A/N: I don't own anything from red vs blue or Silent Hill.
Silent Gulch Chapter 25
Church lay on the ground, still staring into the dragon's dead eyes. It was creepy and only made him more confused. He'd come for answers and, like after an episode of Lost, only had more questions.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sudden sound of Tex's voice. "Church, come in Church. Have you found the power station?"
Church fumbled for the radio fighting to move under the dragon's bulk. "Not yet, hit a little snag," he answered, trying to get out from under the corpse.
"What kind of snag? Don't tell me that lady got the better of you," Tex replied. Church could hear the teasing tone in her voice.
He stared at the dragon's eyes and let out a single chuckle. "Nope, I killed her," he said, and it was the truth. Something about the beast felt like it had been him. Whether a representation created by the world around him or a trick to mess with him, the dragon was him.
"You guys find the train?" Church asked before finally pulling himself free.
"We found it, but some other people found us," Tex answered.
"Who found you?" Church asked, glancing toward the door he'd entered through. Had Pyramid Head left to kill his friends while he fought the dragon version of himself?
"Just Lopez, Doc, Sheila, and a mutant version of Tucker's freak baby," Tex answered. "They are kind of just standing around, like they're waiting on something. Either way, you should really get that power on and get here fast. Shit, what was that?"
"What happened?" Church asked, damning that he couldn't see what was going on with the others.
"Apparently there are now needlers on the roof," Tex answered. "Though it seems that's all they're doing. Just sitting up there. Damn, what lazy monsters."
"Listen, I'm working on getting to the power. Just hang tight and radio if they attack," Church instructed.
"All right, be careful," Tex replied before the radio fell silent and Church put his away.
"They're waiting for my signal," a female voice said.
Church turned to look, stunned at the woman sitting in the chair that had been Danena's. "Alessa, what are you doing here?"
The short, blond-haired woman laughed, shaking her head. "That name I was not expecting," she admitted.
"So you're not Alessa?" Church asked, moving over to the chair he had been sitting in before. He was feeling the effects of blood loss and it was getting to be too much to stand. He paused, though, before sitting down. He felt bad about getting blood on the chair now. He wouldn't have cared before, but for some reason it didn't feel like the chair belonged to Danena, rather than the grown-up woman that sat in the other chair.
"Actually, this one's name was Heather. You can call me Alessa, though, if you'd like," Heather told him. "After all, we are sort of the same person." She noticed him standing and giggled. "Go ahead and sit, Father. Who cares if you get blood on it?"
Church took a seat, wincing as his back and shoulder hit the chair. "I think I'll call you Heather. So, who exactly are you?"
"I'm sorry about your back. I wanted you to meet my creation and he got overexcited. Too bad you had to kill him," Heather said lightly.
"So you made that thing? Does that mean that you're the god Danena talked about?" Church asked.
"Well, if you want to call me a god. I've never used that term for myself, though," Heather answered.
"At least you're answering my questions," Church said, and the fact that she was put him at ease and unnerved him all at once. He was glad for answers, but figured she had to have had another reason for answering questions.
"Well, I don't see why I shouldn't. Most of the people that come here cause me trouble. You've caused me trouble, but not enough that it can't be fixed," Heather explained.
"I didn't come here. I was moved here against my will," Church corrected.
"Are you sure you didn't come here yourself? Sure you didn't come looking for my help? Sure that you didn't come here to save her?" Heather asked. "Come now, Father, don't lie to me."
Church couldn't come up with anything to say. Deep down, he knew she was why he was sitting here with this woman. He'd known back when he split up from the others that she was why he was here.
"All right, you know why I'm here; you're answering questions, why should I believe what you say?"
"I don't really have a good reason to lie to you now, do I? Besides, unless we build some trust we'll never make a deal," Heather reasoned.
"You want to make a deal? A deal for what? Why would you make a deal?" Church asked.
"Because I have what you want and you have something I want. You've proven to be a problem if I just let you wander around," Heather said, glancing over at the dead dragon. "The past has taught me that people like you can wreck my plans. It would be better for both of us if we just made a deal."
"What do I have that you want?" Church asked.
"Didn't I say we needed trust, Father? You don't believe in me and I know you have more questions. Ask them and know that I tell you the truth. Then when we make a deal you can trust me."
The light attitude was starting to annoy Church. "All right, I know why I'm here, and why she's here, but why are the others here?" Church asked. He'd have to play her game for now until she would get to the point.
"I needed them as sacrifices; sadly, you've kind of ruined that," Heather answered. "The snake, hare, and dragon were all part of it. You see, my domain is getting bigger. The executioner can only cover so much area and the little ones need something to keep them in line."
"So you were going to sacrifice them? What good would that do?" Church asked, unaware of sacrificial rituals and their correlation to demons that were already alive.
"A living sacrifice is perfect if you want to give a creature more area, their own power to live. You see, for now I have stored power in the statues that are in that room, but they are bonded to those statues. Kind of makes it hard for them to leave," Heather answered. "I thought you would like the way I made them like their sacrifices."
"Like how the snake's jaw was split. Sorry about that one. Would have gladly let you have Tuckers abomination for that. If only it hadn't attacked me." Church shrugged and right away regretted it as pain shot out from his shoulder.
"It's all right, Father. I blame myself for having led you down that path. I suppose, though, that she wasn't aware of the creation," Heather said.
"You aren't Alessa, even if you look like an older version of her. Stop calling me Father, too," Church said.
"But you are my father. What else is there to call you?" Heather asked. "Would you prefer Dad?"
"I'd prefer Church or Leonard. I don't have any children," Church said.
"Alessa would disagree, and so would I," Heather stated. Church was starting to get confused. One minute the woman was referring to her and Alessa as the same person, the next they were two people. "You know she's one of us. I could easily have her just kill all of the people in that train. But you already know that, it's part of why you are here. You know that you're the reason why she's here, why she is under my control. You really think that you can save her." Heather tone was still light, as though they were passing comments and not a vague threat or an accusation. "Keep asking questions."
The comments had unnerved Church. He had feared she was one of them, but he didn't want to believe that it could be true. He was quickly running out of options. He knew that her being in the situation was his fault. He'd brought her here and he was going to fix it. He was going to save her, no matter what.
"Why don't I just kill you, turn on the power, and get the hell out of here?" Church asked, figuring it was his last way out.
Heather smiled and laughed. "Because the train won't take you anywhere unless I let it. Also, they'd be dead before you got to them. Maybe I'll have her tear them all apart and then kill herself. Though using her wouldn't be my first choice, unless you were there to watch. Let me show you what I would do," she said, and an odd chilling feeling filled the air around them.
The radio came to life and there was a loud scraping sound like metal being cut. "The needlers are coming in through the roof." Tex announced. "How are you coming on that power?"
"Daddy, make them stop," Alessa's voice pleaded over the radio. The girl screamed and the radio fell silent.
Church looked at Heather, horrified. "Stop them," he demanded, though it came out more as a scared plea.
Heather smiled and the chill in the air vanished. "They've stopped, what the hell did you do?" Tex asked, her voice still sounding a bit scared.
"I knew you could do it, Daddy, now we just need the power," Alessa said, back to her cheerful tone.
"I'll have it on in a moment, just sit tight and shoot anything that tries to get in," Church said back over the radio, putting it away before he turned back to Heather.
"Now ask the question, I think we have enough trust," Heather said, knowing that she had him where she wanted him.
"What can you give me and what do you want?" Church asked, hating that he'd lost. There was nothing he could do though. He wouldn't let them die, wouldn't let her be lost.
"I can give you safety for all of them," Heather answered.
"All eight of them?" Church asked, wanting to be sure that he wasn't cheated.
"Yes, all eight of them. I'll let the train leave the station and leave this place," Heather assured him.
"And what do you want from me?" Church asked.
"Just one simple thing, Father. I want you," she answered with the most innocent cheerful smile on her face.
~The others~
"Damn it, Church, would you get that power on." Tex cursed watching the holes that the needlers had made in the roof. As if on cue, the lights turned on and the train systems powered up.
"Oh, my god, he did it," Tucker said, sounding completely surprised.
"Yay, Church made it!" Caboose said excitedly.
"How'd he get here so fast?" Simmons asked.
"Why isn't anything attacking him?" Sarge asked.
"Where did all the others go?" Donut cut in.
"Why is he just standing there?" Grif asked.
"Why are you guys playing twenty questions?" Tucker asked. "Dude, it is Church."
Church stood outside the train, alone, staring at the group who were watching him through the windows of the train car. He lifted up the radio hesitantly. "Go," he ordered.
"Church, get your ass on the train, then we'll go," Tex ordered back over the radio.
Church simply shook his head.
"You heard the man, let's go," Sarge said, not really caring if they left the Blue behind.
"We may team-kill on Blue Team, but we don't leave teammates behind," Tucker said, glaring at the Red leader.
The train lurched forward a bit, causing most of the soldiers inside to fall to the ground at the sudden jerk.
"What the hell? Who started the train?" Tex asked, though there was no one at the controls. They were all gathered on the opposite end of the train. "Church, get on!" Tex ordered one last time.
Church reached up, pulling the shoulder of his shirt down enough to clearly show where he dragons' fangs had ripped out his shoulder.
"What's wrong? Why does Daddy's shoulder look like that?" Alessa asked.
Tex picked her up, holding her close and trying to shield her from the sight. The train jerked again and started to move down the track. Tex didn't try again to get the Blue leader on the train. She guessed he'd chosen to save them from watching him die by staying behind. Tex held Alessa tight to her though the girl fought to get a look at Church as they moved away.
A blade struck through Church slowly followed by Pyramid Head materializing behind him. The blade was yanked free and Church fell to his knees before falling to the ground. It was the last thing they saw before they entered into the tunnel and he was lost from sight. Alessa clung to Tex and cried over her lost father as the soldiers sat in silence.
~End chapter 25~
A/N: Wow, can't believe it's gotten to this point. Sad, sort of, counts on if you like Church or not. If you had questions, hope they were answered. If not, well…ask them, I'll see if I actually have answers for them. Please review. There's still one more chapter but it's more of an epilogue, still important though.