A/N: Here's the epilogue… well, it's kind of a… whatever.
Disclaimer: I don't own RE, I own Marisol and this fic.
The Two Liliths
-Two Months Later-
For the first time since the incident at the facility, she felt nervous, and did not know what to expect. Sure, they had talked over the phone, but what would transpire today? "Over here!" she heard a woman yell, and a smile crept across her face. The small coffee shop was not too crowded, so there were no worries. "Hey, Claire," said Marisol, giving her hug before letting her sit in the seat across from her.
No one occupied the booths behind them, much to their gratitude, and they could speak of whatever needed to be spoken of. After a waitress took Claire's order, she removed her shades, revealing blue eyes, just as they had been before. "Panama?" asked a curious Marisol as she stared at the natural eye color.
"Yeah, I couldn't do the cat-eye look. I see you left yours alone." Observation of her company proved that she was right; Marisol's eyes were gray. It had felt longer than two months, and she hadn't seen anyone in so long. As Marisol lifted her coffee cup to her mouth, Claire noticed a wedding band, and she smirked. "Congratulations."
"You too," she replied, not even having to check Claire's finger. The redhead nodded, and secured a piece of hair behind her ear.
Not knowing where to begin, Claire just thought of the people she had not seen in the longest. "How are Rebecca and Billy?"
"They're still at Chris'. I've been trying to build Billy a new life, and Rebecca's three months along. I'm the same as you."
"You're-?" Claire's voice was filled with happiness for her friend. "So, everyone's married and knocked up. How's Jill?"
There was hesitance in Marisol's voice, and Claire wished that she hadn't asked. "Jill, she left, 'bout two weeks ago. She had a miscarriage," she stopped to chew the inside of her cheek, her body language showed how sorry she felt for her. "She went to Europe to have it fixed or something. Chris has been… devastated and I'm scared he's not gonna make it this time.
The waitress brought back Claire's coffee and she thanked her, trying to smile. She had lost a niece or nephew when they weren't even a month in the making. "Chris thinks I'm dead?'
"Yeah, and everyone else knows." It was killing both of them to keep lying like this, but Claire had a family of her own to think of. Marisol knew that it was cruel of her to allow Chris to go on thinking that his sister was no longer there. "Got a name yet?' she asked, changing the subject and running her hands through her thick and silky, black hair.
"Sarah, if it's a girl," she said, not looking up from the café au lait before her that was the same color as Marisol's skin. "Sarah Monette." Marisol smiled at the choice of name for the child, and nodded for her to continue with the boy name. "Solen if it's a boy."
"I know that it's gonna be a girl for me. Esmeralda Leona. It was Monette's middle name." It was amazing how much that woman had shaped their future for them. If it weren't for her, Leon would be alone, and Wesker would be too. He never mentioned Chris, and that was fine with Claire. Who wanted to talk about their brother's execution?
Afraid to ask anymore about her brother, Claire decided to bring up someone who had disappeared. "What happened to Ada?" Marisol let out a scoff and ordered more coffee.
"She showed up at Leon's apartment that night. 'Seemed embarrassed when I opened the door. Then I realized that she was scared. Her Organization scavenged the facility remains. Under the collapsed parking lot, they didn't find Spencer." Claire's eyes opened wide at this new information, but Marisol only continued. "Leon started working for the Government three weeks ago, and since they fear what we are, they're giving us protection. So Spencer has nothing since I named names and turned in all of his employees." Inside, Marisol felt like a snitch, but she never owed those people anything, especially the men that she had affairs with. Still, she betrayed Spencer's trust in her, but that was the past.
Everything he did to her was nothing that was done in her best interest. Her life was becoming very difficult. She feared waking up at a Government facility and being poked and prodded at. A warning to them was that if they tried to extract any of her DNA, that nothing but bad would come out of it. Gray eyes now searched Claire's blue ones, trying to understand her pain.
Marisol never had a family, but Claire had to pick up and leave her brother behind. Perhaps, being a clone wasn't as bad as she thought, it may have helped her in the future. Well, all she had was time. She had only been alive for half a year and she was already pregnant with children that biologically would be less than a year younger than her. For a while, she thought that she could not even become pregnant, but she prayed for it and wanted it desperately.
Finding that Claire's spirit was not lifted at all by the good news in her report, the clone reached over the table and gently placed her hand on her friend's. "It's gonna be alright, Claire. Que ra sera. What's gonna happen, we can't stop it." Nodding, Claire tried to hold back tears of fear, but fear of what?
Voice shaking, she said what was on her mind, the reason she was so afraid. "I just can't imagine Wesker going through this again. I try to stay out of his business because I'm scared of what I'll see."
"Out sight, out of mind," muttered Marisol, sounding very grown-up. Good things did come out of this for her: She had plenty of money from working for Spencer, even though Leon wanted nothing to do with it, and now she had found a reason to live. "He's a recovering alcoholic," she said suddenly, making Claire forget about her problems. This revelation about her husband was always a suspicion of Claire's. "He was pretty bad with it when he found out about Spencer still being out there. He quit smoking, he won't even allow me to drink- well, before I was pregnant, of course I'm not drinking now. And now he's scaring me with all of his precautions and…"
As her friend trailed off, Claire watched a tear slide down her cheek, and she thought of how difficult their lives probably were. They were bargaining with the Government, Leon was having a breakdown, and Marisol had to adjust to human life. Sometimes, Claire forgot that she was no longer human, and even forgot about living with Wesker. She mostly stayed to herself, and even slept in her own room most nights.
"Something's coming, Claire," Marisol said out of nowhere, staring into her coffee. "I have these dreams about Spencer…" This meeting was frightening and did not lay Claire's fears to rest. When facing Wesker tonight, she would not be able to bring his good news at all, just the news that they needed to go on the alert.
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For weeks now, Chris had felt more alone than he ever imagined a human being could be. His sister was -dare he say it?- dead, Jill was slowly killing herself with guilt, and Billy and Rebecca were even moving out soon. Eventually, he would be all alone in this house that had once been a home for many. When Sherry and Birkin left for Canada, he knew that everyone else would follow suit. Barry had decided to go back to Switzerland with his family, missing them and unable to deny that his concern for their well-being was dissipating.
Dozens of times, he thought about selling the home that once belonged to his dead parents, but after being passed around foster home at a young age, he didn't really feel like moving anymore. Maybe after Marisol and Rebecca had their kids, he could baby-sit. Or maybe he could avenge his sister by getting back into the Anti-Umbrella Organization that he helped found. What more could he do? Sitting here and watching everyone else move on and create new lives for themselves was only sending him to an early grave, and Claire would not want that for him.
A soft tap shook him from his thoughts and he unconsciously yelled, "Come on in!" It was Billy, and he looked like he had come to give another rather sympathetic speech of encouragement.
Looking around the room as if he had never seen it before, Billy gave a forced smile. "So, any word from Jill?" God, how it even hurt his heart to hear the name. "Is this a bad time?" he asked, sensing his friend's discomfort.
"No," answered the depressed man. "I'd say the worse time ever was that day that Claire didn't come out of that facility with us."
"I should have been there," Billy started, but Chris shook his head, knowing that he had been doing what he himself was doing. Looking out for your own was the wisest decision when it came to Umbrella. "Do you really think Wesker's dead?"
Giving a sigh, Chris nodded. "He would have come to face me like we agreed if he didn't. Now would be the perfect time to strike." Wesker's hatred for him would never die, and that is why Chris believed him to be dead. Spencer had come out of that basement, so that could only mean that one of the others did not. Also, Marisol gave her word that she never saw Wesker leaving on the cameras, or while she was escaping.
She would not lie about something as important as this. Because if Wesker lived, then he and Claire, and even Marisol would not wish her fate upon his sister. So the only explanation was that Wesker was dead. There had been no suspicious men following him, no phone calls that consisted of breathing on the other line, and no intimidating emails. Also, none of his contacts had been hearing anything about his former boss.
Wesker was dead, and so was Claire. Remembering that Billy was there, he shook away the memories of his sibling and the tears that came with them. For the first time in months, he was actually trying to maintain his cool and not show the weakness that had been present. For a while, Chris would never be the same, until he finally took up his role of being the destroyer of Umbrella. Billy and Rebecca had their own plans for life, a new that Marisol and the Government started for them in Florida.
At first, Chris never believed that one could start anew without worrying about the past. Once again, he made the lines of right and wrong apparent and vowed that no more harm would come to those that he cared for.
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Lying next to Leon, Marisol could not help but feel worried. Every night, he held her in his arms, as if he was afraid that someone would swoop and take her away again. Of course, he would not put it past his new employees to try and do something so underhanded. She felt his hand on her stomach, as though he was trying to make sure the baby was still there. Claire's face looked so scared earlier that day, like someone had been following her.
Now that she was no longer bound by the physical limits of a human, she should have nothing to worry about. The two of them were unstoppable together. At that though, Marisol remembered the people that she been ordered to "silence." Dozens of people had been slain by her hand at the command of the man that she had believed for so long to be someone who really cared about her. Finally, she looked into Leon's eyes, seeing the fear that had been there ever since she could remember.
Removing his hand from her stomach, he tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear gently, so he would not hit the back of the earring that had been there for months. "How's Claire?" he finally asked, trying to take his mind off of his employers.
"Scared." she answered, tightening her grip on his forearm. He had become so much more toned ever since he started his training. It was almost scary how much they were changing him both physically, and mentally. "Have you heard from Ada?"
"She's on the run, I think. She pissed someone off." That sounded like Ada. Really, she didn't care what happened to the older woman, she just wanted her away from her husband. Ada Wong, the woman of mystery. What a title. No doubt that Claire would be seeing much of her over time.
How did Claire's marriage to Wesker actually work? That was no one's business but their own of course. Still, Marisol could not help but worry about Claire; there were so many people that were out to hurt both of them. The feel of Leon's lips on her neck brought her back to reality and she thought of the child growing within her. Soon, she would be able to say that she had a family, and that she was able to escape Umbrella… at least for now.
Leon's involvement with the Government was a frightening thing and it appeared that it would never be something that she would ever be ok with. Dangerous times would lay ahead for Leon, and she did not wish for his death. If he died then he would be forced to live her life, Wesker's life, and even the life that their child would have to live. Immortality only sounded appealing, but it was not at all what the theaters made it out to be. Who would have imagined that Marisol would be giving birth to the child of a "good guy"?
Who thought that she would turn into a "good guy" herself? It seemed that she had finally chosen a side, and she would be dark when it the situation called for it, but at moments like this she would simply be called, "Mother."
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His arms were holding her close to him, and this was the reason that she cared for him the way that she did. Claire's back was turned to Wesker, but she knew that he was awake, watching out for her as he always did. Moments like these made Claire feel like she was actually living a normal life, but then she would awake to find that it was only an illusion brought on by the night. Claire wished that her life was as simple as Marisol's, and Marisol wanted the excitement that Claire had rather than the fear that the Government caused her. Mom.
Never in her dreams had Claire pictured being called that. The only person that she thought would ever call her "mom" would be Sherry, but she had a little family of her own with her father. Amazing how things worked out. Questioning her reasons for staying with Wesker was what took up her time, but she had finally decided that maybe she was starting to fall in love with him. The only time they ever even mentioned love was in there vows.
A shotgun marriage was not Claire's wish, getting married at all was not part of her life plan, but it happened. She did not believe that she was crazy or desperate, but that she understood the true meaning of caring for someone. Wesker had gone through hell to keep her safe, and even though it was partly because she was carrying his child, it did not change the fact that he still cared. She understood him, and he had trusted her enough to tell her his past. Obviously, there was a spot for her in his heart.
Sometimes, she wondered if he still thought of Monette, if he dreamed of her. Of course he did, he loved her. Still the question of whether or not he loved her was in the air. She would not assume, would not beg him to answer, and she would not waste away wondering if she was in a loveless marriage. Feeling him her rub her stomach, she smiled, and remembered the life they had created.
Chris would never know his niece or nephew, never be able to buy them gifts. He would probably not even get to have children of his own. What Chris wanted could not stop her from living her life the way she chose. She and Marisol had worked equally hard to break free of the way society viewed them. Claire was not allowed to cross over the line, and neither was Marisol.
They were to be obedient, and according to the laws of "Good and Evil," they were not to be friends. However, they said, "To hell with all of the stereotypes and ways that others said were unacceptable." They had turned their backs on the principles that they were raised with, the laws that they were brainwashed with. When it came to love, it was an unconditional feeling that would have you turn your back on someone for the sake of you and your significant other. Knowing that what they were doing was wrong though brought them to a new era that freed them of ignorance.
They were wrong, they were not the confused little girls that were introduced as one sided. Now, no one was safe as they viewed the drastic change in their personalities. They were enemies now, hunted by their former sides, and judged by both as well. All in the name of their beliefs, they changed the book and left behind the law, left behind the only ones that knew them. Well, Claire let her brother believe that she was dead, Marisol had attempted to kill the man that she had called both "master" and "lover." Death would still follow them wherever they chose to turn to though, and they themselves would not meet Him.
"Relax." Wesker knew what she was feeling, what she was thinking about. He did not speak with her of her worries mainly because they viewed right and wrong differently. "At least you have admitted it to yourself and everyone else Claire."
"I know, but that only makes it worse."
"Lying makes it worse, dear heart. You are merely acting upon your needs, and that is in no way selfish. It is how this world works."
"Always giving such good advice," she said, finally smiling a bit.
"Now go to sleep. If you don't then I won't be able to either, and I have much work to finish tomorrow." After yawning in approval, she said goodnight, and heard him whisper something into her ear. It was barely audible, but she knew that it was, "Claire, I love you." Now that there is no question of what right and wrong is, paradise is over, and Eden no longer exists.
A/N: Part II is done. Oh yeah, the title. If you are educated in the Jewish Bible, Lilith is Adam's first wife. I believe that story, but if you don't, whatever, just consider it entertainment and thank it because if I had never learned about Lilith, there would be no, "The Garden of Eden." I call Claire and Marisol the two Liliths because they break away from the traditions that they were brought up with. Claire intentionally disobeys and so does Marisol. They pretty much do what Lilith does. Lilith refused to lie down beneath Adam, and be considered weaker and less of a human. So Lilith does the forbidden: she says God's name. When she did that she gained awesome power, grew wings, and flew away. Even when God sent angels, demanding that she go back, she refused, because she wanted equality and what was right. So she lived out her days as a demon, 100 of her children, which were spawned with animals, demons, the devil, and even Adam to death every day. And since she was made from dirt just as he was, she believed that they were equal, which is why he made Eve from Adam's rib; so she could not leave him The Eves of the story are Jill and Rebecca, because they are just the little housewives who give everything and anything to their men. There's no rebel in them and they never even consider changing sides. Rebecca helping Billy is not wrong in any way because he's innocent. I have to call Chris Adam, because he is demanding, believing that if you aren't on his side, you are wrong. He thinks that he is right and that Wesker is wrong, but you can't even call Wesker the devil of the story because he doesn't try to justify everything with revenge. The only thing he did for revenge was sleeping with Claire, and now we see that that reason has changed also. I salute Claire and Marisol because they are the ultimate rebels. They stood up to the men that they saw as God, just like Lilith even completely disobeyed God for what was right. I don't applaud her turning her back on God, but she did what she had to do for herself. And she always loved Adam, just like Claire always loved Chris, and whatever Marisol had Spencer, it was still somewhat there. Some things I say about Lilith may be wrong, but there are so many different stories about her that the truth is hard to decipher. No one get offended, but I needed someone to compare Claire to. She turned her back on good, because she loved someone who was "bad." Well, sorry for all that, but I had to explain. So review and I'll get to that sequence.