-The Way it Is-
"Chris!"
Claire jogged out of the store after her brother. It had begun to rain and a loud crack of thunder muffled her next shout. "Chris, will you wait already?"
As the rain poured down, her older brother did stop from necessity. He must have been hiding how much pain he was in after the apparent hell he'd gone through at the mercy of the machine. Now he was sliding against the wall of a building. He managed to keep to his feet but when Claire got around in front of him to see how he was looking, his face bore a terrible grimace.
"Chris, I knew you should have gone to a hospital. You're hurt."
She inspected him more closely and went so far as to shift his clothing up to get a look. Sure enough, his bandaged body continued to seep blood. Ignoring the indignant glare for invading his privacy, her ponytail whipped around as she turned and called out to her boyfriend.
"Leon! Help me!"
"It's not that bad, Claire. I just need to rest for a minute."
"A minute-. Are you crazy? You're bleeding!"
"Not that bad."
She stared at her ridiculously stubborn brother, hands crossed over her chest, expression one of astonishment at his reckless nature showing in this moment. When she took her gaze away, it was because Leon was there, along with Wesker's daughter. No sign of the other two.
"Leon, tell him he's being stupid. He needs medical attention. He needs a hospital!"
"He can't go to a hospital, Claire. They may see his injuries and suspect he had something to do with the Murphy building exploding."
Chris wasn't meeting anyone's gaze, eyes finding a permanent fixture on the brick wall he was using to keep him upright. Claire glanced from the enormous worry on Eva's face, to the look of concentration her brother wore. He was trying to psych himself up to get moving. She had seen that look many times.
Whenever Chris was too exhausted from work for the BSAA, or recovering from an injury, also from work, Claire would see the look when she stopped by to see him and it happened to be one of those days. It was his effort to attempt to be his usual self for her. He wanted to make her think nothing was wrong. And the birds were chirping, rainbows covered the sky, and the sun would never stop shining. She, of course, never bought it. Her brother was transparent.
On one of those days, his face might have been smiling but the tension in his shoulders was there. The strain he put his body through to stay upright and sociable for her remained in plain sight. In the eyes too. Always in the eyes. That was where it was easiest to read him. It drove her crazy when he pretended to be okay and cheerful when he wasn't feeling that way. The dishonesty of the act was unlike Chris. But the thing about her brother... He was dishonest only when it would serve to make someone else's life better. That was the way he was.
He would do anything to help others and it was why he had been so successful at his job in the BSAA. Personal sacrifice were the two words which embodied her brother perfectly. Claire knew her brother well. After all, he was her hero.
It appeared Eva could read the man as quickly as she could. Claire would bet her life on it that the girl had to force herself to remove her eyes from Chris, looking over to her and Leon. She'd done the action so slowly.
"We need new clothes. You do too, Chris. We both look a mess. Let's go find ourselves some new clothes. Then we'll get ourselves out of the city. Far away, okay?"
Claire watched as he looked her way and then to Leon, who so far, appeared to be the sole person on his side.
"Leon, help me out here."
She gave her man a stern look until he saw, and watched it successfully achieve what she'd been hoping.
"You can't go to a hospital, Chris. But you do need medical attention. Believe me, I know exactly what you're doing. When you're on a mission and you get hurt, you can't afford to slow down or let it show. But you know what? You aren't on a mission right now. And you have people with you who can take care of you. So why didn't you say anything?"
Satisfied with the speech, she let her arms fall to her sides, waiting for his response. He stood fully, without the wall to support him, and rubbed the back of his head with a hand, smiling awkwardly.
"Yeah... Sorry. I haven't gotten used to needing others to help when it's just my issue. Ow!"
Another slap elicited a second outcry from Chris but she ignored his complaints. He deserved these hits.
"You're not used to accepting help. That's your big explanation as to why you're letting yourself walk around bleeding. Have you forgotten the other injuries you have acquired in the very, very recent past? 'Cause I haven't. Now you're getting new injuries over the not so old and saying nothing. Alright, that's it. We need a doctor and you're not going to like it."
She had seen what Chris and Eva failed to see. Wesker and Krauser joining them on the street. In a way, Claire realized they were fortunate to have the whole works of thunder, lightning, and drenching rain. It masked the disastrous appearance of Chris and Eva with their blood-soaked clothing. The poor weather would likely keep the police from finding them by making visual sight difficult. Most importantly, it was giving her the excuse she needed to hand him off to others for the time being.
"Wesker, Krauser..Leon too. The boys!" she decided with a triumphant grin. "You guys are gonna take Chris here, and take him into the library right there."
Smiling probably a tad more gleefully than was wise or kind, she swept her arm in Wesker's direction. "Oh, look, a doctor. How convenient."
"Wh-What? He's a scientist, not a medical-."
Claire cut off her brother's protest swiftly, pointing toward their assigned destination. "A doctor is a doctor is a doctor."
Everyone's eyes followed her finger.
"Eva and I are going to find some clothes for her and Chris. Now... Disperse!"
She grabbed the young blonde lightly by the arm to pull her along, running across the street.
"Claire!"
Chris sounded startled. She grinned and kept moving, letting him think perhaps she had not heard him because of the rain. Wesker, and this man she was not familiar with, Krauser, she didn't trust one bit. But with Leon there, she felt much more comfortable leaving them alone together. He and her brother could handle them if the two suddenly decided to turn on them, right?
Yeah. They'll be fine.
/
Eva let herself be pulled across the street and onward to a store. It was a couple buildings down from the library Chris's sister essentially ordered the others to go to. Though it was early, the store was lit and there were a handful of people inside. She tried to slow Claire's march as she peered at the state of her clothing, but was too late, and was inside. As soon as her arm was released, she backed up so she would be standing close to the door.
"Claire, look at me," she whispered, but it came out louder than intended and an employee swung her gaze around in mid-motion of placing a couple of folded shirts onto a shelf.
She sighed and gave the female employee her best shot in this situation. "Ah..Halloween costume."
"It's June."
"Right..."
The shop worker seemed to be trying to settle between feeling disturbed or disgusted. After settling on something that appeared somewhat a mix of the two reactions, she walked away. Eva shrugged. At least the lady wasn't suspicious. As for Claire, she wasn't bothered by their near discovery at all. She was waiting. Presumably for her to start looking for something new to replace the ruined clothing.
"Okay, you win, Claire. Let's find new clothes. The ones I've got are pretty..well, you saw the employee."
Claire smiled. "Yes, yes I did. Now..are we looking for anything specific for you?"
It was Eva's turn to direct a smile at the taller woman. "Something black."
/
The rain didn't bother him all that much but Leon couldn't deny, it felt nice to get out of the cold wetness in exchange for the warm interior of the public library's entryway. In general, things were not going so well. They were stuck in Aurora, Colorado and he just didn't like being anywhere in the Midwest. Trapped in a zombie-infested city in the Midwest his first day on the job as a police officer over ten years ago had left its mark on him. The woman whose life he saved and who in turn later sacrificed her own life to save his, left a mark on him as well.
Some time afterward, he discovered she escaped Raccoon City and wasn't dead like he thought. During a mission in Europe, she had come to the rescue. He ended up saving her life after she got in over her head while she was saving him, yet again. This woman he had a connection with, a connection that could only be made through the very real struggle of surviving together through a nightmare. Last night she had done what she always ended up doing.
She betrayed them. She betrayed him..again. Ada Wong was an enigma, plain and simple. She appeared in the center of where things were happening, and disappeared just as smoothly. Little was known about her but the Asian woman seemed to be involved in a lot of bad things. He should have known better than to expect this time would be different. For some reason he thought Ada wouldn't mainly look out for number one. She helped for a time, but ultimately at the first opportune moment, Ada had taken Melody. Wherever Melody was now, it wasn't likely to be a pleasant experience for her.
Damn, Ada... Is that even your real name..?
/
The moderately successful Umbrella experiment was loaded unceremoniously into the transport vehicle equipped with a cryogenic storage tank in the shape of a solid box. Nicknamed Melody, the woman managed to make some interesting friends in a short period of time. Still, she didn't anticipate any complications.
Ada watched the two men slam the back doors of the transport shut, her betrayal sealed along with the lock sliding across the doors. Unfortunately for the peculiar group of people working together against Umbrella, betrayal was a thing that came second nature to her. Her latest employer wanted Umbrella's most recent, relatively successful test subject, after the rumor of her escape spread through the black market information network. No, its escape. Melody wasn't a her, she was an it. An it because she was manufactured into existence, not born. To avoid humanizing it would be easiest. Then she wouldn't have to feel guilt for her actions.
As soon as she thought guilt, her mind shifted over to thoughts of Leon. He was the one who brought hesitation to her normal tendencies. Ada actually liked working with him and the others for whatever brief amount of time it may have been. She didn't rely on anyone though. Never had and she never would allow herself to. Relying on someone else would give them the opportunity to let her down. Her past spoke volumes of this, but it was unlikely she would ever trust a person enough to explain a possible why. So she wouldn't. Betrayal was her thing, not trust. Leon Kennedy could cause her better side to come out and have her do the decent thing. Always in the end, the job prevailed above that rare occurrence.
One of the men nodded her way, bidding farewell before going around to the front of the vehicle on the driver's side. The other walked up and handed her an envelope. It would have the payment inside and she didn't check. She merely took it, offered a sweet smile, and told him it was a pleasure doing business. Turning on her heel, she strode away, knowing he was watching her and those fine legs of hers as she went.
A few yards from the vehicle and she had already forgotten the man. Removing the contents of the envelope and tucking it away, she grabbed a lighter attached to the thigh holster hidden under her long dress. She set the empty envelope on fire and let it flutter to the ground as the flames consumed it. No need to leave fingerprints laying around near these people she completed a transaction with, in case their bosses decided they didn't want loose ends existing and tried to identify and eliminate her.
Ada pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number recently given to her that she devoted to memory. Someone on the other end picked up and she smiled. She needed this sort of thing to take her mind off of the reality of her life. She needed to keep busy.
"Hello HUNK, you said you might have a job for me?"
/
Wesker wondered if his former subordinate would ever be comfortable around him. Chris was making a habit of either flinching or warily eyeing him as his sustained injuries were cared for. There were benches in the entry room which would do. They dared not venture farther into the building because it would invite unwanted attention. Although Chris was the only one visibly wounded, the others remained in outfits not quite befitting a visit to the local library.
Claire was behind putting him in charge of the younger man's health. Her idea of playing at a cruel joke perhaps, forcing the enemies together. Chris's sibling sent the government agent along to watch them. But really, should he or Krauser choose to murder the two, it would be simple. That's why he was patching Chris up instead of killing him. It would be too easy. Not enough sport in it.
"The wounds are superficial," he said to the seated man. "You'll have complete recovery."
The government agent was standing by the door watching the storm outside worsen. Krauser had a foot propped up on the flat surface of an adjacent bench. One of his hands rested on the raised limb, while the other hand moved to repeatedly toss his combat knife in the air and catch it. Wesker stepped back to allow Chris space to stand. He chose to do so after he saw who was approaching the building through torrential rainfall. His daughter and Chris's sister came in, shaking some of the wetness off as they did.
"Looks like you could use a change of clothes now too," Kennedy commented.
Claire shook her head and purposely shook water from her hair onto him.
"Nah, it's only a little rain. People won't find it strange we're wet when we're walking through that," she pointed outside to emphasize before adding, "But bloody clothing they would definitely be suspicious about."
His eyes followed his daughter's movements. She held out a bag to Chris after coming over. He hadn't failed to notice how she avoided his gaze. It appeared she would not be so forgiving, his past choices coming back to affect their relationship. The former agent accepted the plastic bag and started to reach inside it but she stopped him.
"Chris, wash the blood off your skin first. Otherwise it will just get the new shirt all messy. Claire paid for it. Wouldn't want to let her money go to waste."
He gave her a look but she was having none of it, even as she fought to appear not to notice Chris was shirtless. Wesker fought the urge to roll his eyes at such nonsense. A blush was creeping across her face. He felt the sudden urge to strangle the man giving his daughter thoughts that were, for all intents and purposes, not pure.
It would be rather difficult to explain his actions should he cross the minor distance to snap his neck.
"Okay, okay, I'll wash up first. Be right back."
He headed to the public restroom conveniently located in the entrance. There may have been one or two curious people if he had needed to go through the library to reach the restroom, missing a shirt and heavily bandaged.
"There are two in there, Chris!" Claire called after him.
Without turning back or slowing his pace he asked incredulously, "What do I need two shirts for?"
"Back-up! We know how you like to ruin your clothes," Eva responded, and the two women burst into a fit of giggles.
Eyebrows lifting, Wesker observed his daughter smiling and giggling. He could never make her smile like that. In fact, he failed miserably at making her happy the majority of the time. What good was he as a father? Even he recognized he was far too self-centered for anything like accepting proper fatherhood and actually being a genuine presence in his daughter's life. Now she was grown up and he missed seeing it happen. He was thankful she was human though. He was grateful to have at least that knowledge in mind. She could have the life she craved. One of humanity.
His eye caught the gleam of metal catching in the light and he pushed dour thoughts aside.
"Krauser, do you think it wise to play with a knife in a public place when the police are searching the city for anything the slightest bit suspicious right now?"
He got a shrug from the scarred man. "Let 'em try and make something of it. We'll see who lives and who dies."
"Missing the point there, Krauser," Kennedy said to his former fellow agent and partner.
He seemed all too eager to find an excuse to belittle the man he was not friendly with any longer.
The mercenary kidnapped the president's daughter about five years back, handing her over to a cult bent on infecting the world with a form of parasite. Some might say that was crossing the line, but the mercenary just thought it was good fun. Krauser was of the opinion the world had fallen into irreparable disaster long ago, so what did it matter if he kidnapped a president's daughter here, maybe murdered or caused a bit of chaos there...
Wesker had to agree the planet as it was now, well, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find reasons not to try for big change. He strongly desired a new world. He had the ability to make it happen. He required only to find a definitive resolution.
Krauser caught his knife and froze. Leon saw the reaction and drew his handgun. Claire and Eva stood looking uncertain, and it was left to Wesker to make the first move. They were hearing sounds associated with a fight coming from the bathroom. Their response was delayed due to unified confusion among them.
They had to assume Chris was one of the participants in the fight but who would be the other? Why would they be fighting? He grew concerned he missed something while monitoring their surroundings from the store to here. Normally he was particular about knowing every factor needing to be considered. His daughter served to be a distraction to usual keen awareness.
There was a small possibility they were followed to the library. There was an even smaller possibility of the place's bathroom having a second exit.
He became a blur as he moved at a speed too quick for the human eye. Kicking the door open, he strode into the bathroom, well aware the other four were close behind, and stopped upon his entrance.
There was a man in dark clothing, sleeves rolled up on the shirt, on top of Chris. He was brutally hitting the man on the ground. Chris was flat on his back, arms limply hanging out at his sides now that he had been beaten past the capacity to try and fend off his attacker. Someone who Wesker recognized and was impressed had come after them.
The guy wasn't some suited business executive. He was more a soldier than anything else. A man driven his entire life by seeking vengeance. The distinguishing scar on his face made the man's identity unmistakable. Darius Greene was here and full of raw hate.