"Claire."

For one second, she had believed it had all been in vain. She had made her way through an overrun Raccoon City; had left Leon and Sherry behind; and had gotten caught after infiltrating the Umbrella facilities in France. She had survived so much; on that grotesque Island and the freezing facility in Antarctica. She had fought and destroyed that long-armed, blind monster, and yet, when she saw that snake-thing following them through the snow, Claire had known it was the end; that she would never see Chris again.

She had dreamt of their childhood; their family trips into the woods. They had been so happy before their parents had died. After their horrible accident, it hadn't been easy for Chris and herself, but they had survived. But now; now she was dead, too.

"Claire."

She opened her eyes and she was still dreaming, wasn't she? Chris was right in front of her; and she wasn't cold anymore.

"Chris," she whispered and it hurt. Throwing her arms around her brother, she slowly realized that she wasn't dreaming; she wasn't dead either. "I missed you so much."

Leon had made it. It was ridiculous. How much time had passed since she had sent him her location? She herself had been searching for Chris for three months and hadn't found him, but Leon had. Leon had saved her again; after she had left him alone with Sherry, he had still helped her. Claire huffed into Chris' shoulder as she embraced him.

She definitely owed Leon one.

- XIX -

The Here

Claire wasn't sure for how long she had been standing there in Leon's arms and she began to wonder if she'd ever care again. His breath felt warm on her forehead; his arms, tight and protective around her shoulders. After all the happenings of the previous hours, all the doubts Vång had tried to infect her with and all the fear for her loved ones, she finally felt that her efforts were leading somewhere. Leon had come, and he would take her out of that place.

Because Leon had always been her harbor, her safe room. No matter how far he had been, he had been there with her. Good friends they had been all their life; all their life within bioterrorism. Through all their ups and downs, heartbreaks, failures, adventures, more heartbreaks and nights of pizza and beer; they had built a bond that was too hard to ever break. Trust was what had always united them, because, it seemed, you would never trust anyone more than the first living person you found in a town full of undead. She trusted Leon more than she trusted Chris – in some issues.

And how could she possibly not trust him? Leon Kennedy was a one-man-show, the one the government sent when things went really, really to shit. Spain? They had sent him. Harvardville? They had sent him. He would have gotten her off Sushestvovanie if she hadn't gotten off on her own; and he was getting her out now. She rubbed her cheek into his chest and sighed.

"I'm here," he whispered and, yes, he was. He was there. She wasn't sure what he was doing there; if he had come to rescue her, but he surely hadn't known she was alive again. She smirked. He was so brave. Herself? She hadn't let her fear control her when it had threatened her life; but Leon? Leon simply laughed at fear, kicked it in the guts and kept walking. He was there; of course, he was there.

"I know," she whispered. "I can hear your heart beating."

Leon laughed and for the first time in two months it didn't feel like betrayal. There was no guilt in it; just joy and freedom. He softly stroked her hair.

"Maybe I should get us something to light this place up so we don't have to recognize each other by the sound of our heart beat. Extremely romantic, but not very comfy. Just saying."

She chuckled and loved him for his apparent carefreeness. It was exactly what she needed to remain steady. They would get out of there and she would enjoy burning the place down, making sure Vång was reduced to ashes.

"Claire!" Footsteps approached them and made the redhead turn. Natalia had stayed behind, resting a bit in the darkness of the room while Claire had run after Leon. She walked up the stairs and took the woman's hand. "Now everything will be alright."

Leon stared in shock at the braided girl.

"Natalia?" He frowned and turned back to Claire. "Is there anyone else trapped in here?"

She shook her head.

"Just us two," she answered, turning her head to Natalia. "Nobody else."

He wanted to ask questions; hundreds of them. He didn't. Shrugging off any discomfort, Leon just nodded, leaving any talks for later. It wasn't the best time to ask question anyway. As the man turned away and searched for his phone on the floor, the women exchanged short glances.

The pressure lingering in her lungs made its way up to her throat as she felt Alex' presence in her rise.

'She will tell them.'

Natalia held a steady gaze on Claire as the voice rambled through her ears.

"No, she won't."

Brows lifted, Claire watched her in the darkness. She couldn't imagine what the girl was going through; how it was to share body and thoughts with another being – especially if that other being was someone who wore the name Wesker like it was some sort of medal. The girl in front of her twisted and turned.

'Vång said she can be killed now. You should kill her before she tells Barry.'

Alex' words ticked inside her head like a clockwork; like a ping-pong ball bouncing up and down. Funny at first, it moved from slightly annoying to deadly disturbing after a while. Natalia bored the nails of her free hand into her scalp as she bowed.

"Shut up!" She turned around and pushed the barrel of the revolver against her chin. "Shut up or I will blow my brains away. I swear to god. Alex, I will blow you away."

It was awkward; it was frightening and pitiful; but, most of all, it was loud enough for Leon to notice if Natalia kept muttering her threats as she convulsed. Claire quickly pressed her hand onto the girl's mouth and removed the gun from her hand.

"Natalia!" she hissed. "Natalia, listen to me."

Claire's soft voice had the opposite effect Alex' words had had on her, and after the hateful messages had triggered her own wrath, serenity came quickly. Natalia opened her eyes and searched for Claire's gaze in the dark. The redhead looped her arms around her shoulders and squeezed.

"It's alright. You are stronger than her."

"There you are!" Leon had found his phone on the floor and turned around to shine some light onto the stairs. "I will have to call Jill."

After patting Natalia's shoulder one last time, Claire stood up and turned to Leon.

"Jill?"

A nod.

"We came together, but lost track of each other after we were attacked by a B.O.W. on the upper floor. Don't worry, she's fine."

Claire blinked at him. They had come together; but had they also come alone? She felt her heart throbbing up into her throat as she tried to articulate the question for a fearful truth.

"Is Chris here as well?"

Leon looked into her eyes and shook his head.

"No, he isn't. Jill and I came alone."

Claire blew out a breath.

"Are you sure?" she whispered and walked back to Leon. "Darling, Chris can't come. He wants him. This? This is a trap. If he comes he will kill him. He will kill him."

Vång wants Chris.

Jill's words popped into his head as he watched Claire's doubtful glance. He slowly repeated his headshake.

"Chris is not here, believe me. He doesn't know. Jill didn't tell him because she knew this was a trap," he spoke softly as he approached her and put his hands onto her shoulders. "We came alone, okay? She knew it."

Claire nodded softly and closed her eyes in relief.

"I'm sorry," she said chuckling nervously. "I didn't mean to mistrust."

He smiled at her and nodded before he dialed Jill's number.

"Give me a second," he told Claire as he pressed the phone to his ear. "Jill! Listen." He gave Claire a wide, proud smile as he spoke to the woman on the line. "I found Claire. And she's alive."

"She's what?" Jill feigned her excitement. Even though there was still a slight chance that the footage had been a fake, she had expected to find her sister-in-law among the living again. "But… is she infected?"

"At least, she's not turned," Leon said. "She's alright, don't worry. Natalia Burton is here as well. Where are you? We should get out of here."

Jill frowned.

"Natalia is here?" Jill asked confused, but decided to dismiss the thought and handle those details later. "Anyway, we need to get out of here, yes. I think it's useless now to get even further down, isn't it? Let's find a way up and out."

"I will keep searching," Leon said in agreement. "Let's keep in touch and communicate as soon as we find something. Take care."

"You too," she said and hung up. Jill took a look around and tried to remember where she had found the stairs to an upper floor when a noise from behind one of the closest doors caught her attention. With one hand on her rifle she slowly pushed the door open, following the noise – further downstairs.

The corridor she found behind it was long and dark, but her flashlight showed her clearly that a battle had taken place there. Blood was everywhere, on the carpet on the ground, the walls, even floating in the air. What exactly had happened there? She knelt down and picked up a wet cloth. Examining it closely, it looked like a sleeve, with drawn stitches on one end and a nicely finished bindings on the other. Jill grimaced and looked further down the corridor. There was a door at the end and a soft light shone through it. Instinctively, she checked her ammunition, got back onto her feet and followed the hall towards the light.

The stairs were slick and moist, mostly stained with blood as the corridor had been. Whoever said that after so many years in the business one got used to the smell of it was either lying or had no idea what they were talking about, because the stench of human blood would always make her flinch like it had the first time. Not to mention the convulsion it gave you when it was mixed with the sound of grunting zombies which, luckily, wasn't this case. Jill slowly descended the stairs, her hands holding on tightly to the rifle, as she advanced towards the light. The door to the underground lab had been kicked and the bright light came from downstairs along with the clicking and snapping sounds of metal tools. Jill held the assault rifle ready when she decidedly walked into the room, freezing immediately. So, that was why Vång wanted Chris.

"Wesker!" She sucked in a breath as she saw her darkest nightmare coming true; their archenemy pickled in a glass container. Next to him there stood a man with another well-known face – the same face.

"Oh, hello! What a huge surprise!" Vång exclaimed laughing. "It's been a while, Officer Valentine. To what do I owe the honor?"

Jill's attention was drawn to him and she raised her rifle.

"Fritjof Vång, you're arrested. Put your hands where I can see them," she shouted, but Vång just chuckled shortly, before he turned to the container Wesker was kept in. "Are you deaf? I said put your hands up."

The scientist just ignored her orders, cheerily whistling as he took up some tools.

"I must say," he said as he stopped whistling, "I expected your dear husband to come. But you will be a wonderful gift for the Master anyway." He slowly turned back to Jill and smirked right before a couple of bullets hit his forehead.

How often had his head been attacked that day? Three times? Four? Plus, another shot Alex Wesker had given his neck two months before. But no matter how many attacks he could resist and recover from, the impact still caused Vång to tremble and fall. Holding on to the table next to him, he sunk to his knees, soon attacked again by Valentine, who came running towards him and kicked him in the side.

"I'll show you what a beautiful gift is." She drove her heel into his neck and made him scream. She would make him pay for everything he had done and for everything he was planning. "Game over, Vång."

Jill hadn't hesitated a second after firing at Vång, as if she had expected him to recover from the shot wounds, but even so, it frightened her to see how quickly the flesh tangled and closed over the bone and the scientist began to move, chuckling under her foot. She frowned in disgust at first, but soon shook alarmed.

Something bubbled loudly in the tank behind her.

Chris suddenly remembered what grandparents were good for. It was hard to find a selfless, quick and available babysitter for Summer at 3 am as Samantha, the girl next door, was currently out of town. The rest of the neighbors in the street were cranky old people who would only do them a favor if Claire asked very politely - bringing a cake or cookies as a reward. Since her death there weren't any more cookies or cakes in the house. That was another thing grandparents were good for.

He hadn't wanted to ask the Burtons, who he knew had spent the whole day in the hospital with Natalia and were surely exhausted. Luckily, Amanda seemed to love and adore everything related to him, being Jill the only exception. They had met at the B.S.A.A. headquarter so he could leave Summer with her and take the chance to grab some weapons.

He wasn't surprised to see that the emergency storage he and Jill had put up together for urgencies like this was empty. Fortunately, Rory Williams had been on duty that night and could gather him some armory and ammunition. He had also promised to organize a small group and follow him a little later. Men like Rory, reliable and able to keep their mouth shut when it was needed, were exactly the kind of soldiers he wanted in his team. Williams would someday make a wonderful captain.

Someday.

Chris rushed up the hill to the hotel, braking sharply when he spotted Jake observing the entrance. The red-haired man in the dark jacket turned around as Chris got out of the car.

"Redfield," he complained. "I thought you'd bring a chopper." Catching the shotgun Chris tossed at him like it was a frisbee. "I kinda have a bad feeling."

A mad, immortal scientist under her feet; a dangerous, even madder scientist behind her.

And there weren't enough bullets in the room — nor in the whole state— to bring both of them down.

Jill swallowed, her look tightly set on Vång, as she heard the creature in the container behind her move. Vång was still recovering from the headshot, his skin slowly peeling back over the hole in his forehead. Jill could already see the triumphant smirk on the face below. A second later, she heard him as well.

"It's fulfilled!" He howled in excitement, only pushing Jill's heartbeat up. "He is back!"

Something knocked violently against the walls of the glass container, but she didn't dare turn and look.

Was it the anxiety of the enemy's familiar eyes on her? The worry of the memories she had already thought overcome? Or was it the terror of seeing what the monster she and Chris had used to call captain had turned into?

The thought held her mind and captive and her body refused to react. Vång kept laughing under her boot. The knocking persisted; even got louder. Sweat ran down her forehead as she begged her body to move and her mind to react. Maybe Leon was right; maybe she wasn't ready.

The thing kept knocking and Jill knew what was about to come. Another knock on the tank. Another one, and glass shattered all around her. It was the moment the container broke; the moment Albert Wesker was set free, and the moment her body started responding again.

The bullets bored into Fritjof Vång's throat and face and through his brains. Shot, once again, in the head, the scientist stopped laughing as his blood splashed over the ground and became one with the conservation liquid that poured from the broken container and flooded the room. Jill jumped forward, ready to watch what was behind her. The bullets wouldn't keep Vång out of action for too long, but it would give her a little time to analyze what she was facing.

She turned and was confronted with the face of evil. Wesker had crawled out of the container and was now kneeling in front of it, with low head, getting used to the impact of fresh air in his lungs.

"How does it feel like to be among humans again?" She whispered, inaudible to his hears.

Angrily, she reloaded the rifle with shivering hands and aimed the weapon at the gasping being in front of her. She could shoot twice causing Wesker to groan in rage and turn his head up. He didn't move, he just kept staring at her. The look on his face expressed confusion, as if he didn't know where he was or who he was.

"Chris!"

Okay, maybe he did remember who he was, being just a little confused about the where. Before she could shoot again, Wesker threw his arm — or whatever that long limb full of tentacles he had instead of an arm was — into her direction. An attack she dodged with a quick backflip. He groaned, his eyes glowing brightly as he knelt down.

"Jill."

It was an image she had never believed to see someday. It was Albert Wesker, high on Uroboros, alive and so utterly bewildered that one could only pity him.

"Well done, Jill." His voice was calm and dark as she remembered it. Wesker put his arm on the ground and pushed himself up slowly. "I knew you would resist. Let go of feelings." The ground trembled as he put his feet on it and stood up. "Let go of humanity. And get rid of Chris and his little friend."

Jill felt her heart beat in her throat. Resist what? Chris and his friend?

"Sheva?" she whispered astonished to herself as she understood what was happening. It seemed Wesker believed he had survived the battle in the volcano in Kijuju nearly seven years before. The grip around the rifle tightened. He tilted his head.

"You were always the strongest." Step by step, he walked towards her, while she stood still, her mind running through the weapons she carried and if there was any that could stop him, or at least slow him down. "And you always challenged me. You've overcome the P30, haven't you?" He smirked maliciously as he attacked her. "You are magnificent!"

She could avoid falling victim to the mutated arm he punched into her direction by rolling to her side. On one knee, Jill began firing at the mutation as he stepped closer.

"Jill, don't turn against your creator. You can be part of the new world. You are valid."

Two more strikes. She managed to hit Wesker twice more before he reached her, causing him to groan as the dark, wormy tentacles that covered his chest revealed the golden core that lay underneath. That was her chance. Maybe this way she could stop him; at least for a while. She quickly grabbed her combat knife and jumped up, running with the lifted blade towards her target. She had almost reached him when something tackled her to her side.

She rolled, cursed and gasped in anger as she looked up and saw Vång standing protectively in front of Wesker, who was still mumbling nonsense. Apparently, coming back from the dead was a hard struggle even for someone like him.

Vång panted heavily, standing straight and smiling proudly as he pressed his hand onto his chest.

"Don't fear, Master." It seemed to Jill he had lost his mind for good now, when he pulled out a gun and aimed for her. "I will take care of her."

Jill quickly fired into his direction, causing him to jerk back, bump into Wesker, and fail his first shot as she rolled over the ground and leaped onto her feet. Vång tried to step forward, but the tentacles on Wesker's body had taken hold of him.

"Not Jill!" Wesker screamed as he launched his arm through Vång's chest, almost breaking him in two. The cracking sound of his breaking rib cage filled the room and caused Jill to shiver. Vång screamed in pain as Uroboros' distinctive wormy mass advanced over his body, consuming him.

"Master!" He started laughing as the tentacles reached his throat. "Take from me whatever you please!"

After staring at the abomination in front of her for too long, Jill decided she wouldn't waste any more time trying to remember if she had ever seen something so disgusting in her whole career. She needed to stop him - them - that thing. Every bullet shot into the consuming B.O.W. was lost somewhere inside of the mass. Disappointedly, she noticed that she wasn't carrying any grenades with her and cursed herself for not being provident enough. However, on the table next to her she found bottles filled with different liquids. Ripping them open and smelling what sort of substances she had available, she soon recognized the high-grade alcohol she had been searching for. The fabric of an old lab coat would become a wonderful fuse, she thought. She knew everything about firebombs, as the failure of a man she'd had for a father had often sung her lullabies about the ingredients of a Molotov cocktail when she'd been a kid. While she filled the bottles with the alcohol and soaked the cloth, she remembered how Claire used to tell horror stories to Summer as well. The thought made her frown as she stared at the firebomb.

Maybe Dick hadn't been such a bad father after all.

Only one arm was left of Vång when Jill turned back to the massive creature Wesker had become absorbing the other scientist. Their archenemy stood straight as the tentacles emerging from his body reached out for the man in front of him and feasted. Uroboros needed feeding after such a long time in the afterlife, and it was ready to consume. And, oh, how it consumed. She grimaced in disgust as she saw the ugly tentacles grasp the body of the other man. One thing was clear; Vång was no longer a problem. Immortal scientist number one - eliminated. Now she only had to take care of scientist number two. She watched the firebomb in her hand and took a deep breath. Uroboros was considered vulnerable to heat, but Vång had probably given Wesker the same regenerative substance that had cured himself from that headshot right in front of her eyes.

Human. She somehow needed to make them both human again. That is, if that was even possible. She raised her hand, ready to throw her handmade firebomb against Wesker. It had to work.

He had never been really human anyway.

It was surprising how close to the surface they had already been. After leaving the room where they had met, Leon, Claire and Natalia entered another dark hallway and soon found heavy metal door slides.

"An elevator!" Claire yelled excitedly as she inspected the doors trying to find a way to open them. "This might be our way out."

Leon nodded and tried the most obvious thing to do; he pushed the button. Unfortunately, nothing happened. Claire lifted a brow at him and smirked until he shrugged.

"Why make it hard if there is a chance it's easy?" With those words he took out his knife and pushed the blade between the two wings, while Claire and Natalia gave each other amused glances.

Claire remembered the doors in the warehouse and how hard it had been for her to pry them open. It looked so easy now that Leon was working on the elevator doors. Once the shaft lay open in front of them, the man shone his flashlight into the darkness.

"The cabin seems to be stuck on some higher floors," he said turning his head to the right to see better. "But I think we can climb up the ropes. As far as I see the next is the ground floor."

Those were some of the best news Claire had gotten that night. She took a deep breath.

"Can you go first, darling? I don't think I have enough strength to break open the door while I hang from a steel wire rope."

Leon nodded and pointed at the 329 Magnum revolver in her hands.

"If anything shows up here-" he said.

"It will be the last thing it did," Claire replied smiling widely, at what Leon laughed a little. Yeah, that was his girl; steady and strong in front of any danger. He cupped her chin and placed the tiniest of kisses onto her lips, hoping that, whatever might come after them would be easy enough to kill with a Magnum. For himself, he hoped he'd have enough with a 9mm handgun. Leon turned back to the elevator, grabbed the rope and jumped into the shaft, tightly gripping the ropes with his hands, knees and feet, as Claire and Natalia watched out for any enemies. It didn't take him too long to reach the next floor. With his left arm and leg tightly wrapped around the rope, he slammed the knife into the slot of the door and slowly levered it open.

"Got it!" He shouted as he managed to push his arm and foot between the door slides. "We're almost out."

"Alright!" Claire turned to Natalia and put a hand onto the girl's shoulder. "You're next. Come on, I help you."

Natalia couldn't stop looking at Claire in awe. She had caused so much trouble to the redhead and her family by letting Alex Wesker run her body like a willing machine, but even so, Claire was helping her out. Natalia smiled as she nodded shortly.

"Thank you, Claire."

The older woman smiled comfortingly as she put her hand onto Natalia's shoulder.

"You're welcome."

Once he had managed to open the door, Leon checked quickly if any enemies were waiting for him on the ground floor. Fortunately, the hall seemed empty and he couldn't have been more relieved as he saw that he was standing in the reception hall.

"We're out," he whispered to himself and was about to grab his phone and call Jill when the sound of gunshots caught his attention. He didn't have to dodge much to avoid being hit by the bullets that swooshed past him, impacting on the wall behind. It was as if the shooter had been missing him on purpose.

"Kennedy!"

Leon jumped up and stared into the rage-filled eyes of Chris Redfield in his B.S.A.A. uniform, heavily armed and driven by wrath. The older man ran towards him and before Leon could find the right words to stop him, Chris tackled him and pushed him onto the floor.

"Where is Jill?"

Leon coughed and shook his head. This was getting ridiculously absurd.

"Chris, what the fuck?"

But no one 'what the fuck'-ed Chris Redfield. He stood up and put his boot onto Leon's chest, treading it down until the former agent groaned in pain.

"Where is Jill?" Chris howled. "Kennedy, damnit! First you lose my sister and now you risk my wife's life by bringing her into a shithole like this?"

Leon frowned and then began to laugh as much as the pressure on his chest would let him, leaving Chris speechless.

"You're getting it all wrong, Chris," Leon exhaled. "One, she is the one who brought me along; and two," he gave the man above a threatening look. "If you want to know where she is why don't you call her?"

And Chris' eyes filled with rage again.

"You lie! Why the fuck would Jill come here by free will?"

Leon's gaze warmed as footsteps sounded behind Chris.

"They came because of me."

As he watched Chris' expression, Leon tried to remember if he had ever seen Big Redfield that shell-shocked. Maybe the day Claire had told him she was pregnant? Yes, that came pretty close. It was a mix of disbelief, jealousy and hope; a lot of hope.

Chris left Leon lying on the floor as he turned around and watched the person who had just called out for him. Tears shot into his eyes as he swallowed hard and sobbed quietly.

"Claire."

"Chris," the redhead replied in the same tone as she took another step forward and stood in front of him. She had missed him so much. Now, more than ever, she needed her big brother. Claire threw her arms around Chris and sobbed loudly into his chest as he embraced her.

"I was told you were dead," he cried. He didn't care if Claire or Leon or anyone else saw him cry. His little sister was back and he let emotions run freely; and Claire loved him for it.

"And I was, Chris," she whispered in relief. He was so surprised to see her. Was there a chance he hadn't seen the video Vång had sent him? Had the scientist been lying to her to see how far he could push her? She sobbed quietly into Chris' chest. There were so many things left to say, but she'd find a way to do that later. "I was."

When Natalia had climbed up the ropes she had found Chris bent over Leon and had quickly helped Claire out of the shaft. Seeing the two siblings reunited made her think of Moira, Barry, Kathy and Polly and of how much she'd like to go home. Luckily, they were almost out.

'Heartbreaking,' she heard Alex mumble in her head in a sarcastic tone, and Natalia was sure that her own reunion with her brother wouldn't have been half as emotional as Claire's meeting with Chris. Redfield: 1; Wesker: 0. Natalia chuckled as she heard Alex grunt at her thought.

She heard footsteps coming from the left and turned her head. Jake Muller was there, too.

"Redfield?" he asked, almost in concern, as he approached Chris, but suddenly stopped when he saw who it was Chris was holding. "Claire?"

The female redhead wiped the tears from her eyes as she turned to the young mercenary.

"Jake," she sniffed. "What are you doing here?"

The young man shook his head in disbelief and caused Claire to chuckle a bit. Everybody expected the bad guys to come back from the dead, but when the same happened to one from their own side, it apparently surpassed all their imaginations.

"He was the one who told me Jill and Leon were here," Chris whispered. "He followed them to this place."

Jake shrugged his astonishment off and rolled his eyes.

"I was secretly hoping they were having an affair and wanted to see Redfield's reaction."

The air around them seemed to freeze as Chris' narrowed eyes turned to Leon, who was removing the dust from his sleeves. He replied with another angry gaze.

"I swear to god, Chris, if you try to punch me again for an imaginary affair you think I'm having with your wife I shoot you."

Chris clenched his fists as he breathed to calm himself down. He had been blinded by his rage and fury for too long already; it was time to let go of it. He felt a cold hand on his shoulder and turned back to Claire, who was giving him a warm but chiding glance.

"I think you owe Leon an apology."

Chris smirked defeatedly and turned back to his brother-in-law, who was pouting like an angry child. Leon had, once again, been the key to reunite him with his sister; just like back in 1998, when he had sent him her location on Rockfort Island.

"Well, I'm…" Chris' attempt to apologize was interrupted by the sound of Leon's phone. The blond man looked down at the screen and smirked as he answered and put on the loudspeaker.

"Jill!" He called as he answered. A loud gasp rang from the phone and startled them all. Chris took a step toward Leon and yelled into the phone.

"Jill! What's happening? Where are you?"

The female voice on the other end of the line yelped a bit when she heard her husband speak.

"Chris? What…? Oh lord, no." She panted heavily. It sounded like she was running. Claire, Natalia and Jake came closer and stood in circle around the device in Leon's hand. "Anyway, no time to explain. Get heavy artillery. I'm leading him up."

Chris frowned.

"Him?"

Leon ground his teeth.

"Vång?" he asked and attracted a confused glance from Chris, who proved to have an excellent memory of the B.S.A.A.'s register of past enemies and villains.

"You mean Fritjof Vång?" he asked frowning. "The guy Jill locked away some years ago?"

The speaker cracked and rumbled again before Jill spoke again.

"No. Not Vång," she gasped. "Wesker!"

Chris grimaced in shock as he heard the familiar name. He looked at Leon, who seemed almost frozen in shock. Jake needed a minute to digest the information as well. According to Jill Valentine, his infamous father was alive and chasing her through the stairway of that abandoned hotel, and he felt confronted with a past he had never known. Jill's call was cut and Chris swallowed.

Only Claire and Natalia weren't surprised. Claire clenched her teeth and took the teenager's hand.

"He made it," she whispered, and Chris turned to her.

"What is happening here, Claire?"

Her look dropped as she put a hand on her chest.

"He took the T-Phobos from me," she said in a low voice, almost shivering from guilt. "The virus he used to relive me didn't seem to work on Wesker, so he took my T-Phobos to achieve that."

"What?" Leon took a step forward. "How does the T-Phobos do that?"

"Actually, when we were first abducted, he wanted to see if he could do the mind transfer like Alex Wesker had tried," Natalia interrupted the conversation.

"So, that was the reason he took you?" Leon glared at Claire and ground his teeth. So, it had been the T-Phobos again; the virus that threatened his everything. How often had he wished he could bring Neil Fisher back to life only to kill him off again for everything he had done? From sleeping with his wife; even though she hadn't even been his girlfriend back then; to selling his teammates to a terrorist and getting them infected only to get one cheap Uroboros sample. Even five years after Sushestvovanie Island, the few survivors were still suffering because of Fisher and Alex Wesker, and Leon hated them both for it. Claire forced a smile and took his hand.

"He must have had access to Alex Wesker's files and wanted to repeat the mind transfer; to become the host for Albert Wesker's mind himself. However, he mentioned that the T-Phobos reanimated dead flesh without further mutation and…" She shook her head. "I think he succeeded," she hissed as she turned to Natalia, pain and fear written all over her face.

Natalia held her hand and squeezed it.

"It's not your fault, Claire."

It was a lousy attempt to make her feel better. But anything was good if it helped to distract herself from Alex Wesker's excited laughter reverberating through her head.

'Yes! Albert is alive!'

"See why it would have been a good idea to bring the chopper full of rocket launchers, Redfield," Jake hissed, shouldering the shotgun and cocking his head. "Now what?"

Chris frowned and pushed his hand into one of his pockets. He threw his car keys at Jake, who caught them with one hand.

"Get Claire and Natalia out!" The B.S.A.A. Captain hissed, quickly shutting his sister with a serious glance as she tried to protest. "Officer Williams has prepared the weapons. Look what else he has put into the trunk for us."

Claire shook her head.

"No, Chris. That won't help," she muttered as she remembered Vång and the virus that brought people back from the dead – over and over again. What were the right words to tell her brother that this time it would be an impossible task to get rid of the man who had destroyed their all lives? She swallowed. "He is-".

It was all she got to say, because in that moment a throbbing noise coming from below shook them all to the bone. A short quake followed and Natalia had to hold on to Claire not to lose balance and fall.

Leon took out his handgun and unlocked it. It was ridiculously small compared to what the noise suggested was coming for them, and he turned to Jake and grabbed the shotgun the young man was holding.

"I take this," he hissed. "You go and get the weapons from the car."

Jake was about to reply when something moved in the elevator behind them. Chris turned to it, with his assault rifle aiming for whatever would climb out the shaft. He sucked in a breath as he recognized the person in the combat suit.

"Jill."

Gasping, the blonde climbed up the rope before she jumped onto the floor and took a moment to breathe before she looked up.

"Chris," she panted, slightly shaken, then her glance fell onto Claire. "Sweetheart. Oh my god." She walked past the men and pulled her friend into a tight hug. Claire whined a little as she hid her face in Jill's neck.

"I'm alright," she whispered. "I'm good."

Jill pulled back and watched Claire's face to reassure her friend was speaking the truth. Claire was a fighter, but Jill knew too well how frightening it could be to come back from the dead. The two women smiled at each other before the blonde turned to the girl standing next to Claire.

"Natalia," she whispered touching the girl's head protectively. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

Natalia gave her a nod, but started coughing, causing Claire to turn back to her.

Chris stared at them. He wished he could take them home right away, but as far as he knew, Jill had been followed by their ex-captain, his archenemy.

"Jill, where is he?"

The blonde turned to him and frowned.

"He was right behind me, but disappeared all of a sudden." She swallowed. "You are not even supposed to be here. How, Chris?"

Leon huffed and tilted his head towards the young mercenary behind him.

"Jake told him."

Jill stared at Leon bewildered, before turning to Jake and taking a step forward. Standing in front of the young redhead, she couldn't hold back her rage. Her plan had been perfect; now everything seemed to turn against her and Vång's plan would succeed. The loud clap echoed through the hole reception hall as Jill slapped Jake's face.

"Ouch!" He rubbed his cheek and turned to Jill in anger. "Valentine, what the fuck?"

Before their encounter could end in a fight, Claire stepped between them, pushing Jill back and grabbing her both shoulders.

"It's okay Jill," she said. "He was just trying to help."

Jill looked at her friend and clenched her teeth. It took her a second to calm down, but once she managed, she took a deep breath and turned back to Jake with a more relaxed attitude.

"I still believe you should learn how to keep yourself out of other people's business, young man." Her grimace turned into a weak smile. "But, you're right. Thank you for coming after us. Sorry for… well."

Jake grimaced, but rolled his eyes and nodded at the blonde, accepting her apologies.

Claire put a hand onto Jill's shoulder to get her friend's attention.

"What about Vång? Where is he?"

The blonde shook her head as he took Claire's hand in hers.

"Wesker, he-" she answered and swallowed. "He consumed him, somehow."

While Claire's eyes widened in shock, Chris just turned and looked at Jill. He remembered how Uroboros swallowed organic matter around it; he remembered the images of a mutated Excella Gionne and how she had just sucked in all those bodies right in front of their eyes, seven years ago, in Africa. Wesker had been compatible with the virus, but that didn't mean that he could stop if from consuming.

Chris looked at Leon.

"We should get down."

Leon nodded.

"We should."

Claire turned around to her brother and husband. Down. DOWN? Where Vång had kept her? Where they might find more evidence of what he had done? She shook.

"No."

Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, that issue was solved by a heavy rumble that echoed through the elevator shaft. Jill stood protectively in front of Claire and Natalia as Chris and Leon pointed at the gap.

"Jake, it would really be time to get more weapons," Chris yelled as he watched the dark, cable-like tentacles emerge from the elevator. Jill pushed Claire back and pointed her rifle at the spreading threat in front of them as more and more black mass pushed itself through the shaft. She swallowed hard. The nightmare was about to reach its climax.

Suddenly, a loud blast rumbled through the building. Stone shattered all around them and pushed them back. Chris' heart beat heavily as he saw the huge hole in the walls and the creature jumping out of it.

Once again, he was face to face with the man he had once respected so much.

"There you are, Chris."