead. He peeked. The man inside this…tank was doubling up just as the culprit was swimming away. He knew it was going for that part of him. God, it was even more excruciating to…sense it than to see it. This must be a dream right? Because how were these sensations even possible? He's not under some kind of drug trip! Unless someone slipped him something. But he knew it wasn't possible. How long was he going to be made to watch this? He didn't want to, but something told him that something very bad will happen if he allowed his disobedient struggling body to move.

Panic rammed at him when one of them swam in front of the squirming human…

He's going to…wait, it's…no! No!

…and dove straight between his legs…

"AHHHHHHH!"

BANG
CRASH
"AHH!" Chris shot up, breathing desperately in wheezing pants. He…could move?

"Ah…" He ran his hand over his face. Bed. Yes. Bed. No white heavenly surroundings, no invisible tank, no water. Bedroom. Dark as hell. Yes. Oh…

His cell phone was vibrating on the counter. Chris jumped, realized what it was and groaned when taking the phone.

"…Hello, Jill?"

"Goodness! What in the world happened? You sound awful. And I've called two times before you bothered to pick up too! What's going on?"

"…uh…Just cut to the quick, Jill. Please."

"Well, okay. I've urged the HQ as promised. Instead of tomorrow, they'll manage to send in choppers in two hours. I've marked your location for them. Just make sure you're not in some embarrassing position when they come."

"Really?" Chris sat up, sounding more energetic. "Wait. Come again?"

He could almost see Jill making a face when she repeated her part of the conversation.

"Oh? Oh. Damn, I- Thanks again, Jill. And uh…sorry for earlier. Bad dream."

"No problem, partner. I agree with getting out the town quicker. It just gives me the chills."

"Right. Thanks."

Chris let out a huge sigh of relief. He flipped the switch at the bedside counter and pale white lights lit up. He glanced to Alex, who was awake and looking at him.

"G-Gwhoa!" He almost fell off the bed in shock, hitting his elbow against the counter. He grabbed the head of bed and how it creaked! He had to push against the counter to pick himself away from the edge of the bed.

"I-I'm sorry." Alex apologized. Chris was too busy coughing on some saliva that went down the wrong way to respond. Man, somehow even startling the man alone was enough to make him feel guilty. In his opinion, the soldier looks a bit older than his age, and more so with a lot of blood drained off him. Chris felt sorry for the guy for whatever he went through to look so down, but he did not forget to remind himself not to soften at appearances alone.

"It's fine…How are you feeling?"

I'm just falling off a bed. How are you feeling instead from the grief I caused you?

No! Bullshit! He's just weak and stupid, that's all!

Alex raised his brows from Chris's sudden change. "Agent Redfield?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

"Huh? Why'd you ask that?"

"…Nothing. You just looked a bit…different for a second."

"Different?" Chris barely even remembered what he did to look …different. "If anyone's needed to be looked at, it's you." He palmed Alex's forehead. Sweaty, pores seemingly opened wide; his skin was basically breathing like a track-worn athlete. He has healed quickly from the spray, but was dehydrating fast because of it. "You okay?"

"F-Fine…but still a little cold."

"Oh. Whoops." Chris plopped back into the covers and slid his arm under Alex's neck and over his shoulder.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Warming you up." Chris replied honestly. "We've been like this the whole time when you were sleeping. Trust me, with the way your pores are all opened up like that, you'll get sick very quickly if you're cold."

"…I'm not cold anymore."

"Yeah right," Chris chuckled. "Says the one who's still shivering. Look, don't worry. No one's gonna tease you for being weak." He took a look at the face Alex was making and chuckled again. That man looked so conflicted and embarrassed! He took another look and he just couldn't help it – he chortled into a laugh.

"Wh-what are you even laughing at!" Chris muffled his laughter into the covers between them, Alex's embarrassed outburst too much to hold back.

"God, oh God, hah-HAhahahah! Y-you know oh God…You know," flicking off a tear, he inhaled and exhaled a big gasp of air slowly, although a giggle escaped when he let the air out. "You know, I'm not sure why I laughed, but that was funny. Oh God, what was I going to say? I remember it was something serious, but your reaction kind of caught me off guard."

"…Right…" The man fidgeted uncomfortably over his arm. "Can you…This is awkward."

"Yeah," Chris rested his head on the pillow. "I've been in even crazier shit, but nothing beats this one. Think about it: Beautiful, peaceful countryside, coming here expecting an investigation but grown into a full-blown attack…"

"…And those were nothing. I've been through all of that before." He waved his right hand, swatting the past experiences away almost like tangible pages of his history in the air. "The most surprising thing of all though, is you."

The atmosphere died down. Eyes searched Chris's face for answers. The man was quiet alright, but a gasp escaped his lips when his hands - his cuffed hands were held by Chris's. When his hands were lifted from under the safety of the blanket, his sight shifted from his hands to Chris, and his chest was starting to heave. Chris sighed. The man looked confused, afraid even. Like his cuffed hands were his privates exposed out in the open for everyone to see.

"I've never thought I'd go through this again…" Chris ran his free hand over his own face and sighed. "You…" The grip on the cuffed hands tightened. He could hear gritting of teeth and a nervous swallow of the cuffed man. "You remind me of…someone." Alex understandingly kept quiet, but loosened up his arms' muscles just a bit.

"So much has happened, but…I…I really want to trust you, Alex. I-I really do." He sighed a shaky sigh. "After all of this hell that's dragged on for a decade…I'm really tired of holding people around me with caution anymore. I really want to trust again. I really want to trust…you." His eyes cleared out of his paradoxical recollections and found the man staring questioningly at him, making Chris realize that he was telling things that he wasn't supposed to be telling a person he had snapped handcuffs on. Besides, it was simply a bottle of hurt that should have been kept in the Aisle of Forgotten Memories or the I-Don't-Give-a-Damn part of his brain, like he promised himself to do.

"Wait, I'll go get something." Chris stood up hastily as he put the jacket and covers over Alex and exited the room quickly. He went down the stairs, and as soon as water rushed down into the glass in the kitchen, he exhaled a sigh of relief. Chris was no face-reader like Jill, but he knew enough that Alex's opened mouth was about to ask the forbidden question; it was a page of the book that he hoped he had actually torn away but the contents were already imprinted into his head, still haunting him.

Captain…

He slapped his gloved hand over his breathing orifices, shutting his eyelids hard and tensing up his souring facial muscles, refusing to admit defeat. Why?

Captain…!

Soon, the door opened and Chris emerged with a glass of water. Ahh, those eyes again. Looking between him and the glass. What did he expect…poison in the water or something? This man must be a very reserved person who'd rather form conclusions from his own head than duking it out in words, because his eyes were fervently asking questions but his mouth was not. "Hey."

"Um, yeah. Hey." Alex responded.

"Here." Chris gave the glass full with water and handed it to Alex. Alex stared, not yet coming to understanding on Chris's actions. Chris glanced down at the bandages on Alex's wrists. He then sat on the side of the bed, took out a few dark-coloured pills from a pack on his belt and lifted them to Alex's mouth. "Here, take them. You'll need to sustain yourself with something; it's a B.S.A.A.-exclusive stuff for long missions and emergencies. The effects are immediate. Hah! Our boys call em' our 'instant food'. Even the military don't have this, you know." Chris explained proudly. "Here…" he lifted the pills in his cupped hand to Alex's face. Alex's eyelid twitched as the handcuff's chains clinked, pain clearly coming up with every movement he tried to make with his hands. "Don't force yourself. You're hurt." Alex grunted, but took the pills obediently. Chris put the glass to Alex's lips and he drank. "Alright. A glass is all you get. The pills' effect will be diluted if you drink too much." After he put the empty glass away, Chris skilfully turned the man to the side swiftly and pressed on his lower back.

"Nngh…" Alex cringed, surprised. Chris put light pressure at different areas as Alex emitted the same moans. "How is it?"

There was no answer because Alex was too busy biting on the pillow to reply.

"Alex?"

"Ngh-yea?! Oww!"

"Oh boy. I don't know how to put this nicely, but you'll have to brace yourself for this, okay?"

"Owh…! Why didn't you do that when I was not awake?!"

"If I could, I would. But the bleeding on your wrists was so bad I had to spray them to stop you from draining yourself dry. Then like any other drug, I can't use the spray too often, especially when you're healing in your sleep."

"Spray?"

"Yes, a first-aid spray. Heals almost everything very quickly, but it takes up a lot of existing nutrients from your body to repair the damage, so you'll need a proper diet later. But you can thank yourself for hacking your wrists so badly that you're so tired now. I mean how did you even manage to do that with only razor blades?

Alex groaned. "Save me the lecture."

"But I've let you eat those brown pills now to instantly replenish whatever it can, because you need to fix your back, and quickly too."

Alex groaned and lied back on the bed once more, trying to relax. "When?" Was the feeble question Alex croaked brokenly.

"Now."

"Wait-whawhat? No-hey-!" His protests were cut off when his body was pushed and in an instant his nose was in the sheets. "Mmph- Wait wait! How can this be fixed by an agent in a bedroom?!"

"You'll be surprised," Came the reply, as Alex saw him taking out a fresh syringe from his pack, uncapping the needle, and withdrawing a big amount of clear-yellowish fluid from a glass vial. He tapped the syringe and squirted some air out of it. It was not before Chris pushed a relatively big roll of rolled-up handkerchief into his mouth that Alex started to fidget in panic.

"Weidamingid! H-hewb! Ngo! Lenge gho! Ghem you!"

"It doesn't matter what you say, Shepherd. You know this is for your own good." Chris had to get up to the bed sit on the man's thighs and pin the man's shoulder blades to the pillow before discharging some of the fluid in the syringe to the injured area on Alex's side to disinfect it. The cool sensation alarmed Alex very much and he tried to struggle, but Chris was fortunate that Alex's hands were already double-locked down in front of his stomach by both the cuffs and the weight of their bodies.

"Relax. We have no time. I can't explain now but this has to be done immediately after taking those pills. I'm sorry, but you'll thank me later."

"Ngo! No you ghasdardD-AAAAAAAAGHHH!"

Chris personally was never injected with this before, but he's seen others being administered this. The only difference was that they were unconscious, so this improvisation of injecting the medication into the injury before the replenishment pills were used up inside the man's system was better than nothing. If that injury wasn't treated, it would end up being inflamed deep under his skin…not if he was there to stop that from getting worse, that is.

It worked. It was amazing how science has advanced so fast nowadays. When the fluid was injected into the injury, immediately a healthier hue of red bruising spread from beneath the skin to replace the deep purple-and-brown patch. Smashed blotches of what remained of his veins were starting to re-form again. The man's screams of agony beneath him echoed in the room even with the cloth in his mouth. But in every good comes the necessary evil most of the time. If the injury patched up that fast, imagine what the pain would be like. Must have been like searing iron. No painkillers, and the still-healing tissue was going to feel very sore and raw, but this was better than no treatment at all. Much better.

Chris moved away from the body. "You okay?" He patted the man in the neck. He was sweating and moaning a lot, albeit weakly. He took out the now-wet cloth from his mouth and repeated his question. "Hey, you alright?"

Alex breathed hard: "…f…fuck you."

Chris had to chuckle. Thank God it worked.

"Nn…ah… oh-howw…"

Alex was still groaning and hissed in air sharply a couple of times with his hurt side up from whatever kind of pain he was in. Even though he'd been going around doing random things trying to distract himself, Chris still felt a bit guilty for it nevertheless.

"Hey…I know it hurts like a bitch, but it's really healed up quite well. It's pretty raw now, though. Don't move too much."

Alex hissed from his pain again, but replied with much effort: "I know…Thanks."

"Hey, no problem," Chris patted on his trusty white jacket to look for his handgun. "I almost forgot…someone will pick us up in about two hours. So you can just rest-"

"You're so stupid, you know."

"Huh?" Looking up, Chris stared at Alex while holding his handgun, forgetting what he was about to do with it.

He saw Alex was looking at his once bloodied wrists, emanating the words you should have left me to die, but still thanking the other with a rebellious hint.

"Don't do that again, Alex." Chris broke the silence. "I truly believe…in the end, everything will turn out fine. Just don't give up in the middle of it." He wore his shirt and went back into the covers to contribute some heat to the injured man.

"Hmph. You sound like a single-minded super hero." He said that, but he was thankful, shown by the way he leaned in on the heat Chris was offering.

"Why am I always being called the single-minded one?" Chris pouted. "I'm not no brains and all brawn, you know."

"Well why don't you take the superhero word in the sentence as a compliment then? That proves that you are single-minded."

"…Then why did you try something so stupid when there's hope that you're innocent?" Chris held up Alex's bandaged wrist as both hands went up with the cuffs.

"…" Stunned from Chris's unexpected conduct and arresting words, Alex couldn't reply. He found that Chris was looking intently at him with empathy in his eyes. "I…" Alex glanced away without finishing, face red. "You…you won't understand."

"Look, I don't know what reason you have," Chris rested his hand on Alex's jacket-draped shoulder. "But you've thrown away your safety for the sake of your country once; don't you have all the right to value your life now?"

Immediately after hearing that, Alex turned his head to the side and snorted, with almost pure certainty when he said: "Hmph…How could I…My existence only brings death and destruction. It's a curse…"

Chris felt something pinch his heart. Seeing him using vocabulary like that was unnerving. And how could he say something like that? He supposed that that kind of reply wasn't that surprising since someone here was seeing a psychologist, but to be actually seeing a man effortlessly disregard his own life like that in front of him was just sad. After him giving those encouraging words to Alex, it then came to him that Alex's psychological help made sense if coupled with his military experience. Many soldiers couldn't handle the memories of their military lives and went down to depths of depression, if not madness. It all kind of made sense. A lot, actually.

Oh God, had he just misunderstood the guy so much that he arrested him? But what's done is done, and the things that were happening didn't exactly paint Alex in snowy-white either.

"Alex," Chris shook his shoulder firmly to make Alex look at him. "Soldiers fight for their country. And that includes fighting for themselves when they're not on the battlefield." Chris shook Alex slightly. "Trust me, if you're really innocent here, I'll make sure no one will say otherwise anymore. I'll fight for it."

"…Wheeler mentioned a lot about you…" Alex said after a bit of hesitation. There was a glad tone in his voice. "He said you're one of the organization's founders. Now I can see why he called you a real fighter, huh."

Chris felt a sense of relief washing over him; Alex sounded like he had more strength in his spirit now. Chris patted his shoulder: "You're not that bad yourself. You really saved me from that big guy back there, with your injury and all…um…ah…"

That kind of injury… He felt ripped tissue and displaced muscle on the soldier's back. Yeah, allowing the guy to do his business in the toilet first was a better option, because there would be no holding back when the improvised treatment starts and he would have ripped his bowels if he were holding some excretions back while Chris worked. But who would have guessed when he was allowed into the bathroom, Alex would…Ahhh, he was still angry at himself that he let Alex go out alone to the streets. If he had not done that, none of this would have happened in the first place.

"Uh…thanks…I mean. Even with all this…development and all…You are a true soldier."

"…Thanks, I guess…" Alex shrugged. "…I'm not a real soldier like you, but I guess the mind does wonderful things." Did he blush too? Wow. Someone's never been praised before here. Chris was sure that his own face felt puffy too. It was awkward to thank a guy he suspected, arrested, and even kind of drove to suicide, but at least Chris was honest about his thanks. He was just relieved that he could express his thoughts correctly for once.

"Oh, come on." Chris laughed. "You're so humble it hurts."

"…" Slowly, Alex nudged himself off Chris and sat up.

"Hey, you okay?" Worried, Chris sat up as well.

"Yeah." Alex supported himself by pushing against the bed with his hands. He looked into Chris's eyes intently for a moment before sitting up and looking down. To Chris, yet again those eyes caught him in a seizing hold. That look was all-telling that Alex was mulling over, almost with every fibre of his being, on whether he was going to tell whatever he was going to tell him. Whatever it was, Chris was ready beyond anything to hear what he had to say.

"What is it?" He draped Alex's old jacket over his back and shoulders and sat back, waiting for him to spill it.

"I need to tell you something...it's about the children's murders around here. It's-…no," He fidgeted in uncertainty. "…you won't understand."

Chris held both of Alex's shoulders firmly. "What don't I understand? Hey, look at me." The other man did not. Instead, he shut his eyes tightly, as if the first thing he'll see when he opened them were the last. "Come on, I'm begging you here. I really want to trust you- no, I mean I do, but you can't keep doing this."

Alex's eyelids squeezed shut even tighter than before, and as if he had came to terms with something, his shut eyes relaxed as a long deep sigh was released. The two stayed there wordless, the only audible noise was the handcuffs jangling and Alex steadying his nervous breathing.

Alex's trembling lips parted.

"…I'll turn myself in."

TBC