Chapter 17

The late night found rain pouring on Santander Bay and it drummed steadily against the deck of the USS Gladiator. Deck hands and agents pushed back and forth across the ship's outer level as they began the preparations to disembark. A widened hush had taken precedence in the last hour among the hurried crews; an understanding that was made in war when the battlements knew that there was those of them who would not be returning.

Along the starboard wall, Claire stood next to the ship's aircraft crane and watched the clouds roll in. Lightning arced across the sky and lit her upturned face.

From the short conversation with one of the crewmates, the USS Gladiator was considered an old maid of battle and was known for her minesweeping history in the Korean war while also receiving two battle stars for World War II. Her resume continued with various other prestigious voyages and was considered highly among those who could recall her steady journeys. The USS Gladiator had been previously decommissioned but had been reassigned a few times over to suit the needs of the U.S. Navy.

The USS Gladiator was also fondly nicknamed Sulpicia by the crew in honor of the female Gladiators that fought in Rome. Sulpicia had been the daughter of Servius Sulpicius Rufus, an author, orator, and jurist who was famous for his eloquence. His daughter had taken on her father's sharp tongue and sense of duty but rallied against the call of the injustice of the male dominated rulings. Claire had grinned at the nervous looking seaman who flushed when she asked further questions of the ship's history and the chosen nickname. She found she couldn't quite argue with the superstition that normally came with the naming of ships.

Claire, feeling enchanted, had hovered at her covered position on the deck as the crewman's retreating steps faded from her ears. She tapped her foot twice against the aged wood and asked softly, "A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for is it, Sulpicia?"

Before they had left the hotel, four of the Blue Umbrella squad members had approached her and Sebastian as they had stepped out of the massage room. When they had addressed Sebastian as Alpha Leader, Claire understood then what Sebastian had meant when he said he had made a 'deal' for their assistance. He hadn't even flinched at the title as they spoke quietly about their assignment. Her stomach twisted as she realized another deal had been made in her protection, and despite the help, it had been with Umbrella no less. A curling anger had set into Claire's stomach as she considered the redressed organization.

In the hall at the hotel, one of the squad members, a woman with dirty blonde hair, stepped forward and met Claire's gaze evenly. The woman had made a shuffling gander between Claire and Sebastian before her eyes locked back on hers. A small smile pulled at the woman's lips, and Claire hadn't known what to make of it as she seemed to hold Sebastian in familiarity. Where she would have previously held a bit of jealousy, she found curiosity in its place.

Claire had given the woman a small nod and returned a smile.

There were fifteen members in all for the Blue Umbrella squad. Four of them would travel with her and Sebastian to the Bay of Biscay, five would see to the mines with Orski, and the remaining would storm the USS George W. Bush with Michaels. The USS Gladiator would drop the Biscay teams off first before it eventually made for the USS George W. Bush aircraft carrier.

Claire had brightened to see Bruce McGivern on the list for Biscay, however, she was less than thrilled to see Rosburg on the list. When the four Blue Umbrella members had stepped away to grab their gear, Claire had softly murmured to Sebastian her fear about Rosburg's knowledge to his identity. The mercenary had smirked and shook his head. Apparently, Rosburg didn't even register on Sebastian's scale of concerns for the day before he had squeezed her hand and gone up back to the room to grab his bag and hers.

Bruce McGivern, Leon, and a few other agents had been tasked with the Anti-Virus Weapon Protocol No. 7600. A protocol that had been adapted after the events of Raccoon City to eliminate the threats of B.O.W.s and avoid the loss of life on such a scale ever again. The squad members of Blue Umbrella had supposedly met with the U.S. Department of Defense to share their knowledge on Anti-B.O.W. weapons and bring it to the table in Spain. A deal had been struck behind closed doors. Quietly.

The grenade launcher and ammo on Claire's back was one of many new protocols; it's ammunition a newly developed acid round. Sebastian had set it in her hands as they had loaded up before boarding the ship. She had narrowed her eyes at him in mock offense as he suggested possibly tying it to her belt in case she got disarmed again. Claire had mourned the loss of her bow gun, her brother's knife, and of course Leon's Magnum, but given the circumstances, she thought she had managed to improvise well enough. Sort of.

As Claire had strapped a new combat knife to her thigh, Sebastian unhooked a forearm bracer from himself and walked over to her. With raised brows, she had glanced down to the see the small hilt of a tiny throwing knife poking out of the bracer.

"This is a lucky knife, Red. I've had that Seraphym for over ten years." He had said as his hands gently secured the forearm bracer to her arm. "Use it when you need to cut fast and defend yourself." He looked down pointedly at the fading scars on her palms.

Claire had nodded and gripped his hand before he had let go; she knew it would be very much a last resort to bleed and burn enemies in front of the squad or the other agents. She whispered her thanks, and he had gazed again at the necklace dangling around her throat.

"Still better than flowers, Sebby." Claire had whispered lowly to him as she gave him a wink. She swore she had seen a glimmer of male satisfaction in his look as he raised one eyebrow.

Claire watched as he turned back to his gear and gave him a slow once over. The Grim Reaper's greatest kept secret was the heart he kept beneath a vest full of knifes and explosives. Out of all the things Claire had seen in her short life filled with horrors, this one nearly took the whole cake. She made a silent vow to herself that if they made it out with their lives, she would spend weeks just learning more about him in different ways.

Sebastian had turned his head to catch her leering stare and paused as he was strapping a holster onto his leg. "That's a new look, Red. What thought was just in your head?"

"You've been single pretty much your whole life, right?" Claire began as she slowly walked forward, her hands in her back pockets.

"In a manner of speaking, yes…" He said cautiously as he studied her look.

"What's something that you've wanted to do in a relationship?" Claire asked as she reached to fix one of his open pockets on his vest. She looked up at him as she continued. "Something you haven't gotten to do before; It can be anything."

She squinted a bit as he was quiet for a moment and turned his face away, the hair on his forehead curling down over his brow. "Wait, are you…?" She asked as she noticed the stain of pink leaking into his features.

Sebastian turned back to the rack beside them, his back to her again.

"You're fucking blushing!" Claire cried as some of the squad members in the command center turned with their eyebrows raised. Claire gripped his arm and stepped up beside him to see a smile tugging at his lips.

"Claire!" someone called over her shoulder as she brought herself back to the present again. She turned to see Bruce jogging up to her on the ship deck, his hair pressed against his skull from the rain. His kind eyes taking in her posture.

"We're going to go over the mission objectives on deck two in twenty minutes." Bruce said as he stepped under the cover of the aircraft crane with her.

"Good, I have a few important updates to make myself. Firstly, we're not killing Leon straight off." Claire said bluntly as she crossed her arms over her chest. She wouldn't beat around the bush about this with the team either.

"You know Leon?" Bruce asked with a tilt of his head.

"He's one of the closest people I have in my life. I came here to try and help him." Claire said as her eyes dropped down to his boots. "I need to try and reach him before we make any final choices, Bruce. I will not allow you all to just execute him." Her voice had raised slightly as her eyes burned back into his.

"No, I hear you." Bruce said putting up a hand and touching her leather-clad shoulder in a squeeze. "I have a few reports to share from Hunnigan. Despite the communication issue, she's still been digging into the reports that had been moving in and out for the last two months. Not only is there a way to remove the Plaga on that island, but Saddler has a researcher there with him."

"What?" Claire breathed as her heart started to pound. "You mean, we might actually be able to get it out of him there?"

"I can't say that for sure, but this researcher worked with Dr. Luis Sera. He had been in Madrid when Sera had come out here. Apparently, the researcher was the one Sera contacted for help before he removed his own Plaga. It sounds promising, but I don't want to get your hopes up. I am on your side though."

Claire's memory snagged on the man she saw in the cathedral when she had been captured by Leon and brought before Saddler the first time. There had been an older man in the back of the cathedral with black glasses who had disappeared before she had been dragged out. She felt a current of certainty flow through her veins as she nodded toward Bruce. If there was a chance to save Leon, she would take it, no matter how small.

"We need to make that device and that researcher a priority." She said as she began to turn toward the deck stairs. She rebounded off a hard chest, and a hand wrapped around her arm to steady her. She looked up into Sebastian's face.

His attention was on Bruce. "Are we ready, McGivern?" he asked with a slight commanding edge in his tone. His hand slid from Claire's arm to her fingers as he gave them a light squeeze and let go.

The action was not missed by Bruce as he refocused on Sebastian and gave a friendly smile. "We were just on our way. I have a few things to share myself. I'll catch you both down there." He said with his Cajun charm twanging, and he threw Claire a coded look.

Claire watched Bruce walk toward the stairs before she tilted her head up at Sebastian. "Sweet, possessive, and territorial too, Sebastian?" She asked with a lilting tone.

Sebastian leaned against the crane and folded his arms before he turned his head toward the bow of the ship. A smirk at the corner of his mouth as he said, "Not sure what you mean."

Claire rolled her eyes and stepped up to kiss his cheek. "Of course not."

Sebastian wrapped his arms around her then and brought her close. Claire felt her heart speed up as she looked around at the near empty side of the deck. She wasn't sure what the rules were for fraternization, but as his warm breath fanned across her neck, she found she didn't quite care.

"Listen, Claire, we're going to meet with the others shortly, and Blue Umbrella will have a slightly different mission than what will be reported." He said into her ear as his hands roamed up her hips and grasped her around her rib cage through her open jacket.

Claire reached up and slid her fingers up his back as she prepared the same speech she just gave to Bruce. "I assume you heard everything Bruce and I just said and we're not just going to kill—"

"Not that, Blue Umbrella already knew about the device and the researcher. We'll attempt to locate him, but if Kennedy can't be helped, we kill him, Claire." He pulled back slightly and cupped her chin. "You don't want to leave him here like that or let him get away if we can't cure him."

Claire nodded as she lowered her eyes and leaned into his palm as she considered their options. "I know."

"You will listen to my commands no matter what happens, do you understand?" Sebastian asked then as his fingers gripped her chin a little tighter.

Claire's eyes snapped back up to his and she saw the edging shadows in his eyes. She nodded gently and his hold on her lessened slightly.

"Blue Umbrella has been instructed to take you if something happens to me or we get separated during the extraction." He continued.

"The extraction? What do you mean? Where would they take me?" Claire asked.

"Towards my new home I made a trade for." Sebastian said. "I know you can't go back to states. At least, not immediately, so you're going to come with me." His voice was calm, but she didn't miss the demand in them, or tinge of something else.

Claire felt the air rush out of her lungs as she lifted a hand to his wrist that held her chin still. She didn't know if he quite understood what he was offering to her. It was a drastic change, yes, but to her, it was a hidden salvation. A tether in her heart that had been without care for too many years; a halt to the march she had forced herself into for too long.

When she looked up at him, she opened her mouth for a moment, feeling at a loss how to express herself without sounding pathetic.

Chris would be so worried when he found her gone.

"Claire?" Sebastian asked above her.

"Okay," Claire said as she collected herself, her voice shaking a little. "Y-yes, I want to go with you. I'd love to see your home, but I need to find a way to tell my brother that I'm alive and ok."

Sebastian let out a long breath as he released her chin and kissed her forehead softly. He didn't seem to miss the emotions crossing over her features, and as with everything else, he didn't shy away from it once. He rested his head on hers for a moment as he held her. What she had thought was a mercenary that was scratching an itch turned out to be so much more.

"It's in Eze, France. A small little portion of a town on the mountainside above the Mediterranean Sea, between St. Jean Cap Ferrat and Monaco." He slid a piece of paper out of his pocket and pushed it into her back pocket; he left his hand in there and gripped her backside tightly and pulled her into him. "Memorize that address. If Blue Umbrella needs to take you without me, tell them you need to be dropped off somewhere in France. Make your way there on your own."

"You bought a place close to where you were born." The statement felt heavy as Claire brought her hands up to his chest. It was his turn then to suddenly have multiple emotions darting across his features. Claire had no doubts that Sebastian had very little history in sharing this much of himself with many people. If any at all.

"Whatever happens, you will be safe there." He went on as he began to pull back from her, his eyes lowering between them as he seemed to emotionally pull away as well.

"Sebastian, that place is just a building without you. I'm leaving with you." Claire declared as fear quaked up into her throat and she reached out to grab his vest to stop his retreat.

Sebastian let out a sigh and allowed her to pull him back slowly. He looked back at her and said, "I suspect that both of us are going to do what we feel is best on that island, but I wanted you to know what's yours now."

"What's mine—that includes you now." She whispered and his expression changed as his bright hazel gaze held hers intently. Claire shook her head as she considered something after a moment. "Even if I managed to make it to Eze, how would I even get into your home without you?"

"You'll tell them my full name." he said simply as he leaned forward and whispered it softly her ear.

Claire pulled him closer as she made a pleased sound in her throat. The significance wasn't lost to her as she lifted her lips to his and put everything she had into the simple kiss. "We're both going to make it to Eze, and then you're going to show me more of who you are and where you come from." She said gripping his vest tightly and pulling her head back to look up at him fiercely.

Sebastian stared down at her and lifted a hand to push her bangs from her face as he studied her eyes. "I'll continue to give you whatever you want if you keep looking at me like you do, Claire." He responded after a moment.

"And the girls said that 25 was too old to pull in a sugar daddy." Claire said coyly. She paused as Wesker's comment came to the forefront of her mind. "Wesker did imply that my aging process is a little off with the virus though."

"So, you're going to continue to just look like this for a while yet?" Sebastian asked with a glimmer in his eyes. When she nodded, he laughed and muttered, "Jesus Christ."

"Now that I have you primed, just remember I like motorcycles and doughnuts. Lots of them."

"You're not getting that godawful thing we rode earlier."

"What do you have against the Goldwing? That bike saved our lives! It's because you rode bitch, isn't it?"

Sebastian snickered as he caught her hand and brought her knuckles up to his mouth as he said, "I'd buy you a sports bike and nothing else. If you don't like it, I'll turn you into a red little backpack while I ride it."

Claire was cackling again as she thrived in the gentle look he gave when he watched her laugh. "We'll work through this I'm sure, but all things considered, I finally got your last name, Smith. I'll say that these looks are worth their weight." She teased.

"I think a trade may be in order." Sebastian said as he pushed her toward the wall of the crane.

"You already know my name." Claire was flushing as he caged her in slowly. Delighted as she watched his face transform, and heard his tone deepen.

"What's your middle name?" His voice was rough as lowered his face to her neck and gently nipped at her skin.

"Bella." Claire acquiesced with a slight stammer, the muscles in her stomach clenching.

Sebastian pulled his head back and smirked. "And you gave me shit about Smith."

"You couldn't have been a little more creative?" Claire retorted as she bit her bottom lip to hide her satisfaction. Sebastian missed none of it as his own smirk deepened.

Claire glanced down at his mouth but kept her base urges in check on the deck of the ship as she said, "Did you know, according to the lore, if you give your True Name, you give your power to another? The mistakes are mounting for you, Hunk."

"Oh, I'm aware, Bella." He said with a deep chuckle. "I'll enjoy seeing what you think you can do with that power."

The gallery of the boat smelled of strong polish and the faint wisps of the aging wood. It was a smell that immediately made Claire think of her father working in the garage. She could almost picture him as he leaned beneath the hood of their family sedan. The crown of his similar red hair catching in the overhead light as his hands tinkered away. Claire lingered near the door for a moment before she shook the thoughts away.

Rosburg and Bruce drew her attention as they sat at the far end of the twenty-seater table. The four squad members sat toward the middle, and they were waiting quietly as she and Sebastian approached. Several agents that Claire was not familiar with sat at the other end of the table.

Claire immediately felt the odd tension in the room as the agents mixed with the unknown entity that was Blue Umbrella. The irony was not lost on her as she considered the two sides that worked together to fight against the next biggest threat. She had no doubts that the U.S. Department of Defense had specifically kept this quiet until a verdict could be printed with results. Better to ask for forgiveness than beg for permission, as the saying went.

Rosburg's eyes were on Claire as she took a seat near the end beside Bruce. Sebastian sat on her other side and lifted his eyes to the Blue Umbrella squad before he slowly regarded the agents at the end of the table. Two of the agents immediately looked away as he did. Claire frowned and wondered for the first time what some of Sebastian's history was with his previous partners. Rosburg had hinted to something, but then again, she'd have drowned Rosburg in a shallow pond given the right circumstances.

One of the Blue Umbrella squad members of a slighter build pushed his chair back and reached down into a bag to bring out schematics that appeared to be hand-drawn with extreme care. Claire's eyes caught on his left hand; he was missing his pinky finger and ring finger.

"We have three objectives while we're on the island." The African American squad member began as he pulled the schematics toward the center of the table for the other agents and Claire to view. "Eliminate Osmund Saddler, assess Agent Kennedy, and destroy the second boat."

The man, Sebastian had identified him as Tam earlier, pointed to the northern side of the island and went on further about the second cargo ship's position. Team One consisted of Giles, the man missing fingers, Becker, the woman who smiled at Claire earlier, and Fergus, the youngest looking one out of the group, and the three other agents at the end of the table. Much like the USS George W. Bush, they would not be able to simply detonate explosives and sink the ship. They would need to put it out of commission before terminating any threats on board. The Spanish Military had ships waiting in the harbor to deploy once the team's boots were on the ground.

Claire had raised a hand to get Tam's attention. He paused and looked to Sebastian for a moment before he nodded at her. Claire pointed out the threat of a Queen Plaga. She spoke of Ashley Graham and warned them to the signs of the queen's nest by looking for the rope-like vines. She made it a point to note that fire was an excellent way to gain ground against the free roaming Plagas if they didn't have enough flashbangs. Becker grinned in response and patted her incendiary rounds at her hip with a flourish.

All eyes assessed Claire carefully at the table, but Claire kept her chin level as she met their stares. She wouldn't dishonor Ashley's memory by shying away from what she could stop from happening to someone else. Sebastian was looking at Claire with a touch of curiosity; she still had a lot to catch him up on when this was over. She should probably call her therapist too. This might be considered out of her scope of practice though.

"A lot of ground to cover for a cargo ship." Rosburg spoke up as he looked over at the Blue Umbrella squad with an almost accusatory stare.

"Nothing we haven't been trained for." Becker responded, not bothering to show her interest in the long-haired agent's assessment; her eyes briefly flicked over to Sebastian before she looked back down at the table. Claire was starting to like her more and more.

"And where exactly were you trained?" Rosburg pressed, his face slightly twisting at her dismissal.

"Survive, and you may have the chance to find out." Tam said meeting the agent's eyes. His mouth was an angry slash against the dim lighting in the gallery. Claire had the distinct impression that this was the man that normally led the unit, but his eyes deferred to the new Alpha Leader, Sebastian. She wouldn't have even noticed if she hadn't heard them speak to Sebastian in the hotel about leadership.

"Team two will need to enter on the south side cliff face. It's the closest position to the intel we got about Saddler." Sebastian spoke next as he was looking at Tam, Claire, and the two agents next to Claire, Bruce and Rosberg.

"Rosburg, and McGivern, you'll be responsible for locating Saddler. We'll need to engage Kennedy and draw him out; if one of us goes down, I want you to split and locate Saddler. We'll do what we can to clear the path with Kennedy. The remaining members of the Spanish military will wait for us near the extraction point."

Bruce chipped in then and pulled out reports he had mentioned to Claire on the deck. He quickly brought the table up to speed about the researcher's relation to Dr. Sera, the device that removed the Plagas, and the intel he received for its location.

"Risky, but we'll head there on the way." Tam said as he tapped the map again at an area that looked like a large building outside of an area marked as the mines. "The researcher, and the labs have been reported near the middle of the island. We'll need to split off if we don't encounter Saddler on the island first. Forward scouts reported seeing Saddler leave the cargo ship yesterday around mid-day. He hasn't returned to the boat since." Tam responded, acting as if he and the squad members didn't already know of the information with the researcher.

"The president's daughter is dead." One of the three agents said from the far-left side of the table. "Why are we still holding back from eliminating Kennedy straight off?"

Claire lifted her head slowly as she looked down toward the three men. She could feel a line in her back lift as if someone had pulled a tightly coiled string in her spine. The hackles of an animal that lengthened before it struck.

"The previous reports also said that adult parasites couldn't be removed without killing the host." Another agent from down the table said. "Have we received new intel that suggests we could save Kennedy's life?"

"No," Claire answered before someone else could. "But we're going to try anyway." Her eyes challenged the agent as his expression darkened.

"Ms. Redfield, there may not be time for us to route to Agent Kennedy away. Our interests lay in the quick termination of Osmund and his little pets." The second agent said slowly as he sneered at her. The agents beside him nodded and all shared the same grim looks.

"Time?" Claire said as she tilted her head and tapped her pen twice on the table. "There was time enough for your agency to send him here without assistance, updated intel, and proper means to escape. He was one man against a country, and he failed trying to protect a young girl from harm." Claire's voice balanced on a knife's edge as her anger reverberated in her tone like the segments of keratin in a rattlesnake's tail.

It suddenly dawned on Claire how much she understood Leon's situation. After all, she had been in a similar position in Raccoon; she could have easily made a misstep while protecting Sherry. Despite the outcome with the government, she had succeeded, where Leon had fallen. Worse, he was imprisoned to that fact with every second that passed.

"If you want to play that game with your life, that is your choice as our civilian on this mission." The man responded as he shifted slightly in his seat. "However, there may not be anyone to save you when he takes you out as he did our previous teams."

Claire's eyes sharpened as she breathed in the man's true ire. Hunnigan had said Leon had killed several extraction teams in the first two months. She had imagined that Leon was at least granted an understanding in consideration to his lack of free will, but she knew that also didn't easily resonate when you lost teammates—friends, in a horrible situation. She also knew what could be seen as a threat could also just be the echo of the fear in the men in front of her.

Sebastian's shift was small, but Claire noticed the change beside her as he straightened in his seat and leaned toward the agent, but she wouldn't let him defend her against such a displayed threat.

"Being compromised in your anger won't bring your teams back." Claire said evenly as she rested back in her chair. She set the pen on the table as she held the man's eyes for the brief pause. "If given the opportunity, I certainly hope you can move past your grudges and do what's right for the man who's risked quite a lot for this country and the president's daughter. Know that I won't hesitating to do so anymore."

Sebastian strong rasp cut through the air, "Enough." His commanding voice seemed to snap the entire table out of the tension that Claire and the agent had created.

Sebastian gave a sharp look toward the agent as Tam continued with their objectives. Sebastian's hand grasped Claire's knee under the table, and he gave it a squeeze that she interpreted as approval. Claire felt the flare of something hot in her blood as she continued to hold the agent's eyes from across the table. She could have sworn she tasted smoke at the back of her throat as she considered the man but pushed it away as the agent looked from her gaze first.

Twenty minutes later, after the teams were secure in their objectives, Claire stood observing the smokestacks on the island now in view of the deck of the ship. The rising smoke adding to the gloomy atmosphere in the cloudy night and obscuring part of their view toward the taller buildings. Ruins could be seen on a lower level of the island, and Claire tiled her head to see cracked stone towers and a platform.

The ship's crew moved fast to lower the rowboat into the water. Bruce and two other agents beside her hauled the gear over to the side of the deck while Becker, Fergus, and Giles stood off to the side pulling their equipment from the pile for their drop off next. It seemed strange to Claire that the three would be going to the cargo ship and only Tam would be traveling with her and Sebastian's team.

"Ready, Red?" Sebastian said beside her ear. She looked to see him securing his grenades in his belt as he watched her carefully. She could see his strong jaw clenching slightly. Another tell she was beginning to pick up when he was anxious.

"I don't even know what ready looks like anymore, Sebastian." She said, parroting her response from when he asked her on the first night.

Sebastian's recognition was keen as he smirked down at her. "Well hopefully you didn't skip arm day this time. We got a way to go still." He said nodding at the cliff face in front of them.

"I would literally give you anything you want if you could just let me cling to your back." Claire said as she rested a hand in her back pocket and observed the climb ahead of them. Her fingers squeezing around the shredded pieces of paper in the denim. She had read and repeated the address softly to herself as they had grabbed their gear.

"Pass. I got what I want already." He said as they walked together toward the rowboat, his hand curled around to her lower back possessively.

Claire gave him a playful smile as she rolled her eyes and stepped up to the ladder that lowered toward the rowboat below. When he began to pull his hand back, she reached back and grasped it. His eyes flared toward hers as she gave a tiny tug that caused him to lean toward her.

"You don't know the half of it yet." She said with a cock of her head. His answering look was a balm to her swarming anxiety. "I'm starting to understand what all the fuss is about, you know?" She said to him as she used his line from the hotel.

"And what's that, beautiful?"

She leaned in closer and softly said, "The looks you give me too. I think I could live in them for the rest of my life." She squeezed his hand once more before she turned to the ladder and mentally prepped for the final push toward Leon.

Sebastian had taken the time to patiently explain to Claire what safety measures she would need to take as she scaled the wall in front of them. Claire was understandably skeptical as this was her first foray in climbing cliffs, but she had learned harder lessons in worse scenarios and kept her fears tightly buttoned to her chest.

Next to them, Tam and Rosburg pulled the rowboat onto the narrow path of the rocky shore while Bruce began to pull out the gear from his large pack; his watchful gaze darted between her and Sebastian, and then to the ship disappearing around the bend of the island.

Soon, Tam had begun the climb and placed the hooks for each of their carabiners. Claire went before Sebastian as he followed close behind her; his quiet promise to catch her hadn't quite settled her heart as she began to pull herself up. Tam had located a less inclined area further down the shore, and the trek up was made a little easier as she leaned into the rock when she felt her nerves spike.

"Takes out tyrants like the Sunday night trash but make her climb a wall…" Sebastian's teasing tone floated up to her from behind.

Claire bit the inside of her cheek as she fought a smile and pulled herself up carefully. Her breathing was like a lullaby she maintained to keep her pace moving forward. She didn't have time for the panic attack that threatened to show its hand. From hand to foot, Claire pulled herself until she took Tam's extended hand to haul her up at the top. Claire let out a small hysteric giggle as she breathed deeply and let the blood return to her arms. She caught Tam's eye, and he nodded at her once, as if thanking her for her ability to not lose it in enemy territory.

As Sebastian pulled himself over the edge next, he reached down for Bruce. Once Rosburg was up, he began to quietly pull his gear off; handing the left-over equipment back to Bruce and stepped up beside Claire. Sebastian's quick scan of her expression told her she seemed to pass a test as he turned from her to survey the area.

"Tam," Sebastian said simply as he pulled out his silenced pistol. Tam nodded and pulled his weapon as he took point. Sebastian turned back to her before he studied a dark building in the far left. He jerked his head over his shoulder, and she nodded at the silent request.

Claire followed behind Sebastian as she pulled out her own pistol. Their steps were quiet and measured as Tam lead them through the brush. A light in the darkness pushed through the trees, and Tam paused with a closed fist up. He waited for a few beats as voices could be heard drifting down on the wind from their position. Tam pointed to Bruce and Rosburg, signaling to the right toward a building ahead with a broken-out wall. Claire squinted at what looked to be a ladder popping out from the ground on the inside.

Tam eyed Sebastian and the two men seemed to have a silent conversation before Tam lifted two fingers and made a circular motion. Sebastian nodded and Tam moved left to creep toward a small landing with a ladder that led to secondary story with smashed out walls.

"Wait." Sebastian said quietly to Claire as he crept forward, and she remained near the brush. She gripped her gun and kept it trained on the ground as she listened to the sounds around her. She opened her mouth to protest but remembered her promise to him. Unease crept over her shoulders as she was left behind.

A flash grenade went off, the light briefly illuminating the dark corners of the main portion of the ruins. Claire heard the cries rise in Spanish. The snubbed sounds of a silenced pistol cut through the air as she lost sight of Sebastian around the building's corner. Tam squatted on the second story as he began to fire at the unseen mob beyond the buildings. Claire couldn't see where Bruce and Rosburg had gone after they got into the building.

Movement caught Claire's eyes to the left as she squinted toward the far-left area of the ruins. Something grey flickered in one of the buildings and her throat tightened in fear as she saw a familiar set of eyes look out from the darkness of the distant building. Claire stepped toward the building Tam stood at, keeping low.

"Tam!" She whispered as she neared the ladder. She lifted her gun toward the darkness. Leon's face came into focus, and she took an unconscious step forward toward him.

Something else darted out from the building as Leon's face pulled back into the blackness of the shadows. A towering, robed figure began to move toward the ladder where she was. Glowing eyes peeked out from the hood as it moved like a shadow against the firelight of the camp.

Claire let out a soft sound as she ran forward toward the ladder, lifting her gun to fire off three shots at the figure. From the corner of her vision, she saw Tam swing around to look down at the noise. A loud boom sounded before something wet splashed Claire's forehead from above. She took her eyes from the creature to see the pocket of blood that tore through Tam's abdomen and drip down towards her. The sniper bullet had gone through the wall; the exit wound was golf ball sized on his abdomen.

"No!" Claire yelled as she unloaded her clip into the creature's face and ran to grip the ladder. The robed creature fell to one knee with a growl as its newly mangled face shuddered before her eyes; the Plaga inside rushing to aid its host.

A second robed figure darted out from the furthest building, and it blew past her as it headed for the center of the ruins; she heard someone yell out from afar and Claire knew she needed to move fast. She yanked the grenade launcher off her back and looked toward Tam as he clutched his stomach and pulled a larger gun from his side. He wasn't going to be able to climb down easily with that wound.

"Tam, get down!" She yelled before a second boom rocked the center of the ruins. The ladder vibrated harshly in her fingers before the second story above began to collapse. Claire dove away with a grunt as she heard the foundation crack behind her. Tam vanished in the rubble. "Tam!"

She heard Leon's telltale laugh in the distance as she her attention snagged on the large creature standing back up. Its hood had fallen back to reveal an inhuman face with long pointed mandibles that twitched slowly. It moved toward her with flexing taloned fingers that beckoned.

"Sebastian!" Claire called as she kept her eyes on the monster.

Claire stood, slid her foot back, and braced as she fired off the first acid round with a sneer. A shrill scream rose from the depths of the monster in front of her as gunshots trilled off the buildings all around. She had fired the second acid round when she heard the crunching of boots coming from her deep left. The stony face of Leon burst through the brush.

Claire turned her grenade launcher and shot a hasty a round that landed toward his feet. Leon narrowly avoided the shot with a front flip; a blade flashing in his hand before she felt the steel drag up her left forearm in one long swipe.

Fire lit the ground around her as she stumbled and bled freely. A shriek beside her caused her head to whip toward the creature that was only a few feet away. She stumbled back onto her ass and flung her arm at the beast with a grunt. It's glowing coal-like eyes raging as its chest plumed in flames. The sound of gravel alerting her to Leon running out of sight around the building that Bruce and Rosburg went into.

Claire suddenly couldn't hear over the sound of her own fearful breathing and the high-pitched screams of the monster that thrashed in front of her. Her eyes widened at the twisting color of the now white flames that ravaged across the creature's body. The tissue and muscle began to bubble and slide away in seconds.

"Sebastian!" She called again as she made it to her feet and took a step away from the dying creature. The fire sputtering out on her arm with the knitting of her skin. She was beginning to heal over at a much faster rate.

She stumbled as she beheld the collapsed building where Tam had stood previously. How had things gone so wrong so fast?

A grunt ahead made her pull away from the building.

Claire stumbled around the trailing flames to run toward the center of the ruins. The gunfire had ceased, and the quiet that followed was layered with its own threat. The knocking in the back of her head generating a rhythm to the mercenary's name as she searched for him.

Claire soon skidded around the buildings to see Leon standing near a roaring campfire. The bodies of Ganados littered the area, along with puddles of blood that trailed toward a door that was tucked under the cavern ahead. Sebastian, Rosburg, and Bruce were nowhere to be found.

Leon stood with his arms crossed as he stared down at her. His right hand had blood splattered up to his forearm.

"Hello, Claire." Leon said with a slight flick of his hand. He began to casually walk to the side, his head tilted up as his bangs hid one of his eyes. He kept his arms crossed over his chest as he considered her. "I've realized something about you."

"Shove it up your ass, Leon. Where are they?" Claire's voice shook as the crimson puddle at her feet caught the reflection from the flickering campfire. The sight caused the knocking in her head to give way to the thrum of her rising blood pressure as it screamed louder: Sebastian, Sebastian, Sebastian.

Leon ignored her as he sat down on one of the broken stone walls near the fire. "Now that I know what your body can do, I find it pointless to keep trying to gauge you physically. I still will of course," he said as he lifted his gaze to hers, an elbow propping up on one knee. "But your virus will simply heal you. It won't, however, heal what it considers to be the less important wound."

Claire felt her body give an involuntary shudder and her teeth clenched; the anger became a living thing in her veins. Her eyes snagged again on the door to the right that held the design of a lion, snake, and something else she couldn't make out. The blood splatters on the ground led directly through the threshold; portions of it had smeared on panel as if someone had been forcibly dragged through. Her breaths were coming out in almost gasps as she felt herself give another shudder. Her hands flexed and began to grow hot as she gripped her grenade launcher.

Claire lifted a shaking hand and her brows furrowed to see the off-colored green tint to the veins in her wrist.

"Are you going to come out and play?" Leon asked, drawing her attention once more. A slow grin was pulling at his features as he watched her gulp down a breath but didn't rise to the bait.

"I'm going to break your heart, Claire." Leon continued as she lifted her grenade launcher. "I'm curious what I may have missed out on. Aside from a few others, you managed to seduce one of the most dangerous men from Umbrella. You called out so sweetly to him earlier and it gave me just enough time to have him cornered. Love is the death of duty, after all."

Not hesitating any further, Claire bared her teeth in a snarl as she plunged her finger on the trigger of the grenade launcher. The acid round connected solidly, spraying his chest fully, and Claire fired another and missed as he moved.

Leon was up and charging toward her with a look of rage in his eyes. His grey tactical melting on his skin as his body impacted with hers against the house behind her.

Claire's back jarred into the ruins wall as she yelled out in her own rage; the backpack she had on cushioning some of the blow. Leon gripped her jacket between her shoulder and elbow before he slammed her arm against the corner of the wall. The gun dropped from her hand as a sickening crack pierced the air when the bone in her left arm snapped under his hold. She screamed into his leering face, and he yanked her forward over his shoulder.

Claire flipped her body's momentum to roll up into a crouch with ease. She landed in the dirt behind him, her eyes widening for a moment as her body was humming with energy. With glare over at Leon, the pain roused something closer to the surface.

She was almost a blur as she lunged forward and threw her good shoulder into Leon's middle. Leon let out a groan of protest and surprise as he slammed to the ground with her atop him.

There was thunder in Claire's ears, as her mouth opened in a sharp inhale that colored itself in the shade of wrath only written about by survivors. Her unbroken arm raised beside her as if she was reaching for something, and she saw Leon's eyes widen as red and white flames burst forth without a cut to her palm.

Leon gave a coughing laugh as bucked his hips, and suddenly Claire was airborne again, spinning as she landed palms down, on her knees.

"Heating up, Claire?" he taunted as he stood.

Claire let out a small laugh of disbelief as she looked up at him.

"Tick tock, Claire." Leon called a little breathlessly as he glanced down at the skin of his chest poking through his half-melted shirt. The skin was badly damaged, but it appeared to be healing slowly. "Every breath you waste, your mercenary gets closer to his end."

Claire watched as he stepped toward the door and pushed it open, he looked back at her, ruby eyes shining in the firelight. His eyes dropped to her hand and Claire followed his gaze at the hand that was turning the dirt into a scorched patch in the earth. Her skin was no longer blackening but remained intact.

Claire was pushing up from the ground as she felt the bone in her broken arm shift; it was already fusing back together, and she barely noticed any pain. Where concern would have normally entered her thoughts, she felt herself flourishing in the feeling coursing through her system. Her thoughts were starting to feel more straightforward and sharper as the smells and sounds around her became overwhelming.

"I guess it was always going to be me and you in the end, Leon." She called. Her voice sounded strange to her as she stood slowly.

Leon was quickly turning away from her and was pushing through the bloodied door.

"Come and see what failure feels like, Claire." Leon's voice echoed out from the hallway and right down into the hallowed-out places of her soul.

The flames of her palm turned stark white, and when she lifted her gaze again, something else stared out after him.

Sebastian, Sebastian, Sebastian.

In her coiling rage, she didn't notice the paled face of Tam watching from his kneeled position of the ruins across the way. A communicator up to his mouth as she stepped forward into the doorway, and into what waited for her beyond.