A/N: Hey all. So I updated not as soon as I would have liked, but at least I updated. Anyway. Enjoy! :)

Chapter 13 : Finding Steve

The women drove in silence to the hospital. Ada drove Leon's Jeep through the busy streets of DC while Claire sat in the backseat holding an unconscious Steve in her arms. Ada watched Claire through the rearview, but every time Claire noticed, Ada's eyes went back to the road, and Claire stared out the window. She watched as the rain drops raced across the glass, holding back her own tears. She wouldn't cry in front of Ada. She wouldn't give Ada the pleasure of watching her suffer.

Ada on the other hand had more than just saving the boy on her mind. One thing that would not stop bothering her was how normal she looked. She longed to put on the red dress she had neatly stuffed in her bag. She thought about Leon and the real reason to why she had agreed to meet with him. Somehow, he managed to track her down. Leon working for the government really did have its perks. Of course she was reluctant to meet up with the man for reasons other than fear of blowing her cover. She had missed Leon since their last meeting in Raccoon City. There was something about the rookie cop she just couldn't ignore. But he was no longer the rookie she remembered. He was a federal agent working for the president himself. But she knew that Leon could do so much more than just be a lap dog for the government, which is why she agreed to meet with him and discuss the boy.

She could have slapped herself for being so foolish to accept his request of going to a hotel for the night. For some strange reason, Leon couldn't go back to his apartment so he had to rent a room. She wasn't worried about her own safety because she knew damn well she could take care of herself, but she had no where to stay for the night anyway. She figured she could get some sleep knowing there was someone she could trust sleeping next to her. But of course, things got out of hand and maybe things happened Ada should have wished had never happened, but she was glad they did. She hadn't been able to feel close to anyone since John, even if they're relationship was a fraud. But with Leon, things were different. She liked having him follow her close behind like a dog. Always loyal, always loving. That was Leon Scott Kennedy for you. The perfect gentleman.

The night they had spent together was quant. At first, she kept watch of him at all times in the corner of her darks eyes, but as the night progressed, she had her eyes on him for a much different reason. She quickly slipped in and out of the shower, and came out to find Leon lying half awake on the bed, shirtless and in a pair of athletic shorts. She had known what he was planning from the beginning, but knew that he was reluctant to do so. Even when Ada lied next to him, he refused to touch her. He didn't want to lose her again. So they watched one another with greedy eyes until somehow, Ada admitted defeat and found herself unable to let Leon out of her grasp.

"We're here," Ada said parking in front of the emergency entrance of the hospital. She helped Claire bring Steve into the hospital even though she knew Claire didn't want Ada to be anywhere near him. Once he was put in a room, the women were asked to wait outside.

"He's not dangerous! Just sick. Please help him!" Claire yelled down the hall as she watched helplessly as doctors ran in and out of his room, terrified that he would cause another outbreak much like the Raccoon City innocent. As she cried out again, it was as if every door around her closed, completely blocking her out. She stood alone in the bare hallway with Ada.

"Claire, calm down," Ada offered Claire her hand but Claire only glared at her and sat on another bench down the hall. She couldn't stop herself from crying this time. She was so angry with herself for letting him get sick. She should have been paying attention. She knew the virus wasn't cured, but she was just so happy to have Steve back in her life that she ignored the possibilities the virus taking over again.

"Leon didn't want to tell you this, but your brother and that Valentine girl have been looking for a cure for your friend," Ada spoke from down the hall. Claire tried her best to ignore Ada even though the mention of her brother brought some hope and relief to her. "It's only going to make you feel worse if you keep it all in."

"Why do you care?" Claire suddenly snapped. "Since when do you care about anyone but yourself?"

She heard Ada sigh and her heels walking across the cold floor. "Because," Ada took a seat next to Claire. "I know what it's like to lose someone you love."

Claire turned her head away from Ada. She didn't need her sympathy. "I once had someone I cared about as well, but of course, Umbrella had to take him away from me as well. It's sad to realize that a corporation that could do so much good for people has only destroyed them. I thought I had found love again, but it seems like Umbrella is always standing in the way of me finding happiness..."

Somehow, Ada had managed to put everything Claire had been feeling into words. Was it even possible for Ada to have a heart? To care about anyone but herself?

Ada turned to Claire trying her best to control the tears that were somehow building in her eyes. "I really do love him, but I can't stop hurting him. I feel like I'm more of a monster to him than any of Umbrella's creations," Even without saying his name, Claire knew she had been talking about Leon. Ada began to stand to take her seat again down the hall. "Don't let Umbrella take Steve away from you like they took him away from me."

"So this is what your actual room looks like?" Chris locked the door behind them once they were all in Manuela's actual bedroom. "So where would Daddy hide something important in his daughter's bedroom?"

"What's something that you care about a lot?" Jill asked pushing back the curtains to see if anything hid behind them.

"You mean like my teddy bear?" The young girl carefully took her stuffed bear off her bed and held it delicately in her arms.

"We're gutting the bear I guess," Chris mumbled.

"Chris, no!" Jill snapped.

"Not quite," Jill softened her voice again. "What's something that has a connection to both of you? Something that you know you would never leave without. Something that he knows you will never throw away?"

The girl hesitated before reaching for the framed picture of a dark haired woman. She slowly handed it to Jill as if she was terrified Jill might run off with it.

"Is this your mother?" Jill asked taking the picture from the girl's small hands. The girl nodded. "She's very beautiful. I can see where you get your beauty from." The girl smiled shyly.

Jill flipped the frame over several times but found nothing usual about it. It was a simple picture frame. She then removed the back of the frame, only to find exactly what they had been looking for.

"Bingo," Chris said from over her shoulder.

They began to head back down the hall to Javier's study when they were greeted by a familiar and bone chilling laugh.

"Jill, take Manuela inside the room and look for a way out," Chris quickly mumbled under his breath. "I'll be fine."

The pair stared at each other for only a second, but that single second told so many things. Jill resisted the urge to stand on her toes and kiss Chris on the cheek, in fear that she would never be able to do it again. But instead, she merely nodded while locked on his heavy eyes and slipped into Javier's study using the keycard.

As the door closed behind them, Wesker emerged from around the corner.

"You won't find anything in there," Wesker casually leaned up against the wall. "There is no anit-virus."

"Enough games, Wesker," Chris demanded with his gun drawn. "We know there is an anti-virus."

"That boy should be dead soon enough. Poor little Claire, " Wesker laughed. "And poor little Chris. He failed yet again." Chris took a step forward.

"I'm not going to kill you," Wesker sighed. "Pity, I know. Having your death on my hands would be better than anything. But I figure your time will come soon enough. You're like moths to a flame. Your curiosity will be the death of you and that's one less mess I have to clean up."

A laugh left Wesker's lips as he began to back up. "Until we meet again, Chris." He slipped down the hall again with amazing speed and out of sight.

Chris forced himself not to go after Wesker but instead into Javier's study. The room was covered in dark wood paneling with a large window on the back wall. Several heads of game lined the paneling such as bears, deer, even a tiger. Manuela sat on the large desk swinging her feet around beneath her as Jill picked at the lock of a safe that was hidden behind a large picture of the village.

"What did Wesker want?" Jill asked as she carefully picked at the lock.

"He says our curiosity is going to be the death of us," Chris took a seat next to Manuela. "My guess is that he thinks the anti-virus won't work."

"Well, at this rate we can only hope it does," with one last turn, the lock gave a satisfying pop. Jill smiled. "This better be it."

Chris swallowed hard. What if the anti-virus wasn't even in the safe, or what if there was no such thing? Like Jill said, he could only hope that not only that would work, but that it even existed.

Jill took a deep breath before pulling open the safe. There was no small vile filled with serum. There was no pile of cash or gems. No syringe. There was nothing inside expect a mere piece of ripped paper. Jill would have thought the safe was empty if she hasn't slipped her hand inside.

"Wait," Chris pulled out another piece of paper he had stuffed into his pack while they were in the lab downstairs. This must have been the other half of the letter. Chris fit the pieces perfectly together and continued reading from where the other scrap had left off.

"… For the safety of your own family, I have included the directions on how to create the anti-virus yourself. Of course it will be difficult, but nothing a skilled chemist cannot do. I hope that knowing a cure exist allows you to sleep better at night. I know that I have knowing my daughter will be safe if she takes her experiments a bit too far. I wish you the best of luck. God bless.

Sincerely,

Alexander Ashford"

The bottom of the letter was filled with complicated directions of how to create the anti-virus. They had finally found the cure!

"So was Alexander the one who gave Javier the virus to begin with?" Jill asked reading through the letter a second time.

"No, that man we ran into in the hallway wanted him to buy it…" Manuela began to blush. "I overheard my father and him talking…"

"Alexander must have given him the Progenitor virus and then immediately regretted it. They must have stayed in touch and Alexander warned Javier of the T-Veronica's power, but he didn't care," Chris stared at Manuela's innocent face. "He wanted to save his daughter's life no matter the risk, not even if it endangered her in the process."

"So, he must have been getting the Veronica virus from another source before Wesker showed up," Jill began to lock up the safe again.

"Black market more than likely. You can find any one of Umbrella's diseases there," Chris suggested.

"Instead of listening to Alexander's warning about the virus, it only pushed Javier's curiosity even more. He figured that Manuela would be just fine if he had the anti-virus on hand."

Suddenly, Chris felt his cell phone vibrating deep in his pocket. It was Leon.

"Leon, great news. We found the anti-virus!" Chris smiled at Jill, looking forward to hearing the joy in Leon's voice knowing that he would no longer have to babysit Chris' little sister and her boyfriend.

"Chris, we have a problem," Chris' face fell when he heard the seriousness in Leon's voice. "Steve is sick. The virus is starting to fight back again. You need to get that anti-virus to Rebecca as soon as possible. I already called her and she'll be waiting for you at the heliport in DC."

"We're on our way," Chris gestured the girls towards the door.

"Hurry, Chris. I didn't want to tell Claire, but I don't know if he's going to make it this time." Chris could hear a car door slam in the background and the start of an engine.

"He'll make it. He's made it this far. He may not seem like it, but he's a fighter, and he wouldn't do that to Claire. Also, Leon, let Rebecca know she's going to have to have her chemistry set on hand, and that Jill and I have faith in her."

"Let's hope that having faith will do the trick."

A/N: So I can't decide if I was my story to completely ignore The Darkside Chronicles or to lead into it. In other words, I don't know what to do with Manuela… Oh wells. I'm sure I'll think of something. Unless you guys have some suggestions for me which are always appreciated. Anywho. Hope you enjoyed and rrreeevviiewww! Please and thankyou! :)