Magd305TLC:: Bella will not appear in this story physically in the present, the Countess will. The Spencer kids who may or may not be HUNK's (though likely are, but he isn't 100% sure, that uncertainty troubling him further) are not a main plot point in this story or why the ending will be bittersweet. They're more an additional fabric to HUNK's character and psyche, part of why he is the way he is. And a possible future plot thread to explore, if I come up with any ideas for them. They help flesh him and Lady Spencer out further, and the nature of their complicated, unhealthy relationship. The bittersweetness will be about HUNK and Jill, and what HUNK has to do. Decides to do, anyways.

Echo Five: Umbrella, like the T-Virus and G-Virus, is one of the things that outlives the Spencers, Marcus and Birkin... their true legacies of genius, madness and evil to the world. Each take an assortment of different forms and will continue to long after they are gone. Each of the three become the height for their predecessors and competition to aspire to. All the bio terrorism in the RE universe goes right back to them, frankly. Although Spencer doesn't get his godhood over the earth, I think he will be quite proud and somewhat content of accomplishing that much, at least. And of course corrupting Wesker to take up his Utopian vision. Doctor Radames as well, consciously or unconsciously trying to become his heir essentially with the Utopian vision and Neo (Green) Umbrella. Even long dead he continues to inspire supervillains to try their hand at conquering the world. That means even more to him than his own family does, at the end of the day. He really is the Satan/Sauron/Sideous figure of evil for the Resident Evil universe, love the idea of him, makes a great villain, and hope to write him one day.

Rock992: War and Umbrella is all HUNK knows, what he has been trained and shaped into, indoctrinated really with a number of methods. Death. But part of him is fighting from the inside, has been since Bella left... yet he is sort of like a prisoner who's simply been in a cage too long. The idea of being let out of jail becomes terrifying. Most people can adapt to even the worst of circumstances, and he has to Umbrella and his duties for them. Jill has influenced him for the better though, rekindled more of his humanity. Perhaps enough, perhaps not. Either way the man who returns to Umbrella is not the same man who went to Raccoon City with Alpha Team.

evolution-500: No worries at all ;) didn't include Rebecca originally, but over the long course of editing this story I thought what the hell. Poor gal has been absent too much, for most of the series, wanted to involve her, give her a bit more due, even if it was a small role in this story. It also worked, there is no word on where Rebecca was or what she was up to during Raccoon City's downfall, while Chris was off in Europe looking for clues on Umbrella. Capcom should have included her with Barry, especially should have had them in the remake. Alas. Wanted HUNK to meet her as well.

As for where HUNK is going? Home, of course. Have pity on him for that.

Jinero: Not really a Leon/Ada shipper myself, but I intend to honor theirs as a complicated relationship that has an impact on characters and the universe. If an unhealthy relationship, that dynamic of being on opposite sides. I think Leon would be better off without her, could find someone better suited for him. I ship her with another fellow, actually, one more willing to be on her side than noble hero boy scout Leon was, and I am probably one of the very few in the world who ships them. It was an opportunity to write another unusual angle/character pairing that has not been done in fan fiction before, like Jill/HUNK. The pairing I have in mind would very much parallel Jill/HUNK while being a bit different. There are however many thousands of Leon/Ada stories and art, along with the canon of the games already... I wanted to try something different. Challenge myself. Stay tuned.

It's difficult to see Carlos outside an enlisted rank. He's not officer material, don't think he ever really will be, and would rather be more of a grunt, an operative in the field, a specialist. One of the Sergeant ranks most likely. Though the B.S.A.A. isn't really standard military ranking I don't think... they're more operatives/agents.

Nitus: Bittersweet is the best way to do a story in my opinion lol ain't all sunshine and rainbows... but also not bleak and nihlistic either. I like human endings to things, really.

There really isn't enough of HUNK around, never will be. But I wanted to be the one to put out at least one big definitive HUNK story, which hadn't been done before... I think I'm doing well there so far. Hopefully I can get around to sequels, but no promises. If I make them they definitely won't be as long as this one was... for the sake of my sanity lol. They would be much more concise in scope/scale but still well detailed and layered.

117: Same magnum Jill didn't pick up. Didn't want it going to waste, and couldn't see Carlos wanting that either. He's a heavy weapons expert, I can see him modifying it. And Carlos is sentimental, can't see him selling the emerald, for his bluster and bravado.

Akira-Hayama: At that point, in their conditions and all the shit they dealt with, the missile would seem like a mercy lol.

Precisely my reasoning. Rebecca deserved and deserves more, but just doesn't seem to get it. Her and Barry coming to save the day in 3 made more story sense to me, with Chris off in Europe hunting Umbrella leads. Rebecca just sort of vanished down the Capcom memory hole for too damn long. CGI movie ain't enough.

Not a bad guess, friend ;). And your analysis just might be close to the mark. My reasons for it.

There is indeed a great deal of potential for future sequels, plot threads and ideas I've been toying with. Especially for Code Veronica. Time will tell if I can get around to any of them lol but for now focusing on this story and the short story. This is where my universe really opens up, free at last beyond the confines of Raccoon City. New phase of the story, basically. There's the rest of the world, numerous factions and plots left to explore and detail, characters, especially the villains, Umbrella.

Thank you again as ever, friend.

bakaultima: Much appreciated. I'm sure the Colonel will show up sooner or later.

Nightroad816: I have a number of rough ideas for story sequels, adaptations of the games up to 6, each with HUNK's involvement and my additions and take on the universe and characters, like this one. If I ever get around to them, they will be in sequential order. I would be prioritizing a Code Veronica sequel involving HUNK stationed at Rockfort Island with his new Alpha Team when the shit hits the fan there. Hope to get to it, have an outline for it I'm editing now and again... but also have other stories I want to work on. We shall see. No promises.

Arkham Knight: Much appreciated as ever, friend. Glad you're enjoying it.

Vong: Ahh interesting. Could work for 4. No real plans for Billy or Krauser for awhile though. Might not even ever write Billy... the idea of him taking off after 0 and not being seen again just kind of works, unlike most of the vanishing Capcom characters, much as I'd like to see him again. The man left and found peace in hiding somewhere, earned his freedom and happy ending.

The Sixth Laboratory will come into play in this story, though in regards to Project Nemesis. Jill's T-Virus antibodies are a plot for another story, not this one. Umbrella and other parties have higher priorities than her right now, in the fallout of Raccoon City. Though her antibodies and genetic structure now are certainly on someone's supervillain radar. Jill is not the only walking biological commodity of interest either.

Spartan: No it isn't. HUNK is a man of many names... but no middle name or last name. At least none I have in mind or plan on revealing. He needs an aspect of enigma, even as we learn more about him. He'll always be something of a mystery. Was tempted to honor old Keith Silverstein somewhere in my version of HUNK, but didn't want to force it in, put too much out of universe into the universe. If I find a way I'll get a reference to him in there... but his voice is without a doubt what I hear when I write HUNK's dialogue and thoughts. No better voice actor could be hired for the man. Really made that role his, and what it is.

I can see Bella dying a few years before her father, actually. But the details of that would be getting into a hell of a lot of complicated spoilers. Would be one of the reasons HUNK decides to go with Wesker to confront Lord Spencer about questions she never answered. As for Comtesse Henri, I think unlike her audio version she would not end up killed, she is a very intelligent young woman who would find a way to cover her tracks and worm herself out of being convicted of anything after Umbrella collapses, with all her contacts and connections she has built up. Probably go back to the blue blood life instead of corporate, mostly keep her head down. Mostly. I think she would still have wealth and be a benefactor for HUNK any time he needs help.

You'll get more on their relationship and how she feels towards him soon, along with the Jill matter and rumors. Theirs is an interesting relationship that reflects his one with Bella in that it is not healthy and is similar in a number of aspects... but it is also different. Was fun to write. It's a strange, comfortable villain relationship. He kind of brings out the best in her, even though she is awful in most other regards. To him she is comfort and familiarity. Look forward to showing more of it, talking about it when we get there. I loved writing HUNK's relationships within Umbrella, they are all quite unique to me. And much different from his interactions with Jill and Carlos.

Would be interesting... but I can't really see Jill and Bella meeting face to face, just as she never met Lord Spencer. I like the idea of them being separate entities to HUNK, the shoulder angel and shoulder devil. The two most important ladies to him. Knowing of one another but not meeting. We'll see. I do think one of the surviving S.T.A.R.S. would meet her before her death, though. Be involved in the events surrounding that. Yet another story I have in mind that I might never get around to. One set between Code Veronica and 4.

Storm: Seen a bit of Village, and frankly the series is not really Resident Evil anymore, is it? It has become supernatural hodgepodge nonsense of sexy vampires, werewolves and telekinesis, villainous edgy Chris, and boring, uninspired First Person protagonist Ethan. None too interested in it. Resident Evil already had its tone and genre, style figured out long ago, you can't suddenly shift gears this late into a franchise and usher in magic to the universe and supernatural themes. The genre is more realistic survival horror, with limited suspension of disbelief, zombies, atmosphere, biological monsters and corporations, espionage, conspiracies, mad scientists, etc. Grounded. Capcom have steered too far away from their roots, as ever, choosing fantastical elements, cheap fan service, spectacle and hype instead. But you know... giant Vampiress tits. It'll make for plenty of Rule 34, but besides that *shrugs*. That's what matters now instead of storytelling, characters and themes. Modern priorities for you. Of course they'll probably make some handwave excuse for the supernatural elements being somehow biological in nature, and Chris being misunderstood, but that's just laziness. If they wanted to make a game like Village, Capcom should have just made a new IP, set in a new universe with new themes and a different foundation. I might have been interested if they had, a new supernatural series with Vampires and Werewolves could be awesome, lots of potential. Resident Evil ain't what it used to be.

nliochristou: Well, we know Claire is captured by the Umbrella Security Service in Code Veronica and transported to the prison on Rockfort Island. I can see HUNK visiting her while she's locked up when he finds out there was a Redfield captured breaking into Comtesse Henri's Paris Facility while he was off on a mission. A number of back and forths while she's in prison, before the island is invaded by the H.C.F. Plenty of character potential. Claire also saw GHOST's helmet cam footage at NEST of what happened with Birkin, Alpha Team. And she's a fellow Raccoon City survivor. And of course there's the matter of Sherry Birkin. Quite a bit I could potentially work with, figuring out a dynamic. She'd certainly be hostile and not trusting at first, given he is one of her captors and Umbrella. Certainly wouldn't be quite like the dynamic he has with Jill, that's for sure.

As for Leon, I think he would be the fairest to HUNK, he's a good guy, reasonable. I think their dynamic would be much more clear cut, Good Cop, Bad Cop, or Good Agent, Bad Agent. Him the golden boy hero of the government agency he's in, HUNK a captured war criminal and legendary agent of Umbrella. He'd have heard about HUNK's reputation at that point, respect his ability, but not that he worked for Umbrella. To say nothing of a mission HUNK will have undertaken before 4 that pisses off the U.S. Government and a number of other powerful players royally, probably the biggest reason they will have it out for him. It would be an odd partnership, where they gradually work better together to find Ashley and protect her, getting into a number of situations together. And HUNK getting Ashley in line, of course, not putting up with the damsel shit, teaching her to shoot guns. I can see Leon being kind and cooperative to the Merchant as well, trying to pay... while HUNK would shake him down for ammunition and weapons, refuse to pay for supplies. HUNK would see an unimpressive rookie at first, but then consider him a fine operative when he proves himself.

Thank you all for the reviews, as ever. On with the bittersweetness... have to pull the bandage off eventually:


The Arklay Mountains, Arklay County, Midwest, United States

October 1st, 1998, 6:16AM

What came next all went by in a blur for Jill, it seemed. Drawing closer to the inevitable outcome. As little as she looked forward to the prospect. Still holding her hand from the back seat... HUNK had calmly instructed Barry to land somewhere safe in the Arklay Mountains. They weren't far away, though lie far enough beyond the blast radius. He had looked away then, grey eye simply peering unblinkingly out the window at his side, retreating deep into contemplation. Barry had looked her way uncertainly and she had nodded at him to heed the agent's request. It wasn't long before the familiar forests and terrain of the mountains returned to her... and with it the memory of what she had survived up here, with the others. Especially in light of Raccoon City. Nowhere near the burnt out remains of the Spencer Mansion at least, thankfully. Rebecca as well was quiet through the trip, looking out the window at the surroundings while she tended to the Monitor... or watching Jill and HUNK. Her fingerless gloved hands and white Kevlar vest stained with the madman's blood from her work, though she seemed to have made progress. He wasn't dead yet, at least. It didn't take much for Barry to find a good spot to set down in, a forest clearing with a stable ground at least two helicopters could land in, overlooking the valley down towards what had been the city. Once he had found it and landed them, HUNK had confirmed the coordinates with his contact over the radio, NIGHTHAWK.

The moment they had landed Carlos removed his backpack and got out of the chopper to go relieve himself by a tree, cursing all the way. Barry turned off the engine and got out as well, and kept an eye on Nikolai as Rebecca continued to work on him. Jill slipped off and returned the girl's white medical bag to her, and she had thanked her for leaving it behind at the office, receiving a sheepish smile from the rookie. Barry drew and kept his Colt Anaconda that Chris had nicknamed his 'Hand Cannon' down but ready if the bastard woke up... but thankfully, he didn't. HUNK had done a number on him... and then some. She just wished she had been able to see it all, as Carlos had. Barry had complained with grim amusement about the blood stains back there, how much he was going to have to clean it up before returning it to his Arklay County friends who had lent it to him. Releasing one another's hands at last reluctantly, HUNK and Jill had gotten out of the helicopter as well... leaving her recovered assault rifle in the chopper. By the time they had landed, it had finally stopped raining... Jill looked up to the peaceful morning skies... and then out just beyond the forest clearing. She went over to it, a little ways from the helicopter, and out towards a gap in the treeline. Reaching it, she looked down over the mountain valley and south, towards the city, breathing silently. Or towards the land where the city had once resided.

Jill stood there amid the grass, feeling it brushing against her legs, in the Arklay Mountains where it had all begun for her, watching the crater and mushroom cloud where her home had been. Her life had been. Nothing even burned there anymore. In one instant it had stood... and now it was all gone. All of it beyond saving. A ruinous crater on the land. It didn't seem real... even after experiencing the blast itself. Even with the full knowledge of what had happened and why. It was like something out of an old photograph of history... not right in front of her. Her gloved hand tightened into a fist down at her side... helpless. She had failed... her city, her friends... and herself. It hadn't been supposed to go this way. Even after what she and her team had survived in these mountains... she'd never thought it would end this way. That she would lose her home... lose damn near everything. She heard HUNK approaching from behind... boots rustling... and somehow, even with the scale of the horror of what she was looking at, she smiled faintly. She had only heard him because he wanted her to. She knew that. How easy it was for him to sneak up on someone. He moved to her side closely and peered down the mountain as well... watching the mushroom cloud that had yet to disperse... and the rising sun of the morning beyond it. They stood there in silence for a long moment, before her eyes slowly turned to the side of his mask. Swallowing, and managing to find her voice again.

"Well... we're alive... so that's something. We still get to watch a sunrise, too. We get to remember it."

"Yes. And a mushroom cloud. I wasn't expecting that. Oliveira was right."

"What do you mean?"

"They used a nuclear weapon instead of a thermobaric strike. Changed their minds. Likely to keep people out of there for years, with the radiation levels. Scour the remains themselves, claim whatever they can."

"Sounds like them alright, doesn't it?"

"Yes."

Again the silence returned... not an uncomfortable one, despite the devastation out there on the land before them. The sight of what they had both somehow managed to survive. To escape. The silence lingered, until the agent reached for his holster, removing the sidearm there. Inspecting the blue tint of the metal for a moment or two, he held the Samurai Edge out to her in offering grip first... that grey eye and red lens meeting her watchful gaze again.

"Here you go, Jill. Hell of a weapon. The Kendo Brothers did a fine job. Hopefully Joseph continues his work."

"Mine? More like yours. Should have taken up machine pistols sooner."

Jill felt her bruised visage smile back to him, glancing at and taking the Samurai Edge back carefully. She began turning the familiar weapon over in her hand, examining the silencer and laser sight he had attached to it. Then she drew Matilda again in her other hand, and passed her back as well to the agent, who took, examined and holstered her at once as she went on.

"Almost wish I didn't have to return it."

"Likewise."

"The attachments are yours... should I...?"

"They're yours. QUARTERMASTER can replace them. Like everything else."

"I bet he just loves that part of the job."

"You have no idea. Never hear the end of it."

"Thank you."

"Of course."

Slowly, she tucked away the modified Samurai Edge into her holster where it belonged, giving it a slight appreciative pat. As she did that, the agent looked back ahead to the mushroom cloud... but she found she couldn't take her eyes off him. The view of him better than the devastation below. Gave her what hope she had left... that the nuke had not incinerated. Finally, she couldn't help herself. They had precious little time left. She knew she had to to try. That she would never be at peace with herself if she didn't. If she let him walk away back to the chains of Umbrella without fighting for him, as she had through the city. As he had fought for her. She spoke again determinedly, regaining his gaze as she did so.

"You don't have to do this. "

"What?"

"You know. Leave us. You can come with us... HUNK. Leave Umbrella instead... leave it all behind. You're better than they are... better than this. They don't have to control the direction of your life. Give them the virus if you really must... and leave here with me. We can be together. You and me... not them. Come with me. Please."

Jill felt her heart racing more as she spoke, despite her best efforts to keep it under control. Her throat felt parched and raw. Forcing herself not to look away. She could scarcely believe the words she heard coming out of her mouth. What she was willing to permit Umbrella having, the virus, just to have him. Forgoing her morals and beliefs... over one man. But she couldn't help it, after everything that had happened between them... all they had survived and shared. He had given up the T-Virus vaccine to save her... chose her over the world... she could give up the G-Virus if it meant saving him. His grey eye within the mask looked conflicted for a moment... and then touched. Reaching over, his gloved fingers traced tenderly along her cheek as he thought it over, thought something over. Then he took both of her hands into his again, fingers intertwining, turning entirely to face her. Peering down her way as she gazed back up at him, waiting with bated breath. He took his time... muffled breaths escaping his mask... carefully finding his words.

"I never imagined... when I saw you on that rooftop... I would ever feel what I do with you. I had... given up on that part of myself long ago. Forgotten it. Or tried to. Thought it died. I think... I could find happiness with you, Jill. As the ordinary man I'm not. I used to think like you. Like Oliveira. But you don't know the power of Umbrella, as I do. I would not be permitted to leave. Umbrella Security Service is not a country club. Once you join... do and see what I have... you do not just leave. If I went with you... the Umbrella Intelligence Division would track us down to silence me. Direct U.S.S. right to us. Hunt you down. I am not nearly their only capable agent. Nor would I have the means available to protect you with. I won't let that happen to you. I have to do this. I must be what I was made for. I must obey my duty."

"To who? And to what? What even is your duty, HUNK? To clean up other people's messes? To murder people for them? To be an expendable tool of some corporate master? What? What kind of duty is that, to be a slave... obeying rotten, evil people we both know you hate?"

HUNK looked back at her, but didn't answer any of the hard questions she posed. Or couldn't. Either way, his grey eye was more troubled... uncomfortable and uncertain... and she went on, pressing her point home.

"It doesn't have to be that way. I'm a cop. I'll protect you. We'll protect each other. We'll fight them together. All of us. All the enemies Umbrella has made, this morning. Going to be a hell of a lot of us, soon. They're going to hunt me down regardless... and we stand a better chance if you are with us. Help us fight them. Help us resist them."

"We would lack the resources to fight them. They will have many higher priorities than targeting you, in the wake of this morning. Capable as I know you are... you are not especially important to them of yet. They would come after you with full force if I went with you. Knowing what I know. Their reach is global... nothing and nobody is beyond it, should they wish to exercise it. They remain... too powerful to resist."

"Nothing is invincible. They can be fought. You know them... inside and out, their weaknesses. I know you hate them, as much or more than I do. You don't want to go back to them. You want to be free. You must. I've seen the good inside you... the hesitation. You can't want this."

His eye wavered at last... left hers for a moment... looking off into the woods. Over the trees. The conflict was back... silently wrestling with something... some great weight. Fear. His eye returned to hers... and finally, he offered some of the weight of his burden to her.

"Wants... have nothing to do with it. What I want does not matter. Never has. You are right. I know a great deal of their dirty laundry. Where the bodies are buried. I buried many of them myself. In the courtyard... you asked me how they recruited me into Umbrella Security Service... who did so, and why. I still cannot answer the why... don't think I ever will be able to... but I can the how and who. Would you still like me to share that with you?"

"Yes. Please. Share your burden." Jill answered at once without hesitation, pulse quickening at the unexpected offer. "You are not alone, HUNK. Not while I'm around."

"I... was recruited out of an Umbrella orphanage here in America in early 1981. I had spent years there... as long as I could remember. Not that I can trust my own memories of that time. I was originally to be a test subject, like those kids Birkin and his wife were experimenting on in NEST. Like Marcus's supply at his school. Children are easy to gain access to... to use... to exploit. To experiment upon. A steady supply of subjects in fronts like orphanages. While presenting themselves as humanitarians. You know that, from Raccoon City."

"Only too well.", She murmured quietly, memory flashing of Irons smug face in the newspapers, attending the Umbrella orphanages. Posing with the children... the test subjects the public didn't know about. Umbrella's prestigious reputation in Raccoon City... the propaganda. Even now that memory angered her... but it evaporated as she looked back into his eye. Nodding again. "Go on... please."

"I washed out of some covert program of Umbrella's, after a screening process. Passed the first stage... the physical screening process... why they had me... failed the second stage when it came time. Many of us kids did. The psychological analysis. Educational phase. Didn't live up to whatever the standards were for the project. Didn't have the right beliefs, most likely. The right personality. A weak link. Didn't believe the Utopian bullshit they tried to teach us. Asked too many of the wrong questions. Kept to myself instead of engaging much with the others. They really didn't like me. I was a failure they were going to repurpose... for some other experiment. I would not have survived. None of the others sent there had. Then she came along, before it was my turn. Stopped it. She saved my life. Gave me a second life. A purpose. A reason to exist. Taught me practical things of value, instead of ideological drivel. All of me belongs to her... belonged to her."

"Who was she, HUNK?", Jill heard her hollow voice murmur quietly when the agent fell silent for a time. Feeling the weight then that he surely must have... or at least a sense of it. What had shaped him into the complicated man who stood before her. The revelations he shared at last with her. Her hands squeezed his a bit reassuringly. "It's ok. You can tell me."

"Bella."

"Bella... you were saying that name after Nikolai shot you. When you were stunned. I wasn't going to bring it up."

"Was I? Figures. Been told I talk in my sleep."

"Who is she?"

"Lady Spencer. She had been coming there for quite some time... visiting. Inspecting the security layouts of her father's facilities around the country. That's where I first met her... in 1980. She visited me often. Even phoned me from abroad to check up on me. Was nice to me. Commanded the scientists not to experiment on me, like the others. To treat me better. She was looking for a student as well, at that time. She... chose me over all the others. Over everyone. She could have had anyone, anyone in the world... and she picked me. She took me with her... and I never looked back... didn't ask would would become of the others. I didn't care... I was just glad to be out. I was... happy. She took me to Europe. Lived in a number of her family's properties. Taught me everything she knew. Raised me. Loved... cared about me. Turned me into a man. Her man. When the time came... after my lengthy education and training, she brought me into the fold. Umbrella Security Service... of which she is the founder."

"That Bella?", Jill murmured, eyes widening with shock, feeling her pulse pounding quicker at the unexpected revelation. Forcing herself to gather her wits again... to think back of her time before the fall of Raccoon City. Her investigation. "I have... read of her. The Spencer Family history... what we could find. In our investigation of Umbrella."

"Of that... I had no doubt."

"There was a fair bit... but nothing that wasn't a matter of public record. And I had no idea she founded Umbrella Security Service."

"Of course not, Jill.", HUNK returned... something grimly, bitterly amused there in his voice and grey eye. "Umbrella Security Service doesn't exist. I don't exist. Remember?"

"Of course... how could I forget?"

"What else did you uncover in your investigation?"

"We found more material about Lord Spencer's brother and Princess Diana than of either of them, of course, being more in the public eye than them. Lord Spencer delegated most of the duties of his house to his younger brother. Even gave him the family estate, to the bewilderment of many of his fellow aristocrats, breaking with tradition. They seem to be on good terms... yet are rather far apart, in numerous aspects. His brother doesn't seem to have a role in Umbrella."

"No... he doesn't. Just him and Bella, of the Spencer Family. Lord Spencer didn't care for the public noble functions... even refused the Windsor's offers to wed Lady Spencer to the Crown Prince. Was glad to give them all up to his brother, delegate... and focus on Umbrella instead. On his own interests. And whatever grand plans and ambitions he has. The throne wasn't enough for him. She never told me what they were... what he wanted... but she argued with him about them. Had a different vision for Umbrella, I suspect."

"That would make sense. There hasn't been very much new on her in awhile, or at least that I could find. Admittedly I was investigating dozens of leads with my team at that point, more pressing ones. I just never imagined you... were involved that high up. With the Spencers. Where... is your Lady now?"

"Gone. Don't know where. Essex, most likely. Where... her children... and husband reside. A falling out with her father, over Colonel Vladimir, I believe. Political feuding in the Inner Circle about Umbrella's direction. I don't know for certain. She never told me exactly. Forbidden, no doubt. Or just didn't think I was worth telling the truth. She left me without a word of explanation. Four years, thirty nine weeks and five days ago."

HUNK was silent again in the wake of the revelation... studying their joined hands, while Jill felt her head swimming with thoughts. With emotions. Trying to comprehend everything he was telling her. But knowing he wasn't finished, that he still carried great burdens. At last, he continued forward with it... drawing a low, muffled breath. Willing himself to tell her.

"Jill... I didn't murder Doctor Birkin, like Sherry said. Though I sincerely wish I had. Her mother and the rest of NEST's high level staff as well. I... was ordered to murder his former mentor, one of the founders of Umbrella. The creator of the T-Virus... and a former friend of Lord Spencer. I assassinated Doctor James Marcus, in the summer of 1988. My first mission as an agent. To prove my loyalty to Umbrella... the Inner Circle... to Lord Spencer. I did it for Lady Spencer... nobody else. I infiltrated Marcus' lab at the Umbrella Executive Training School in these mountains with a partner, gunned him down while he worked. Then... while his old students Birkin... and Albert Wesker... rifled through his data... we henchmen dumped his body and experiments in a sewer... I watched it slip beneath the water. The T-Virus outbreak in these mountains your team responded to? The Ecliptic Express? The infected leeches? I unleashed that, in killing him. I never forgot it... but thought I'd gotten away with it. Him having deserved it doesn't change what I did. The delayed, disastrous consequences. It took ten years... but it happened all the same."

He paused in his confessions for a long moment again. Struggling with them, it seemed. With things he had clearly rarely, if ever, spoken of before. Taking effort out of him to force out each word... but he managed to. As she struggled to comprehend the implications of what he was admitting to.

"I've never told anyone this much about myself. Many have wondered... few have asked. I'm should not put it all on you... I just... I have to. I want somebody to know. Somebody in the world. Someone to remember me. Someone I trust... that's you. I told you I cleaned up contaminations and outbreaks before? I have. Many times. And also had a direct hand in causing the worst of them. I got your friends... your team... killed. Just as I played a role in the destruction of your home, down in NEST. You should hate me. You should shoot me right now, take the G-Virus and destroy it. Like you should have at the apartment. Like you should have at the clock tower library, when you held it in your own hand... saw what it was for yourself."

Jill's eyes widened at the lest sentence, lips parting with shock. He knew... all along he had known. He had been awake under those red lenses. He had watched her holding the G-Virus in her hands and hadn't stopped her. Hadn't killed her. Feigned unconsciousness instead, and had allowed her to make her decision. That and the weight of what he was confessing to... and the revelations of his past, gave her pause. Left with the reeling horror of it. The horror he had to live with. The truth... the weight he carried. How deeply entrenched in Umbrella's sordid past and present that he was. What he had done. She understood then why he was what he was. Why the city had worn him down the way it had. How he was so at home and adapted to the unfathomable horror they had all just fought through and survived. How he had been at home in hell. He already lived there even off the battlefield. He had known Wesker as well... what he had been, all along. What else did he know? How many secrets did this man keep?

"HUNK... I... I don't know what to say..."

"Nothing to say. There is no justification. This is me. Do you know what you would have to look forward to with me, if I came with you? The same thing as that virus you held. Death. That is what I am and always have been. That is my life. My world. It's all I know. I wouldn't survive outside Umbrella. Function. It's my home. I've been with them most of my life, in one form or another. I'm an institutionalized man, now. I have no future, as you do. Freedom. I am a dead end. I cannot put that weight on you as well. Endanger you. Will not. You carry enough burdens. I've caused you, your friends and your city enough death, suffering and grief already. Let it end here."

Jill was silent as he looked back at her... the weight of his confession startling her... leaving her dumbfounded. Lips parting and pulse quickening. Maybe it should have, but it didn't change a damn thing about how she felt about him. If the G-Virus hadn't, this hadn't. On one hand there was his past... his employment... his complicity in the crimes of Umbrella... what he had done, directly and indirectly. On the other there was him, the man underneath it all... beneath the brainwashing of the twisted Spencers, turned into their personal assassin... the conditioning of the company since he was young. The man who had chosen to save her in spite of it all. A man she had come to love. There was the cop in her and there was the woman... always in conflict. He knew that, understood that... because in him there was the agent and there was the man, pulling him two separate ways. Somehow... she didn't care what he had done... the bad. What he might do in the future. She felt guilt for that... and she didn't. This was a man in torment. Every day. Holding all that pain and guilt inside himself, and alone with it. A cold, hard exterior forming to function in the world that he dwell within. Unhappy. As she had been after her father went to prison... and after the Spencer Mansion. Feeling herself slipping away... until they had found one another. Held on to one another like a life preserver. He went on at last quietly, while she was still trying to find her words.

"I have not feared death in years... I welcomed the prospect after she left... but back on that helipad with you... waiting for the end? I felt it. I was afraid. I did not wish to die. I... wanted to live. And be with you. I felt alive, with you. In a way I wasn't with her."

"Then... then... be with me. Be alive with me. I've seen the real you. I can save you. I couldn't help anyone else... but let me help you. You can be someone better than what you were, what you've done. What she shaped you to be. You can make amends. That man in Raccoon City... on the battlefield... who protected me... cured me... that's you. The real you. A good man. Umbrella couldn't take that out of you. Come with us... and you can always be that. We'll find him again together, outside the battlefield. Far away from war. I can take care of you. Teach you how to live outside Umbrella. Let me save you, at least. Please."

She was certain he would say yes, in the wake of her pleading. Certain he would agree... certain he would see reason. He had to... with his intelligence. She saw it in that grey eye... the consideration... contemplation. The flash of desire. Turmoil. And then it was gone. Smothered. She saw the regret... pain... and his muffled voice through the mask crushed her spirit instead.

"No. It's... too late for me, Jill. Much too late... I think. I can only be... what I am. What they made me... and what I made myself.", The Umbrella Agent's low, quiet voice answered at last with tired resignation. He was silent for a moment, and continued with difficulty. Visibly regretting every word. "And... I have one last promise to keep to you, remember? This... is the part where I hurt you. Disappoint you."

The courtyard came back again. What he had said there... warned her of before she had kissed him... what she had brushed aside at the time. Forgotten. Of course. She already felt the pain he spoke of as she remembered it, worse than the pain of her body. At least that would mend. She had been told it had been coming... had braced herself for it... but along the way had forgotten. Or more likely, had deliberately forgotten. She silently cursed herself for being such a fool... she should have known better, had known better... and had chosen delusion over truth. Hoped beyond hope... for something that hadn't been possible. He was Umbrella, she was not. This wasn't some romantic Hollywood movie. This was cold, hard reality. A man and woman on opposite sides. Opposites in more ways than one. Feelings and love didn't change that. Her head slowly lowered, as she shut her eyes tightly... tried to repress the tears that threatened. She had cried enough... she shouldn't have had any left to shed. She should cry for the dead... not for her own failure, her own forgetfulness. Deluding herself to the inevitable outcome between them, even when she had known, deep down. His hand left one of hers then and went to her chin tenderly, bringing her gaze slowly back up to his. Holding it there. The steel was back in that grey eyes... not unkindly so... but resolved towards a course of action. His strength. Like a switch had been flipped.

"But... I can make you one more promise... if you want me to."

"Yes.", Jill answered him without hesitation... feeling like a foolish little girl for that. How rapidly she had answered... on instinctive emotion. She drew a low breath, trying to regain her cool manner, knowing she was failing utterly around him. His touch. His gaze. "I mean... I do."

HUNK nodded his battle scarred helmet, looked down to his right wrist, removing the glove and lowering the sleeve of the bodysuit down over the pale wrist and forearm... revealing a small, dark mechanical device shaped like a cuff. He flipped a safety catch on it with the logo of a black and white umbrella, like the one on his lighter... revealing what was within. It had a glowing red light on it... over a small button. Pressing the button, he deactivated the device, the light flashing off, and then he removed and held it out to her in his open glove in offering.

"Take this, then. If you really wish to."

Jill looked between it and him... and there was no hesitation. She took it from him, holding it up, while he slipped his glove back on and rolled down his's suit's sleeve into place. Looking it over in the growing sunlight... before meeting his steady gaze again.

"What is it?"

"A private tracking beacon... tied into the Umbrella Satellite Network. My current benefactor in the company and I are the only ones with access to the private, secure frequency tied to this device. Our little secret. Among others."

"You had a tracking device on you all along?"

"Tracking devices... this is only the one I share with my benefactor. I can trust her, in this matter."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Leave here with Oliveira, Burton and Chambers. Find a hotel and stay there for at least a week before you move on to do what you must. Take the time to rest, recover from this ordeal. After four days, activate this button right here and leave it on until I contact you. I promise I will contact you before the week is up. I must make the arrangements with my benefactor, first. Do you understand?"

Her heart began to pound again at his steady words. She knew at once what he was proposing... offering... in spite of everything. The grave risk he was probably taking for her. A chance... one more chance. She had to take it.

"I do."

"Do you still trust me? After all this? What I have told you?"

"Of course I do. Maybe I need my head examined... but I do. I owe you my life. You saved me."

"I'm glad. More than I can ever say. I don't deserve it... but thank you, Jill."

He went silent again, and they held each other's gaze. But slowly she looked down to the device again, turning it over in her hand... and breathing. Wanting to draw relief from it... but afraid she was setting herself up again for disappointment. Her gloved fingers traced along the black and white umbrella... and finally, she tucked away the device into one of her pouches, meeting that grey eye again. Something occurred to her, then... an instinct. Something that felt right. Or maybe she'd been thinking about doing it for awhile now. Either way... it occurred to her.

"I... have a gift for you myself. Not quite as expensive as that device of yours must be. Didn't exactly have time to shop... but..."

Reaching to her collar, she took the chain that dangled from it and rose it up over her neck. Gathering it up and looking down at it in her palm, the metal glinting in the sunlight. It occurred to her to tell him more... of who the woman was he had been with. The woman who loved him. She might never get the chance again. He had told her so much about himself that he had never told anyone else... it was only fair she do the same. That they share one another's burdens... regardless of the vast differences in sizes of their troubles between them. She took a moment to collect her words... speaking slowly and gradually as they came to her.

"I got these when I was twenty, when I left the army. After my father went to prison... I joined up at eighteen. His name is Richard Valentine... he was a professional thief... so was I. My mother Yuriko died of an illness when I was a child, at Raccoon General... she was of Japanese descent... my father of French descent. They met in Raccoon City a long time ago... fell in love, had me. Right out of some fairy tale. A criminal and a good woman. She knew what he was... and he gave up his life of crime for her. After she passed away... he slipped back into it... taught me all about breaking and entering, hot wiring, sneaking... when I was a gawky little kid and teenager. Wanted me to take up his life of crime with him... prepared me for it. We did a few jobs together. He got caught later on though... took the fall for both of us, took responsibility for all the robberies they connected him to... I lied at his bidding, told the police what he wanted me to tell them."

"I see. What became of him?"

"Dick's still alive... in a penitentiary outside Raccoon City, further out into Arklay County. I haven't visited him since. I should have... and I didn't. Held a very long, deep grudge. I needed direction... discipline. I was so angry and hurt... and alone. And I didn't want to end up in jail like him. The one and only time I visited him... when we last spoke years ago... he told me to find another way. He taught me to be a criminal, to be like him, and then all of a sudden that son of a bitch wanted me to be better than him. I can't tell you how pissed off I was by that. Angry with him... with myself. But... I knew he was right. It started me on the path I needed to recover. I joined the army. Stayed awhile. After the army I joined the R.P.D... S.T.A.R.S... made a new family... tried to make a difference. Make up for what I'd done in my own city. To my own city. Give back. And I couldn't even do that right."

Jill released a low, tired breath, brushing some of her unkempt hair away from her eyes, trying to gather herself from what she had let out. It felt good to get all that off her chest... though after what he had been willing to confess to her... it must have seemed like nothing to him. Trivial drama. The scale of her life and experiences small compared to the one he had lived at Umbrella. Nevertheless, he was listening to her intently. Taking it all in. He didn't offer any judgement or mockery... nor write her experiences and crimes off as being lesser than his. He just listened... and that was all she had needed. Finally, she held out her palm to him, for him to take them. She met his eye steadily... and despite everything, felt herself smile again.

"I never told anyone all that before. Not even Chris. I should have... but I've always been afraid to admit to any of it. To own up to what I did. What I was. Where I came from. What the others would think of me. Among them... I was a good person. I was almost able to forget all that... let it go. But I'm not afraid to talk about it... with you. I know... you understand."

"Better than someone should, Jill. Much more so."

"I think I do know, now. Thank you for listening. I need you to do one more thing for me, though. You told me you didn't have any dog tags. Well. Now you do. Go ahead."

"I... appreciate the gesture... but I can't accept these."

"You can and you will. That's an order, soldier."

"I'm not a soldier, Jill. Told you that many times. These belong to you. Were made for you. You earned them."

"You are more of a soldier than any I've ever met. Much more than I ever was. The truth is I mostly stopped being a soldier the moment I joined S.T.A.R.S. You said it yourself, I'm a cop, through and through. What you did back there... accomplished... what I saw you do... that damn worm... well. I still have trouble believing it. And I want you to hold on to them. Keep them. Wear them. A part of me. And I want you to remember me... while you're out there... doing what you do."

His grey eye rested on it silently... before rising again to look back at her. She saw the pain in it. Deeper than the physical. His muffled voice a shade quieter. Solemn.

"I could never forget you, Jill. Forget this. Not a moment of it."

"Maybe... I hope so... a girl likes to be on a fellow's mind... but the tags will make sure. No matter what happens. And I want you to look at them and remember... that it isn't too late for you to turn your life around. It's never too late. It wasn't for me. It isn't for you."

"I would like to believe... that is true..."

"It is. I promise. However long it takes. We're only human, HUNK. Try to remember that, too."

She shook the chain again... insistent, her gaze not wavering from him. Slowly, tentatively... he finally relented... rose his gloved hand, reached out and took them from her. Their gloved fingers brushing against one another. He rose them in the morning sun... watching them glint... before slowly nodding to himself. Tucking them away into one of the many pouches on the front of his vest. He turned then, back to the south, looking down the valley of the mountain... out to the skies. The mushroom cloud had mostly dispersed by now... leaving only the crater in its wake. She leaned her head against his shoulder, wrapping both of her arms around him... and felt his arm wrap around her waist again in turn. Holding on tight together. Together they stood like that atop the hill for quite some time... she lost track of it... never looked at her watch. Simply watching the mushroom cloud vanish away... and the sun rising far beyond. Despite the bleakness of the scene... the gnarled landscape... everything that happened... what they were looking at... she could have stood there with him forever. As it had been in the courtyard. Just a man and a woman, together... at peace. He was hers, now... not Umbrella's, in that moment. But moments were fleeting... and good things never lasted. Reality always returned... no matte how hard she had struggled against it. Tried to defy it. Eventually, it came in the form of a distant rumbling... far away behind them to the north east. Breaking their moment... along with Carlos's familiar shout from back at the parked police helicopter.

"HUNK! Better look sharp! Here comes your Weyland-Yutani cavalry!"

HUNK's arm lingered a few moments longer... and then left her waist reluctantly. She felt its absence to her core... and her head left his shoulder just as reluctantly in turn. He turned slightly on the spot, glanced between the police helicopter, the skies... and back down to her. The grey eye was pained, in a way that had nothing to do with his injuries beneath the armor. A low, muffled breath emerged from the mask, and a wistful mutter under his breath.

"All good things..."

"I know. But you aren't alone. I'm still here. We'll get through this part... together."

Jill murmured back quietly, reassuring him as best as she could be even as a dread coiled in her stomach... as turmoil and conflict threatened. Throat stinging. She had to be strong, now. For both their sakes. He merely nodded silently. Taking her hand, fingers joining... the two of them moved slowly over closer back down towards the police helicopter. Reaching it, the agent dug into a pouch, rifling around, he produced another sky flare like the one from the scrapyard. He let go of her hand again, knelt down with a pained grunt and planted it into the earth close by them, producing the Bar Black Jack lighter and lighting it up. Within moments, the flare burst, popping, and a red star shot high into the morning skies... becoming a beautiful red sun that all the assembled survivors in the clearing watched silently. They looked at it together a moment, before the agent tucked away the lighter and turned his attention back down towards Carlos where the young man stood.

"Corporal. Remove Nikolai from the chopper and transfer him into their custody when they get here."

"Sounds good!", Carlos snapped off a salute, running around the back of the police helicopter, moving over to the door Nikolai leaned against. "Jill, you got the keys?"

"Right here." She looked for and withdrew it from her pouch and threw it to Barry, who was closest by, and he went around to join Carlos. "I want those handcuffs back."

"You got it, Supercop!"

Carlos grinned, opened the door and the bandaged, unconscious Nikolai slumped right out of the helicopter, falling heavily and unceremoniously into the soaked grassy mud below. Together Carlos and Barry uncuffed and hauled him back up to his feet, dragging him away from the helicopter with Rebecca in close pursuit, the girl glancing back hesitantly at Jill and HUNK before focusing on her patient again. But HUNK's eyes were on the skies, and hers followed his. Under a minute passed... and there they appeared flitting towards them high above the trees... all four of their heads turning to track its approach. The engines growing ever louder along with the swishing rotors. Two matching, modified UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters appeared looming in the morning skies... heavily plated, jet black, covered in weapons... dual door gunners with a heavy duty GAU-19 heavy machine gun on each side, an underside M230 autocannon and two Hellfire air-to-ground missile pods... and without either the Umbrella logo or the Umbrella Security Service insignia imprinted on them. It was probably for the best. She was going to have a hell of a time of it explaining all this to Barry and Rebecca. If they knew the two men were with Umbrella... it might cause some issues.

Then again... he had probably already worked it out... or would. He had worked for them... probably knew about the U.S.S. There was the matter of the logo featured prominently on Carlos's back, for another thing. And Rebecca had seen the corpses of U.S.S. Agents... the gear they had worn. If either of them knew, they hadn't uttered a peep about it, so far. She looked at HUNK... watching the Black Hawks reflected in his remaining lens... while his grey eye was calm. Resolved. Familiarity. The helicopters were his old world, rapidly approaching them... to pull him away from his place in hers. To take him away from her. Steal him from her. One of the two heavily armed and armored helicopters moved ahead, reached their position and began its descent in the clearing, a slight distance from the blue and white police helicopter, dwarfing it. The other remained in the skies, hovering high above, flying about in a perimeter around the forest clearing. The first Black Hawk steadily landed on the even ground of the clearing, the grass and nearby shrubbery becoming windblown, whipping about... and Jill glimpsed the pilot who must have been NIGHTHAWK, features hidden behind a tinted face plate of a helmet, along with a female co pilot, also helmeted the same way. NIGHTHAWK looked their way and flashed HUNK a gloved thumbs up that was returned with a nod of the agent's damaged helmet. If the pilot had spoken to HUNK or was speaking to him over his concealed radio, he gave no sign of it, remaining silent at her side.

Eight dark and yellow clad figures emerged from the open side door facing them two at a time, then, passing the door gunner, keeping their heads low... arranging themselves into a protective, orderly military formation around the Black Hawk, clearing the door and securing the area. Eight Umbrella Security Service Agents... concealed head to toe, wearing the exact same uniforms, body armor, helmets and gas masks as HUNK, albeit entirely intact and pristine. Red lenses glinting in the morning light. They were all brandishing an infrared scoped Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle, each with a laser sight, silencer, attached grenade launcher and hundred round Drum C Magazines, along with assorted holstered sidearms, combat knives on their body armor and a variety of shotguns slung over their backs. Eight pairs of red eye lenses burned back down at the survivors in the landing zone, scrutinizing them silently in the morning light, not moving a muscle. While she studied the agents with quiet unease, two figures hidden behind white medical scrubs, masks and other such attire emerged from the open side door with a stretcher after them, carrying it over down towards Carlos, Rebecca and Nikolai's position.

Barry remained off to the side away from the others... Colt Anaconda down at his side but looking among the heavily armed and armored agents wearily, hand gripping it tighter. Prepared for the worst, as ever. Rebecca looked at the new arrivals just as uneasily, hand hovering near her Samurai Edge... her and Carlos reaching the stretcher and laying the bloody, mud caked Monitor down on it. An attractive, long legged, heeled, bespectacled young woman with long, tied back light blonde hair was the last figure to emerge through the side door behind the two medics and security team. The only one aboard the chopper not wearing a mask. She wore a buttoned up tight dark blue silk blouse over an impressive swell of bosom, along with a black skirt and long stark white lab coat with her ID card fastened on her lapel... a visible pair of hoop earrings dangling from each ear, and dark heeled boots at her feet... looking more a supermodel secretary than a scientist. Though there was a sort of uneasiness to her face, eyes behind the glasses darting around her surroundings like a deer in the headlights. Clearly not one with field experience... the look reminded Jill of Rebecca on her first assignment. Looking as uneasy as Rebecca did then and there. The momentum of the rotors was shifting her hair and making her coat flow about her. While the medics tended to Nikolai, she looked to the others and then back down between her and HUNK... looking at Jill with curiosity... before waving and smiling with full lips a bit shyly to the agent. At Jill's side, he inclined his head back simply at his fellow company employee, and she glanced between the two of them incredulously, understanding.

"That's your doctor? The one with the legs?"

"Mhm."

"Not what I imagined. Thought it'd be some old guy. Well. Guess Umbrella's personnel recruiters have a thing for good looking blondes."

"Noticed years ago. Have wondered if Lady Spencer mandated it. Never asked her."

"When I found him at the Umbrella sales office, Nikolai mentioned you had a thing for them too."

"Of course he did. Nothing to concern yourself with. Coming around to brunettes myself. Of late."

Jill couldn't repress a slight, tired laugh at that. Appreciating the dry humor, and underlying sentiment. Especially knowing it wasn't really a joke. What she was certain he felt towards her, burrowed away. Her eyes swept over the impressive military attack helicopter again... along with the one hovering in a circle above the forest clearing, on standby. Its shadow flitting about the clearing, a predator that lie in wait.

"Two fully equipped Black Hawks with heavy machine guns, autocannons and Hellfire missiles. Security teams of elite heavily armed and armored U.S.S. Agents, special forces, best of the best. Combat medics. Supermodel doctor. Ace pilot too, I take it. Spencer really spared no expense for you, has he?"

"For Golgotha. For the mission. I'm merely the instrument he selected for it. As it has been with every other mission he deems vital."

"Of course. Where the hell was all this hardware and personnel when we needed them? Minus Doctor Goodbody. Put my money on Rebecca before I would her."

HUNK said nothing at that observation, but made that sharp sound that might have been a laugh. It was good enough for her, her smile lingering, in spite of everything else. In spite of the fearful pounding in her chest. One of the agents slung their assault rifle and brought an impressive looking pair of metal arm and leg shackles, fixing and locking them on to Nikolai while he was down. Once that was finished, another medical restraint buckled around him, the two medics picked up the stretcher and took the Monitor back aboard the Black Hawk. Pulling him out of sight into the back. And that was the last time Jill ever saw him again. The last time she wanted to think about him. Even knowing the unlikelihood that would be so. She still saw his cold, smirking face... dead eyes... every time her nose hurt. Every time she would look in a mirror. And she wondered not for the first time if she should have let HUNK kill him with her Samurai Edge. The justice that would have been. Though it might have been a mercy, compared to whatever Umbrella had planned for him, now. Outed as a traitor. The U.S.S. Agent who had shackled him remained close to Carlos, taking up the slung assault rifle again, looking back at him, and then down to HUNK. Hidden away by all that armor and the under suit uniform, if not for the tall figure's voice, Jill would not have known the agent was a woman, her smooth, cool English accent calling down to her superior at Jill's side, muffled through the gas mask.

"Sir... this one's with the U.B.C.S. What do you like us to do with him? Should we take him to the Leviathan for debriefing or imprisonment? What about those three? They're all with S.T.A.R.S... three of the five survivors of X-Day. Loose ends in need of tying up."

Carlos nearly jumped at the agent's calm, deadly suggestion, eyes widening and head snapping between her and HUNK. All the agent's assault rifles snapped up as one and were trained upon the Raccoon City and Arklay Mountains survivors... red dots flashing on and hovering over Carlos, Barry, Rebecca... and one hovering on her heart, courtesy of the female agent who had spoken. While Barry's Colt Anaconda rose to the ready, Rebecca was frozen like a deer in the headlights as the laser sights befell her as well, hand not moving an inch closer to the Samurai Edge in its holster. Even with Barry's powerful weapon, it would be a brief, one sided exchange... especially when she saw the door gunner's machine gun turret had moved in their direction as well. The second Black Hawk hovering overhead as support. The blonde doctor recoiled back a bit, looking startled, frightened at the instantaneous hostility that settled over the clearing. She looked down to HUNK... as Carlos and Rebecca did, on bated breath, while Jill's own heart was beating quicker at the confrontation. Skipped a beat. The Alpha Team leader was silent for a long moment, piercing grey eye contemplating... turning to her... and then back down to Barry, the female agent, Rebecca and Carlos. For a split second of doubt and hesitation... she thought he would give the order... comply... horror flitting through her. That she had been wrong... that he had been playing her all along. As Wesker had.

Then, as soon as the fear formed... he stepped in front of Jill like a shield. The red laser sight of the female agent's weapon aimed at her heart settling over his instead. As it hovered over his body armor, he rose his open, gloved hand up as he addressed all of his subordinates.

"Stand down, agents.", HUNK's familiar steely, authoritative voice commanded them at last... to Jill's immediate relief... all of theirs, really. Their eyes flickering between HUNK and his subordinates. Her heart pounding away in her chest as he looked among and elaborated further to his assembled agents. "The Corporal has assisted the operation, and fulfilled the terms of his contract with the company. My report will reflect that. He is free to go. They all are. The elimination of S.T.A.R.S. Officers, or witnesses of any kind, is not an objective of Operation: NESTWRECKER."

"Sir, what about Article 12? As Captain Of The Guard, Colonel Vladimir-..."

"Is not in charge of this operation. Not in charge of Umbrella Security Service. Despite what you may have heard to the contrary, of late. Lady Spencer saw to that herself six years ago. You are commanded to brush up on the U.S.S. internal legal documents when we return to the Leviathan."

"I am quite aware of Lady Spencer's mandates, sir. I merely wish to express my concern that...-"

"Your concerns are noted and appreciated. But unnecessary. My authority for the duration of this operation comes from Lord Spencer himself... supersedes even the Colonel's ambition and zeal in this matter. And as such, is above contestation. He has any problems with it, he can take it up with me. Imagine he will. Am I understood clearly enough, Agent NULL?"

"Perfectly... sir. You heard the man, team. His decision... his responsibility."

The moment HUNK's subordinate said it with a measure of evident irritation and stiffness, relented, the rest of the assembled agents obeyed the command in unison as well, assault rifles lowering again. Standing down as one. Barry doing the same with his Colt Anaconda, drawing a breath of relief that Rebecca immediately shared. HUNK lowered his hand again slowly back down to his side, not taking his eyes off the other agents. The female agent HUNK had called NULL shot one last look at the young mercenary and bumped his shoulder deliberately as she passed, returning to the Black Hawk. While she did, Carlos recovered his wits quickly and beamed back down at HUNK gratefully, looking like a kid at Christmas... nodding to him, a gesture HUNK returned. Then he turned his battle scarred helmet and damaged mask towards the cockpit of the Black Hawk, while raising a hand and speaking into his radio.

"Stand by another minute or so, NIGHTHAWK. FLY GIRL. Almost wrapped up here."

The pilot snapped a two finger salute off his helmet from the window while his co pilot smiled and nodded HUNK's way. Whatever he said in response over the radio went unheard by Jill. Confidence restored, brimming really, Carlos moved slowly over towards the nearby blonde doctor. She looked away from HUNK and towards the young man as his shadow fell across her.

"Now that all that is cleared up... well hello there... Carla. Name's Carlos. Must be fate.", Grinned the disheveled, sweat and blood stained Carlos the nearby young blonde's way, unashamedly looking her enticing form over. "How you doin'? Doctor doctor, give me the news. Time for my checkup? Sponge bath?"

The young woman smiled a bit nervously, looking somewhat flustered... which seemed to please Carlos to no end. Resuming his flirtation, bad medical puns and bragging attempts, to only partial success, while Rebecca visibly rolled her eyes and retreated back down to Barry's side, as far away from the Umbrella Black Hawk as she could. The doctor by contrast gradually moving back down towards the Black Hawk, in spite of the Latin lover routine. Barry looked exasperated from over by the police helicopter with Rebecca, the two of them speaking to one another, words Jill couldn't make out. A couple of the U.S.S. Agents likewise shaking their helmeted heads. But most of the Umbrella personnel were staring at her... and at him... their leader. Jill looked back to find the agent's grey eye and red lens settled upon her again as well. He nodded very slightly, voice returning again calmly.

"Now... we can't put this off any longer, and you know it. Much as we might wish to. This is where we feign professionalism. Part ways. Shake my hand."

The U.S.S. Agent slowly rose and held it out in offering to her. She looked down at it... and back up at him. Then over his shoulder to the watching Umbrella employees... and she understood. The pressure he was under, even with his authority. The scrutiny of his subordinates eyes, and the whispers sure to follow him for his decision here this morning. His superiors, waiting for him, to do the same. She understood what he was facing more than she wished she did. Likely his mysterious "benefactor" and the G-Virus would shield him, back there... upon his return. All the same... he ventured back into a nest of vipers. Not just to complete his mission... but to protect her. For her. The thought made her miserable... feel guilty... but there was only one thing she could do, now. She took his hand and grasped it firmly, ignoring the stinging in her palm and fingers. Leaning in and murmuring to him quietly, so the others couldn't hear... the engines of the Black Hawks helping her cover it up.

"This is not fair. Any of it."

"This also isn't goodbye. Not yet."

"No... it isn't."

The tracking beacon firmly in each of their minds, their hands finally separated for the last time... and he turned to leave. Before he did, he paused and glanced back at her... that striking grey eye from over his shoulder. It was considering something deeply... before his quiet, muffled voice spoke to her again... speaking for her alone to hear.

"It's been an honor working with you, Officer Valentine."

"And you as well, Agent HUNK."

"My name was... is... John. Or Jack. Take your pick. Everyone who uses it seems to."

"Is that right?", She felt herself smile, butterflies flitting about inside her pleasantly at the sudden information. Heartbeat quickening. Working and failing to keep it from showing on the surface. "No last name?"

"No last name."

"Mystery man of mine to the end of the line. More things change, more they stay the same. I'll be seeing you around then, Jack."

"Never know, Jill."

On that simple, parting note, his gaze left hers at last and he turned and moved through the swaying grass towards the police helicopter where the others were. She followed after him, slowly, towards the helicopter as well. He went to Barry first, stepping in front of the man and offering his gloved hand. Barry looked at it for a moment... startled... hesitant, looking between the agent and her... but took it anyways.

"Thank you, Mr Burton. I owe you my life. Don't intend on forgetting that.", The U.S.S. Agent informed him as they shook hands firmly... looking from him and back down to Jill. Looking between the two former S.T.A.R.S. Officers. "Would appreciate if you looked after her for me as well."

"I will, H. But I think she'll have to look after me more. You spent some time with her. Seen what she can do."

"Yes. I have."

"If she's vouching for you... maybe you're alright. For an Umbrella goon."

"Work in progress. Weren't a bad one yourself. Smart. Got out while you still could... for those who mattered to you. If only the rest of us had made better decisions. Watch yourself out there. Have a family that needs you. Daughters. "

The two men finished shaking hands... and the agent turned away from him and the police helicopter before a startled Barry could respond to those kind words, passing them by for a moment. When it looked as though he would pass the watchful Rebecca without stopping... he did stop again... slowly turning his head her way, and then the rest of his form. To Jill's surprise, and much more so Rebecca's, he didn't extend a hand to the teenager... rather stood at attention and rose his gloved hand to his battle scarred helmet in a salute. The girl stared back at his red lens and grey eye silently, as quiet as the agent was, lips parting, looking taken aback. Then, the moment passed, and she tentatively rose her own hand to her head, returning the salute to the masked man. HUNK didn't say a word to her... didn't have to... but gave her a respectful, grateful nod. One that went returned like the salute, along with a faint smile from the S.T.A.R.S medic. The girl's warm brown eyes continuing to watch the agent curiously when he withdrew and turned from her and continued forward. Going down towards the green and black uniformed, disheveled young man, who turned at once to face him. Carlos looked suddenly conflicted... disconcerted, as the agent approached him. A hundred things he wanted to say that were at the tip of his tongue, but unable to get them out easily. HUNK stopped before him and held out his hand in offering, as he had to Barry... and the young man looked at it for a moment... then took it reluctantly, glove and fingerless glove clasping together tightly.

"Corporal. You did well."

"That's it, man? What the hell? After all that? Did you even learn a single fucking thing from all this?", Carlos's accented voice escaped from him at last, unable to help himself, withdrawing his hand from the agent's grip quickly. He looked both saddened and angered, looking between him and all the way down to the grimly silent Jill. Eyes returning to the agent again as he went on freely. "You're just walking away from us like nothing happened? Everything we've been through? Getting on that chopper and going back to the life without looking back?"

HUNK stared back at the confused, embittered young man silently... grey eye contemplative. Then slowly down to the Black Hawk. The formation of faceless U.S.S. Agents silently awaiting him, their red lenses staring back at him. The Umbrella doctor as well, looking on... silently sympathetic. And then he turned sideways, his back to those who awaited him, and looked again to Carlos. Speaking loudly enough for Jill to hear from where she had moved to... but likely not for those down at the chopper.

"Never left it. Wasn't made for this world. Your world. Peace, redemption, forgiveness. But I will remember those who tried sharing those things with me. Those who earned my trust. Never failed it. Never disappointed me. Do not squander your newly acquired freedom, Carlos. And do not forget who gave it to you. What it cost."

HUNK reached into a pocket on his body armor and withdrew something from it, handing them back over to Carlos, who took them with a stunned expression. Jill felt her pulse quicken as she realized what they were. Rosary beads, a necklace with a crucifix. Before he could look back up at the Umbrella Agent, HUNK had turned his back on the Corporal and the rest of the survivors, leaving him at a loss for words, but visibly wanting to say something. To stop him. Starting forward after him a step... and freezing himself again... mouth closing, instead watching him go sadly. HUNK limped down towards the Black Hawk, his waiting fellow employees... and the blonde doctor rushed at once down to meet him halfway, lab coat flying behind her, keeping her head low. While back at the Black Hawk, all the U.S.S. Agents turned as one at the female agent's command and filed back in through the open side door. Vanishing within the helicopter, save the watchful door gunner. His doctor spoke to him... but from the distance and the rotors and engine of the Black Hawk, Jill couldn't make out a single word of what it was. The blonde smiled at him with something like relief, wrapping her arm around him tightly, securing his arm over her shoulders, and helping support the injured agent towards the open side door.

Jill immediately felt something coiling bitterly inside that she knew to be spite forming in the pit of her stomach, watching the blonde doctor retreating with him. Taking him away from her. Back to a world that used and abused him. Knowing she would be the one taking care of him. Only so he could go off on the next mission for Umbrella... not because she cared about him. He was property to them... not a man. Just a machine... like the Tyrants. Like she had once thought he was, before seeing the real him. It should have been her treating him, taking care of him, not some supermodel Umbrella bimbo. But there was nothing she could do about it but stand there and watch, helpless to stop it. To stop Umbrella from stealing him away from her... as it had damn near everything and everyone else, now. The doctor helped him up and into the side door... helped take off Nikolai's backpack and set it down on the floor at his boots as he took a seat, and took the one next to him, still speaking to him. Then NIGHTHAWK began his ascent once more, the Black Hawk rising, while HUNK's masked face turned away from the doctor... eye and red lens looked back out through the open side door at Jill... at the three of them, standing out together in front of the police helicopter. The doctor watching him watch her, falling silent.

Their shared gaze lingered another moment... Jill's throat burned... and she fought back the welling tears of grief with all she had. Gloved hand tightening at her side into a fist... burned hand stinging... but not nearly as bad as the sight stung her. And then the special forces helicopter rose him out of each others sight... too high. Down in the clearing, her, Rebecca, Barry and Carlos looked up to it, their eyes tracking it... then it, joined by its twin still guarding the skies, banked forward and cut across the treeline, the two of them bound east. The grass settled down around them in the absence of the rotors. She heard the rumbling of the engines and swishing rotors growing ever more distant... and pretty soon the Black Hawks became a couple of distant shadows in the sky.

And then they were gone. Vanished over the trees. Over the mountain. He was gone. Gone from her life... as though he had never been in it to begin with. Even as he was still with her, as she felt him within. As suddenly as he had appeared in the first place. She felt a pain separate from the rest of her body... a phantom pain. An absence. Carlos hung his head awkwardly... looking as miserable and tired as ever... older than he was... before turning and going back to the police helicopter, leaning against it, gripping its side. Closing his eyes and trying to get his bearings. Barry had taken off his sunglasses and watched her with grim, silent concern and sympathy... but didn't seem to know what to say. No more than Rebecca did, wearing a sad, disquieted expression... her fingers absently playing with the dog tags she wore. It didn't matter. Jill didn't know what to say any more than any of them did. What was there to be said about it? About any of it? She felt an embarrassment forming... deepening humiliation. Shame. What a fool she had made out of herself... and in front of all of them. Over a man from Umbrella. Betraying everything she'd believed in, for him. Or almost all of it. Only for him to walk out of her life anyways. She felt a flush creeping up her neck and touching her face... shame... behaving like a stupid little girl... and it was all her fault... and she turned away from them all abruptly, limping away from the police helicopter and back down to the spot she had stood at with him. Hoping they hadn't seen the flush. She already knew she was going to have a hell of a time explaining any of it to them, eventually... explaining him. She only hoped they didn't ask for awhile. She didn't even have all the answers... didn't understand it herself.

She looked back down the mountain and valley again... to the sun... and lower to the smoking ruin of what had been Raccoon City. What had been her home. It was over. The entire nightmare. And soon... another would come in its wake. A war. One chapter had closed, and another would open. She breathed slowly... coming down from her shame and humiliation gradually. Breathing in the cool air... recovering herself as best as she could. Resisting the tears from streaming... though they lingered in her eyes. It wasn't much... but it was better than nothing. It wasn't long after she did that she heard one of the others moving down towards her, to her side, setting a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, his accented, quiet voice speaking up. A shade awkward... but caring, concerned.

"I'm sorry, Jill..."

"Not your fault... it was mine. All mine. You warned me. So did he.", Jill replied to the young man quietly after a long moment's pause. Slowly shaking her head bitterly. "Couldn't have ended any other way... and I pretended that it would. Fooled myself somewhere along the way. Deluded myself like some romantic sap that it was some goddamn fairy tale. It isn't one."

"It's not your fault either. It's just the way it is. Who you are and who he is."

"I... couldn't save him... Carlos."

"I don't think he wanted to saved, Jill."

"I noticed. Some Supercop, huh? Can't even talk a man down from suicide..."

"You can't help someone who isn't prepared for what that word means. You did the best you could. Better than most others would have. For what it's worth... I fooled myself too... towards the end. I thought he'd be coming with us. After all this... I didn't see how there was any way he would want to go back to that. But... he's been there too long. It's his world. All he knows. He isn't ready. That's ok. One day... he will be. He must know his situation by now, his suffering there. He just needs more time."

"How do you know, Carlos? What's to stop him from going down with the ship? Staying with those bastards... to the end?"

"Heh. I don't know, Supercop. I just believe it. Want to believe it. That's what having faith is."

His grip at her uninjured shoulder squeezed gently, bracing her. He held out the rosary and cross necklace HUNK had returned in front of her in offering, then. She looked down at it for a moment... before taking it from him. Accepting it, as HUNK had not. Hand on it tightening. Considering his quiet, genuine words of comfort for a moment, the silence returned between them. Save those of the mountain around them. Birds. The wind. The birds of the forest. Things that went on... somehow. The world went on... even now, when it felt like hers had broken apart. Had been reduced to ash... and the rest of it had just flown away. She was still alive... some of her team was still alive... the family she had made... but she no longer felt it. At least not then. She felt only pain... and an exhaustion deeper than her bones. She felt alone... but was not alone. And she was alive. Where there was life... there was still a chance... perhaps. She had not come this far to surrender now.

Closing her eyes to the incinerated city, hand tightening on the cross, Jill bowed her head and silently said the rest of her farewells.


"As soon as we get back to the Leviathan, I'm taking you straight to my lab. No ifs, ands or buts about it. No detours. Understood?"

"Understood."

He answered the young woman's insistent voice distantly, mechanically, not really hearing it. He lost sight of her... of them... their police chopper in the forest, hillside clearing. The Black Hawk rose above them, over the trees... and in moments it and the other escort chopper were underway once more. East bound. En route to their destination at last. His eyes watched the great forest expanse... the Arklay Mountains where it had all begun... the distant burnt out remains of the Spencer Mansion and Umbrella Executive Training School as they passed them both by along the way. Passed some of the tracks of the Ecliptic Express. Memory stirring once more... bitter memories, tainted... all of them. Ones he'd once held sacred. Now ones he regretted. Then he looked back out towards the missing city. The crater it had become, smoke pouring from it endlessly. He took it all in once more... absorbed it, and vowed never to forget it. Above all... never to forget the hand he'd had in causing it. The deaths of over a hundred thousand people. His hand in both incidents... in the mountain and in the city. There would be a reckoning to come... in the wake of its destruction. For him... and for everyone else responsible for it. In returning to Umbrella... sitting here again surrounded by strangers who didn't really know him... he was only delaying the inevitable. The world would change. But right now... just now, he knew they were in the calm before the storm.

Time would tell how long that lasted for... but he doubted it would be long. Even as his head was spinning, he took it all in, the gnarled landscape. Then he felt her hand on his unmarred shoulder, and looked over to the seat next to him... to the young blonde woman's concerned features.

"Hey, HUNK... are you still with me?"

"Yeah. I am."

"Good. Now... get that damn mask and helmet off already. I need to take a look at you. Slowly and carefully."

"Yes, doctor."

HUNK obeyed her at last, reaching up for the strap beneath his helmet, unbuckling and loosening it. Slowly, carefully, he began to raise it off his head, but winced with pain as it pressed against the goose egg that had risen there beneath the bullet dent. Taking it off, he set his battle scarred helmet down in his lap, before reaching for the mask's strap, loosening it as well. Remembering the last time he'd nearly done so... for Jill, on the rooftop of the facility. Carlos's interruption had stopped him... or he would have gladly let her see him at last. And once they had set down in the Arklay Mountains... things had changed between the rooftop and the mountain. He'd needed to maintain the barrier between them... knowing he was returning to Umbrella, instead of dying with her in the city, free of the company. Once he had loosened the gas mask, he took it off... the half red tinted world vanishing... and he turned it over, looking at the smashed lens and intact one. Finally he set the marred mask down within the helmet... meeting her horrified gaze again. Green eyes wide behind her glasses. Feeling her grip tighten on his good shoulder at what she saw looking back at her.

"Oh God! No wonder you're a thousand miles away! You probably have a concussion!"

"Could be."

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Four. Can this wait for the Leviathan? I'll manage until then."

"Fine, but only because you guessed right. How did you end up like this?"

"Been a long operation. Survived a good deal. Will require some rest."

"No shit?"

"Yeah. Could use a shave too."

"That's the least of your troubles, HUNK. And I happen to like that facial hair on you. Besides that... you look like you've been hit by a truck. Still looking good too of course... but still..."

"You should see the other guy."

Her clear blue eyes looked back down the helicopter, past the other seated agents and towards the handcuffed, blood and grime stained Nikolai the medics were tending to, and then at his steady, unsmiling face. On the verge of speech. Instead, she couldn't repress a short laugh, mouth quirking slightly. The concern still there in her face, but the alarm evaporating. She rose a gentle hand to his temple, fingers tracing along his head as she examined it, speaking steadily as she did, smirk lingering and voice wry.

"Was that an action movie one liner? I think Officer Rambo back there has rubbed off on you. Or was she Deputy Hotskirt? Either way, I don't think she liked me. Hell of a scowl on that girl of yours."

The agent said nothing at that... merely tilted his throbbing, aching head slightly. Doctor Radames released a slight breath, looking back down to Nikolai again. Drawing back her hand at last, rising in her seat carefully, holding on to the overhead straps, standing in the aisle and looking down his way again with a trace of a smile.

"Still... I better check on him. Make sure he lives long enough to see the inside of a prison. I mean really... gouging his eye out? I know he was an asshole, but was that really necessary?"

"Yes."

"Well, you're the expert on those things. You hurt, I heal. My turn. You stay right here, and try to relax. I'll have my hands full with you soon enough."

"Yes, doctor."

"Good boy."

The blonde reached over and touched his cheek gently, rubbing her fingers against the thick stubble with another fond smile. Then she passed around him, moving past the other seated agents and to the medics. Joining them in their work. NULL looked from Doctor Radames for a moment, before staring right back ahead to HUNK, remaining silent. HUNK spared the other agents a single glance... before looking back down to the floor of the chopper... to Nikolai's backpack containing the laptop and other evidence secure down at his combat boots... then looked ahead towards the cockpit. To the mirror above it. He caught FLY GIRL looking at him in it as well, but her gaze hurriedly shifted back ahead the moment he did. He drew a low breath and closed his eyes tightly. Yet opened them once more when a grizzled, wry, familiar voice spoke to him again from the pilot's seat when the doctor had departed his company.

"Well, Grim Reaper?", The veteran pilot and former U.S.S. Agent started, helmeted head looking up a bit to the mirror. "Been through it. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Mission accomplished. The survival rate was four percent and valuable human resources were lost... but that is war. The mission objective takes priority over everything else. Holding to that principle... is why I have never failed a mission."

"You sure about that? Seems to me someone was taking priority quite often over the mission, down there."

"Valentine is merely a civilian and was a means to an end. Her survival... her friends searching for her... ensured my escape after Nikolai's insane actions. That's all that matters. She is no longer my problem."

While NIGHTHAWK clearly believed his lie about the survival rate percentage, HUNK knew NIGHTHAWK didn't believe his calm, steady lies about her. Not after all their interactions about her. Mercifully, his friend didn't pursue it in front of the other employees surrounding them and listening in. Likely never would either, understanding discretion. The pilot shook his helmeted head and looked back ahead to the skies ahead of him.

"If you say so. Either way... of the team, once again, only you survived, Mr Death. Always it's only you that survives."

There was a bitterness in his voice at the words... but not directed at the agent. They both had simply seen too many iterations of Alpha Team fall on suicidal missions. Yet in most of those times they had already known the poor odds before going in... instead of a drastic snafu like the one that had occurred down in NEST happening. But it wasn't NEST his thoughts lingered on, just now. HUNK remembered the dark armored figure perched to the tanker with Ada... but didn't contradict the pilot. One member of Alpha Team had truly survived and escaped Raccoon City, at least... escaped more than that, by not returning to the company, to the Leviathan. Escaped the clutches of Umbrella. The Grim Reaper... Death, could not die. It seemed he couldn't live either. He hadn't escaped or survived anything... not really. He was only going back to the prison he best knew... where he didn't really live. He could have left with Jill... left it all behind... but he hadn't. Couldn't put that life on her... the suffering he would inevitably bring her. She had been through enough... had a great deal left to do. He couldn't be with her while she did that. Nor her with him... while he did what he had to. The time that approached would be busy for them both, on their respective sides of the war to come. That had just been declared with Raccoon City's destruction.

GHOST on the other hand... well. He had escaped. In every single respect. And was almost certainly better off for it than HUNK.

Still... HUNK found he didn't envy the agent... it was Ada who the unfortunate rookie had fled Raccoon City and Umbrella with, after all. But... there was still a chance with her that could not be had with the Umbrella. Maybe she had mellowed and matured a bit since Bosnia. Since going independent from Shén Yā Pharmaceutical. And they had a G-Virus sample between them as leverage... insurance... with their new employer. Maybe GHOST would fare better with Ada than he had. He had his doubts, but hoped the rookie did. That someone halfway decent came out of all this better off than when they had started. That he would manage to escape... in a way even HUNK had not. Somehow, the rookie had survived Birkin... survived NEST, Ada and Raccoon City... and accomplishing that... nobody could argue he hadn't earned a chance at something better. He would not be including either of them in his report. He would allow GHOST to live up to his code name. There were higher priorities just now anyways.

HUNK had not expected to cross paths with Burton or Chambers either, for that matter. Hadn't thought to meet more of the S.T.A.R.S. All but one of them, now. Redfield... wherever he was, taking the fight to Umbrella no doubt, from what Jill had told him. Preparing the way for the others. He remembered the footage Comtesse Henri had shown him on the Umbrella Satellite Network, at his request. Of the incident in the mountains... the destruction of the Spencer Mansion. The Ecliptic Express. The Umbrella Executive Training School. Of Officer Chambers' struggles, along with the criminal... the former soldier she had allowed to go afterwards. Just as HUNK now did for GHOST, he gladly kept the girl's secret for her. The least he could do, considering the chance she had just taken for them, risking herself to help. And just now, another more important, pressing matter occupied his attention. Awaited his return. One he had no wish to put off any longer. HUNK looked up towards the cockpit again, speaking up once more, low tone addressing the pilot.

"Colonel Vladimir. Has he reached the Leviathan with his cargo?"

"Must have, by now. I expect he'll be waiting to give you a real warm welcome back aboard. Many will. Back to business as usual already, huh?"

"Been looking forward to it. Have a thing or two to say to him as well."

"I bet. Wouldn't miss it for the world."

NIGHTHAWK laughed shortly and bitterly at the prospect... and HUNK's attention moved on again from the communist usurper who awaited him on the Leviathan. He would cross that bridge when he got to it. He always did. And he had the leverage and authority to get away with any infractions he might have committed in the field during the operation. Still... it would take some navigating of the mine field that was Umbrella. It would not stop the whispers, of course. Nothing ever would. Suspicions. He would be prepared for it by now... at least. He set that aside as well for the time being. He reached into his pouch... and was about to take out the G-Virus... examine it... when he paused... reconsidering. His fingers slipped into another pouch instead right beside it, and took it out... holding it in the palm of his hand... the glinting chain necklace she had bestowed upon him. His grip tightening on her dog tags... he read her name and information imprinted upon it silently.

Valentine

Jill, C.

Specialist, United States Army

Service #49-5829-582

Blood Type: B-Positive

D.O.B.: October 5th, 1974

Somehow... in spite of everything that had happened... everything he knew was coming... he felt a warm smile slowly cross his face. Unable to repress it. Feeling the touch of her lips in that courtyard. Her taste. Her touch on his face. Saw her blue eyes looking back at him. Blue and serene as the ocean off Rockfort Island. Death could not die... but somehow... in the middle of that hell on earth that had been Raccoon City... with her... he had lived. If ever so fleetingly. But then again... that's how it always was.

The good things never lasted.


Alas. And thus the prisoner transfer is complete. HUNK goes right back to the life of crime. But with his head held high... making a sacrifice of sorts, even as he resumes carrying out Umbrella's bidding. Liked the visual of his world at Umbrella returning... the judging, watchful red eyes of his subordinates/peers as he stands with Jill, enemy of Umbrella. Sort of like peer pressure at school, the popular girl or boy speaking closely to the unpopular girl or boy while their clique is watching them disapprovingly. Life never really changed outside of high school, in some ways. Umbrella is no exception.

Well... Jill Skywalker had to try to redeem him, didn't she? At least someone finally tried. "Search your feelings, HUNK." But the reality is, it could not have ended any other way... the man is in too deep, has been for too long. It's all he knows and all he is good at. An Anti Villain ain't changing overnight. But he is indeed changing. Baby steps. He has a hell of a tightrope to walk now back at the company. Isn't going to be seeing the company and his time there the same way again.

And of course in answer to the question last chapter: "Who's that Pokemon?" "It's GHOST!"

Agent GHOST: "Oh God... why me? You should have just shot me on that train."

Ada: "Shush, Agent. Less complaining, more shooting."

;) can't wait to get to that little story. Quite a different fellow from HUNK to write. Similarities, in the same world, but still worlds apart.

Fun to finally fully unveil Pre RE 6 Carla Radames as well, more of her to come. Now we finally get to peal back the intricate recesses of Umbrella, from the POV of its top, now internally compromised, agent. Been looking forward to revealing the chapters to come. The villain side of things, the world of Umbrella. His place in it, compared to how he was in the field. Stick around.