A/N: Capcom relies heavily on homages to other series. They spend a good portion of time playing mirror to Aliens. For me, I'm throwing this one at Terminator. Suffice to say, these two heroes have a battle on their hands.

Here Be Monsters

Part One:

The Devil's Legacy

Chapter 2:

The Girl with Green Eyes

She could hear the footsteps as he landed. He, literally, leaped over the railing and plummeted to the ground to pursue her. It wasn't possible, it wasn't probably, the likelihood of suviving that steep of a fall was simply not logical...but there he was. She could see him simply walking through bodies as he came toward her. He grabbed a girl who was attempting to flee, dragged her back to his front and secured her there with a hand around her jaw to coo, "See that bitch on the ground? You're about to join her. Make me laugh and cry out for help."

The girl in his arms did just that. She struggled, blue eyes streaming with tears, small hands striking at her captor. Rebecca, scrambling to free herself beneath the pile of bodies that bound her, shouted, "PLEASE! Leave her alone! I'll do whatever you want!"

Krauser tilted his head and seemed surprised, "...for a girl you've never met?"

Rebecca called back, "Yes! Just let her go!"

Krauser glanced at the girl in the suit in his arms. Pretty thing, he thought with amusement, the thin cardio body type he might have enjoyed fucking when he was younger and more interested in women than power. He considered things and finally shrugged, "Nah. Women are nothing but trouble."

He grabbed her chin and lifted her against his chest. The woman screamed wildly, legs kicking, his left hand gripped her hair to break her neck and the boom of a heavy firearm sounded. The bullet missed the girl and hit his neck. Blood sprayed in a wet red splatter.

Krauser gagged and dropped the girl who just took off. She slid to grab Rebecca's hand and tug roughly, trying to help free her. It was brave, and stupid, and completely human natured. Rebecca warned her, "GO! Please! RUN!"

Krauser staggered and took another bullet to the chest. It threw him over a desk behind him and put him on the floor behind it. Rebecca crawled, finally free of her cage of flesh. She grabbed for the case and a hand came into her side view.

She was suddenly looking up at Leon Kennedy as he told her, "Come with me if you want to live."

Right. Like she'd say no? That was for braver types than her.

She took the hand.

He jerked her up and Rebecca ran for the door while he backed up after her. Krauser called from behind the desk, "You think that hand cannon of yours can finish me off? You failed once, you fucking Princess, stay and finish the job."

A taunt.

A good one.

Rebecca saw him hesitate and cautioned Leon, "...if he kills you, who will protect me?"

Damn.

He nodded and fired toward the desk to keep Krauser in cover as the bastard shouted again, "What shitty fairytale is this anyway? The Piggy and the Princess? Kennedy, you fucking girl, gonna run and hide like one now? You always were a coward."

Without missing a beat, Leon called back, "Was I? Seems like you're the one hiding, Jack. Come on out and find out what fairytale this is. I think it's the one where the ugly ass troll dies clutching his missing balls...course...that'd be hard to do since they're currently in my trophy case beside your dignity."

Rebecca grabbed his shirt and begged, "Please...you shot him...you saw...he won't die. Please. Please?"

Damnit.

He knew he was going to run with her. He knew she was right. Krauser should be dead. He'd blown a clean hole through the center of his damn throat. He shouldn't be breathing let alone taunting his adversaries into battle.

Leon grabbed Rebecca's arm, shoved her through the door, and fired three more warning shots where Krauser was crouching. They fled through the door into the street to the roar of sirens and Leon forced her into a run in her bare feet. Rebecca kept pace, ducking and turning through traffic toward the parking lot as he cautioned, "You do what I say, when I say, no questions, ok?"

Rebecca nodded as he told her, "...drive."

Surprised, she climbed in the driver's seat of his dark sedan and fired up the engine. The car roared away from the curb and she whipped it into traffic. With a smile, he warned, "Slow down there, lead foot, and just breathe."

Rebecca chuckled lightly and adjusted her speed, "...why does he want me?"

Leon said nothing.

She shook her head and asked, "Who is he?"

With a heavy sigh, Leon kept vigilant watch behind them as she drove and returned, "He used to be Jack Krauser-a man who once was a patriot and somehow became poisoned with power. I thought he was dead and gone...I should remember nothing ever stays dead in our world."

Rebecca veered onto the highway, "Where am I going?"

"Just keep driving west for now." He opened his glovebox and hit a button. The back seat made a sound and raised up to reveal a very, very big gun. As he pulled it up and brought it into his lap, Rebecca felt a roll of nerves and gratitude.

Leon Kennedy being on site for her lecture had likely literally saved her life - professional and personally and permanently.

So, she said, "...Agent Kennedy...I can't say thank you enough."

Leon laughed gently as he checked and cocked and pulled parts of the gun in his hands, "...it's Leon, Dr. Chambers. Just Leon. And don't thank me yet. Jack Krauser isn't a man who knows how to stop. Even before he...mutated...he was a man with no limits. If he wants you, he absolutely will not stop until you are dead."

"...I don't understand that." Her voice sounded small and scared and she hated it. She wanted to be Jill or Claire or anyone with more bravery than brains. Sadly, the odds of stopping a man who couldn't be killed and surviving? Those were pretty damn small.

Leon clarified, "He can't be reasoned with. He can't be bargained with. He won't feel pity or remorse or sympathy. He just has a mission. That mission is you. Why? It doesn't matter to him. He may not even know. He just knows he's supposed to get you...and kill anyone who gets in his way."

The silence stretched until she stammered, "..c-can you stop him?"

Leon gave her a considering glance and confessed, "...I don't know...with these weapons? I don't know. Let's get somewhere safe and start trying to find out the why, ok? The why doesn't matter to him, but it might be the things that let's us find out who's the power behind him here."

Rebecca nodded, turning when he gestured onto a side road. She couldn't speak. The fear made her mute for so long that he finally reached over and laid a hand on her upper back as she drove. The tension eased immediately and her white knuckles on the wheel pinked with the release of her grip. She blew out a hard breath as he soothed, "...you're not alone."

God. What was he - a mind reader?

She shook her head as her eyes sparked with tears and apologized, "...I'm sorry. I'm being stupid. I'm scared and in my pajamas and in possession of a suitcase filled with...who knows what...and some massive man is trying to kill me...I'm just-I'm angry because I'm a coward. I've always been the type who panics. Even in Raccoon City...I was just a girl who panicked. I did ok when push came to shove, but I'm no soldier, Mr. Kennedy. I'm just-"

"It's Leon." He interrupted her and squeezed one of her tense shoulders to make it relax, "It's Leon, Rebecca. Rebecca right? Or do you prefer-"

"No. Don't call me, Dr. Chambers. It's stupid. You just-I'm just Rebecca. Or B? Everybody calls me, Becs or B...or B.C. sometimes."

She was rambling, but that was ok. She was shocky and cold and scared. Talking would soothe her. So, she went on, "I remember being so excited to get the invite to Raccoon, ya know? I was FRESH out of medical school, pushed into the fast path because I'm so smart."

Leon was trying to open the case she'd been given as she rambled, "Genius, they said..." She trailed off and then piped, "You too, I hear!"

It was a squeak of sound. His brows arched. Rebecca pinked up and apologized, "...sorry. I get squeaky when I'm nervous."

Nodding, he patted her back as he answered, "...they told me I was a genius in the third grade."

Impressed, Rebecca blew out a hard breath, "Yes! Yes. Me too. Gifted, right? All your life?"

Leon nodded as he frowned at the case. What was it? Bio metrics? Not fingerprints, she'd had her hand on the damn thing and it was still locked. So what was the trigger? He confided, "All my life. Fast track, graduated at sixteen. Spent two years after that in medical school before I figured out I was never meant to be a doctor and jumped careers into law enforcement."

Surprised, Rebecca laughed, "...wow...huge downgrade there on the pay side of things. You were ok with working for peanuts?"

He shrugged and smirked, "I wanted the danger. I was made to be a hero. You didn't get the memo?"

He was so charming. She was glad he was so calm too. It helped calm her nerves. Rebecca chortled a little and shrugged, "I thought most of the stuff in your file was an exaggeration."

To which he replied, "It is. Some of it's true, most of it is embellished to make me look good."

She doubted that, but she liked how humble he was. It made him very likable. He added, "Just a guy with a gun who's good at hitting the target and helping people. Nothing special. Don't start looking at me like I'm anything but a man. I can bleed and die just like you."

Rebecca made a small sound and he winced and soothed, "Sorry...shit. I'm not saying that's gonna happen just...damnit. I'm better with guns than girls, sweetheart. I'm sorry."

Mollified by his embarrassment, Rebecca nodded, "I know. I'm just being stupid."

"Not stupid; scared." He touched her arm and reiterated, "You'd be stupid not to be scared, Rebecca. Don't beat yourself up."

She muttered, "He'll do that for me."

Leon, without waiting, returned, "He'll have to get through me first." She wasn't sure why, but that confidence was reassuring. After a moment, he added, "Turn in here."

The police precinct looked secure and safe. Her heart hitched with hope. Maybe they'd put her in protective custody and spare her having to ever see that monster again. She glanced at the case on the floor by Leon's foot.

What was in it worth killing for?

Maybe she'd get some answers when she was safe.

After too long trying to open the case and too many hours of trying to deal with the drama of police and precedent and procedure, she ended up trying to sleep on the small couch in the Chief's office. Luckily, this chief wasn't a taxidermy obsessed pervert with a penchant for exotic trophies. Rebecca dozed with the case tucked up under the couch beneath her.

She slipped back and forth from dreams to tossing and turning. She'd never been like the rest of the S.T.A.R.S. She didn't bounce when things went postal like that. She kept picturing the faces of the dead bodies atop her. She kept thinking of their families and how they'd been people before he'd made them meat sacks to hold her down.

What kind of a monster was he?

He was the kind who used humans as cannon fodder. He was the kind who slaughtered innocents in droves to get his mission completed. He wasn't a monster because he couldn't die; he was a monster because he couldn't care. She didn't know how Leon planned to fight him, but he'd need a bigger weapon than a gun. Sadly, she didn't think the police station kept rocket launchers in their armory.

She was almost asleep when the shouting started. The jolt of fear had her jumping up as flashes of light turned the foggy glass window of the office bright like fireworks beyond it. Her hear hammering, Rebecca grabbed the case beneath the couch and hurried under the desk. She huddled, heart hammering, one hand clamoring over the top of the desk for a weapon. The scissors joined her in her hiding spot.

He'd found her.

She wasn't sure how she knew that was drama beyond the door, but somehow? He'd found her here. He was attacking a whole freaking police station to get her. Her chest tightened with misery and sympathy for those trying desperately to protect her.

She was just one woman. She wasn't worth all the bravery!

She nearly found the courage to crawl out and bravely offer herself up to save the rest of them when the door was thrown wide open against the far wall. Her hands clutched the case, she grabbed the scissors tightly in her grip. There was a rustle of sound and a set of boots appeared beside the desk.

Rebecca tightened her grip, waited, and legs were joined by a lowering torso. She yipped and swiped, and nearly stabbed Leon Kennedy in the face.

He caught the scissors and tugged her out of her spot instead, stealthily avoiding losing an eye. She almost apologized when he commanded, "If we get separated, you head straight down the back stairs to the pit. Cross the bullpen and go out the far door. There's the motor pool out there. You know how to hot wire?"

Her mouth was dry as she simply nodded.

"Yeah. S.T.A.R.S. gave you some skills at least. Good." He tugged a pistol from his back and pushed it into her hands, "Run. Don't look back. Don't stop. Don't try to save any one. Do you hear me?"

"...w-w-what about you? Should I-?"

He shook his head no as screaming and gunfire filled the room around them. Rebecca whimpered with fear as he told her, "I will find you. Do you hear me? If I lose you, I will find you. Trust me...and go!"

He shoved her toward the back door of the office. Rebecca ran for it, case clutched in one hand, gun in the other. She heard the door get ripped clear off the hinges and whined with fear. She heard the sounds of guns and fighting. A thump, a crash, a roar of rage. Her feet practically flew over the ground as the scent of fire joined the fray. The wall beside her whooshed as it lit from some fool trying out a flame thrower.

Her hands struck the door and down the stairs she went. She didn't stop. She ran. She heard the chatter of machine gun fire and kept on racing.

She was nearly to the bottom when there was a clatter, a scream, and a clunk of a body that fell and hit the railing of the stairs on every level. Her hands grabbed for the knob in horror as the body struck the floor behind her. She shoved the door open, it caught on the leg of the deceased, and she kicked the leg, whimpering. She didn't want to look at the face.

She didn't want to know who it was. If it was Leon, she was dead where she stood anyway, but she'd do what he commanded. She'd keep running. She jerked open the door as a bullet struck it beside her face.

With a shout, she shoved into the bullpen and just barreled forward. It was full of chaos and angry cops. They were strapping on gear and grabbing weapons. Rebecca tore across the pretty tiled floor toward the door marked POOL. Shoving it open, she hit the cold air and grabbed wildly for the first car she came to.

Locked.

Terrified, she turned around to head back for some keys and the door was thrown wide. She threw herself down on the ground and ducked, using the cars as cover as the big body of Jack Krauser emerged into the night. Terrified, she listened to him call out, "Fee fi fo fum...I smell the blood of the dead and dumb."

Jesus.

Her hands grabbed for door handles as she ducked and slid as quietly as possible through all the cars. She heard him pace and he warned, "He's dead you know...you heard him hit...I SAW you pause and consider checking. He was always such a fucking girl. He died like one...crying and begging."

Rebecca shook her head and tugged. The door creaked and opened on an old Volkswagen station wagon. She climbed half into the seat and started tugging on the wires near the dash. She heard him kick a car and shout, "PIGGY! You better come on out...you know I don't do well when piggies try to hide from me! I want me some bacon!"

The car made a spark as she twisted wires and touched two more. It chugged and fired up with a roar that scared her. Rebecca clamored into the seat as she heard him start running, she grabbed the wheel and stomped the gas. It shot forward like a rocket as Krauser laughed happily, "PIGGY!"

He started to lift his weapon, Rebecca stamped the gas harder. There was a whistle from the doorway and it caused Krauser to turn his head before he took a bullet to the side of it. It was incredible to watch. The bullet went in, the bullet came out the other side of his head and blasted brain matter everywhere. He staggered, the car struck him full force and tossed him onto the hood and up over the damn thing, and Rebecca sped straight on by. She heard his body hit the ground, Leon joined her in the passenger seat and he instructed, "...floor it."

She did, the tires squealing as they shot out onto the road. Her voice broke as she asked, "...is...is he-is...?"

"Dead? Hell no. He's regenerating at a rate I've never seen. I blasted half his fucking face off back there and he just kept coming." Leon reloaded his Magnum and holstered it, opting for the shotgun he carried over his back instead. He jerked a round into the chamber and advised, "Head west toward the highway."

Rebecca nodded, eyes bright with tears, "Those people..."

"Don't. Don't do that. Don't even take a minute to mourn it. Not now...you hear me?" He surprised her as he took her right hand and laid it flat on his chest. The heavy thump of his heart somehow comforted her as he told her, "I'm ok. You're ok. That's all we can do right now? Alright? Forward, Rebecca. We can't go back."

Right.

He was right.

She gunned the engine and nodded, gripping the wheel again. He laid her pistol in the center console beside them. He kept the shotgun on his lap and wondered, "...whatever is in that case...we need it before they send back up for that stupid fuck."

Rebecca nodded and whispered, "...I-I may know someone who can help us."

Leon glanced at her and invited, "...you trust him?"

She nodded, "I've known him all my wife. We worked together for awhile at the BSAA before I left for private research. His name is Quint Ketcham. He's the smartest guy I know."

Leon chuckled and she whispered, "...no offense."

"None taken, sweetheart. So long as he helps us, he can keep the title. We need to ditch this car. Krauser knows it, he's looking for it. Turn into this parking garage up here and kill the lights."

Rebecca did so, turning the old wagon into a spot beside a red Camry. Leon slid out of the seat and shifted over the break the back window. There was no alarm as he reached through and opened the drivers door. Rebecca joined him in the back seat and laid down like he instructed as he returned them to the road.

There was a long moment of silence as he drove. She curled away to stare at the back of the seat. After some time had passed, he engaged her in conversation, "...this isn't your fault, Rebecca."

She said nothing.

Leon rolled the car to the side of the road and under the over hang of a bridge. The sounds of traffic joined them as he rotated in the seat and touched her arm, "...hey...look at me."

Trembling with grief, Rebecca shook her head no. He sighed and told her, "You start taking responsibility for every life lost like this, you'll end up at the wrong end of a bottle...trust me...I know."

Rebecca finally rolled over to face him. She studied his kind and empathetic face and whispered, "...I'm not worth it. All those people...I'm not worth it."

Leon smiled sadly and remarked, "Yes, you are, Rebecca...but you're not killing them. You're not. I need you to stay with me here. I can't have you falling apart. Not yet...not until we know what's in that damn case. Can you? Can you do this?"

She said nothing so he added, "It's ok to say no..but no or not...you have to try."

So, she whispered, "I got lucky in Raccoon City...I had Billy...I had Chris...I don't think I can do this alone."

Face set, eyes hard, he informed her, "You're not alone, kid...you've got me. I won't let anything happen to you, Rebecca. I swear to god. Trust me...I won't let you down."

After a moment of watching each other, she finally nodded. He did too. He turned back to the road and started driving. She laid in the seat and mourned. She wanted to be so brave.

She was trying.

She was really trying to be Claire.

She was trying to be tough.

She was just a girl with green eyes. She wasn't a fighter! She was a scientist, not a super hero! She didn't know how to fight something that couldn't die. She'd survived the tyrants in Raccoon because Redfield and Cohen had taken the hits. She wasn't brave!

She'd made it this far.

He wouldn't let her doubt herself. She'd made it this far. She had to believe in herself and in him to survive. She picked up the case and shook it. It remained steadfastly locked.

Annoyed, she shouted, "Open sesame!"

She tried to pick the lock but it wasn't the type with a keyhole.

Frowning, she told it, "Moonlight Sonata."

In the front seat, Leon laughed, "...try singing it."

And she answered, "I'm tone deaf."

To her surprise, he wasn't. He hummed it beautifully, for all the good it did. After a moment, Rebecca sighed, "It's probably got a finger in it. The finger of a 9th century warlord."

Chuckling, he wondered, "Pretty specific there."

Rebecca smiled, "...bad movie I saw once. Does it do any good to ask about who he might be working for?"

Leon shrugged and returned, "Could be anyone...I'm gonna need a safe place to start digging. I'd found some ties between him and a man named Glenn Arias just before he Schwarzeneggered the station back there, but not enough to really piece the puzzle together."

Rebecca nodded and started to do a "get to the choppa" impersonation when there was a whine of sound. She turned her head to herself face to face with motorcycle. It came right for them and Leon snapped, "Get down!"

She got down, he swerved the wheel, and the car side swiped the motorcycle. It squealed on its tires, the window exploded from gunfire, and Rebecca huddled on the floorboard with her hands over the back of her head. She felt the car jerk, spin, and heard it smack the motorcycle with the rear end. Metal screamed, Leon's shotgun went off twice, and there was a thump as they ran over something.

The car shot off, squealing wildly, and he called out, "He's down! But we're outta time! How far?!"

"...too far." She whispered it, hunkered down and terrified. How long could they hold out against something that could be run over, shot, and stabbed without dying?

He was worse than a tyrant...he was a terminator.