Resident Evil: The Recurring Nightmare of Hope

Chapter One: Memories in the Wind

Hope, the one thing you never want to have run out in a world where hope is as valuable as gold. The one thing you hold onto when you're afraid, sad, or angry. You expect it to save you, keep you warm on the cold nights of loneliness. What most people don't realize is that hope is the best weapon for your enemies to use against you if they have the upper-hand. Holding on to the hope of escaping a nightmare forces you to endure more than you should, allow your enemies to wound you more and more. In order to escape the pain, one has to let go of the only thing they have left: Hope.

How do I escape the recurring nightmare of my own hope? The body hanging from the ceiling by their wrists slowly awakens to that one thought.

The darkness has kept time from passing like it should, the person not really sure what day, night, week, or month it is. If they count the number of meals they have had as two a day, a total of nine days has passed, could be more, could definitely be less, the meals are meager and their ravenous hunger could be making the days seem shorter. The only sound in the room besides their own movements is the constant drip of sweat falling off the tips of their nose and toes. There comes a knock at the door behind them, like their captor needs permission to enter...

"Ah, how is my patient today?" the scraggly voice that always brings them food enters through the blinding light of the open doorway.

Something skinny and sharp slaps the exposed flesh of their back, causing a feminine scream to fill the room, "Oh good, you are still alive my dear Miss Redfield…."

Chris, Leon… Where are you guys? Claire closes her eyes as her day continues just as the rest of them had since she was captured.

Two Weeks Ago

"Where are we going?" three hours of driving has removed any and all humor in Claire Redfield's body as she sits in the passenger seat of the SUV her partner is driving.

He keeps quiet, turning his face a bit to hide the smirk creeping over his lips as the steering wheel in his hands is turned to the right as the turn signal is clicked on to mimic his intention to navigate the car eastward. His brunette passenger grumbles again and slouches farther into the seat, arms crossed with a scowl of powerful boredom on her face. They survived Raccoon City together, he did everything within his power to rescue her at Rockfort Island, so she has to trust him at this point, but Leon just chuckles and slowly pulls the SUV into a parking spot in front of a rather small bar.

His green eyes reflect the lights of the rather dull drinking establishment outside his car as Claire slowly turns to look at it, "This place? Really, Kennedy?"

Another chuckle as she replies how he expected, "Just get out of the car, Redfield."

Both adults exit the vehicle in two completely different manners as Leon slowly steps out and closes the door while Claire almost rolls out of the car with an exasperated sigh. He places a hand on her shoulder and begins to guide her toward the entrance, but suddenly ducks into the alleyway, dragging her with him. Before Claire can protest, he wraps a hand around her mouth and brings up his pistol, face stern and serious. Both survivors slowly make their way through the alley as Claire watches Leon for any sign of what is happening.

Why did I not look around first? What did he spot that I missed!? her inner voice continues to lecture her as they approach the back door.

Leon places a hand on the doorknob and swings around to the other side, motioning for her to enter as soon as he opens the door. Claire takes a deep breath to wake herself up and pulls the slide back on her own handgun, finding peace in the sound of a round sliding into the chamber. The male half of their team locks eyes with her and slowly begins to nod his head before the numbers are mouthed to her, counting down from three.

Claire takes one more deep breath and raises his sidearm up, then slides into the open door, gun aimed for headshots as she stumbles into a dark kitchen, God damn it, Leon! What is this shit!?

Claire squats down to eliminate as much noise as possible as she slowly makes her way through the nearly pitch-black room. She finds the door separating the kitchen from the main bar and dining area as she makes a small whistle for Leon to follow her in. When both people are waiting at the door, Leon slowly presses it open, motioning for Claire to take point.

As the female brunette makes her way into the candle-lit bar, the lights flash on before a group of voices screams, "SURPRISE!"

"I'm going to kill all of you!"

11

Claire holds in a snort as a fit of laughter leaves her lips at the story Chris is telling, "Jill sandwich? He really said that?"

The man in question sits the beer bottle on the counter and runs a rough hand through grizzled gray hair, "Yeah… In a mansion full of monsters and terror, I couldn't think of anything else to say..."

Another round of laughter from the gathered survivors as the last of her coworkers leaves the well-used birthday party for Miss Redfield. As the survivors of Umbrella attacks sit solemnly at the bar and slowly play with their drinks, no one says anything, all eyes focused on the distance. The bar is occupied on one end by Jill and Chris, the other side by Barry and Leon, with Claire in the middle. Another hour goes by as each member of their group sighs once or twice, gets a refill on their drink, or gets up to stretch a bit.

"No Rebecca?" Claire mentions it just to cause some kind of sound to fill the room.

Jill yawns and looks back at the birthday girl, "She found a lead on Billy and is currently chasing down a mercenary group in Southern China. Come on, Chris, dance with me!"

Claire turns to the two as Chris tries to protest, laughing as Jill blackmails him into the dance, "Dance or I tell everyone about your underwear…."

"Not gonna work, Jill, we all know Chris wears American Flag boxers. Ever hear his nickname in the Air Force?" a giggle as the color fades from her brother's face.

Jill grabs his face and turns him toward her, "Dance with me, or I ask…"

As the two lovebirds twirl off around the bar floor, Claire returns to the drink resting before her. She twirls a finger through the pool of water from her quickly warming mix of vodka and cranberry juice and lime. Everyone seems to be enjoying her party more than the guest of honor. They've all been fighting bioterrorism for years by this point, but they still can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. She doesn't even register the reduction in personal space as someone scoots a barstool closer to her. Their organization hasn't found any solid leads as to how there haven't been any real reduction in the amount of available bio-ware on the Black Market despite their victories in foreign countries. Someone is following in Umbrella's footsteps, but this mysterious entity seems to be better at covering their tracks than Umbrella ever was.

"I've seen dead bodies be livelier than you are right now…." Claire just huffs and sinks farther into the drink resting before her.

Leon places a hand on her arm and smirks, "What has you so down? Did I forget to give you your gift?"

Claire's blue eyes lower down to the box that is slid before her, her mind registering it as a present, but her body not moving to open it. Everyone else is trying to live a somewhat normal life, but Claire finds herself unable to remove herself from the nightmares of Raccoon City, Rockfort, and the loss of Steve. They've all seen a lot of death, but when one death is the result of your own inaction, it lingers around for a while.

Leon sighs and opens the mystery gift for her, the case opening up to reveal a necklace with an Umbrella-shaped charm, "Never forget."

Claire growls and stomps away from the piece of jewelry, "I couldn't if I tried, Leon!"

11

What did I say? Leon tries to chase after his partner, but a strong arm stops him, Chris's blue eyes showing no worry.

"You need to realize what she went through at Rockfort Island, Leon. She's not like the rest of us," his words ring true, but Leon still presses past the older Redfield and follows Claire outside, where she is sitting on top of the SUV that brought them here.

"Can I come up?" a hand is thrown over the side to wave him away.

After a bit, she huffs and replies, "What's the password?"

"Red-white-and-blue-field?" Leon smirks as a laugh filters over the top of the SUV.

Leon steps onto the rear bumper and rests his elbows on the top of the vehicle, his face looking at Claire as she stares at the sky, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Inflation, Kennedy, it's now a dollar for my thoughts."

A flash in Leon's eyes as he locks gazes with her blue eyes, "Thought nightmares were cheaper?"

Claire sighs and slides over, allowing room for Leon to climb up and sit down next to her. The two Raccoon City survivors spend a bit of time staring up at the clear night sky, not really talking, just enjoying the company of the other. No one else from the party inside bothers to come out to check on them, probably since they know why Claire reacted like she did. Leon sighs and thinks back on their time in Raccoon City, but the thought soon descends into a mass of blood, screams, and Leon finds himself shaking the thought away violently.

"Should I take it back?"

11

She can't believe that out of everything in the world, Leon thought she needs a reminder of why they fight bioweapons. Out of everyone else here, Leon is the one who constantly needs reminding. Claire keeps her mouth shut as Leon repeats his question, but she doesn't reply, not ready to reply. As Leon finally gives up and starts to roll away, she drops a hand on his chest to keep him near.

"Never forget the past, but keep looking toward the future, for hope."

Leon nods at her and smiles, squeezing her hand softly before rolling off the top of the car, "Happy birthday, Claire."

"You did good, Leon. Thanks for getting everyone together," Claire smiles and looks back up at the night sky as Leon walks back into the bar.

11

"Redfield, Kennedy, step in," the director of their Anti-BOW group ushers the duo to take seats in front of his desk.

As the female member of the team rests down into the slightly uncomfortable leather chair, he pulls up a folder and slides it over to them, "We have been getting reports from our spies within the black market of an Umbrella Bio-ware purchase made three days ago in Paris. Chris and Jill passed on this to continue tracking leads to Wesker, so this mission is all yours."

Leon thumbs through the file, handing photos and important pages to Claire, his lips moving to speak before Claire steals the words right from his mind, "Why are we being told of this after the sale has already been made?"

Director Reed Cranston sighs and places his chin on top of his intertwined fingers, "Our source is Jennings…"

"Does this mean he actually took his time and made sure it was Umbrella AND Bio-ware being sold?" Leon remembers the last time someone followed a lead from Jennings, the poor old lady was just buying a case of umbrellas for her school.

"He supplied us with a list of words he overheard being exchanged between the Market dealer and some friends. MA-121. Schematics for T-103 along with this…." a smaller picture is slid toward them, Claire's eyes locking with the image intently.

"Sherry!?" she has changed considerably from the little blonde girl they rescued in Raccoon City, but that is definitely the daughter of the creator of the G-Virus.

Director Cranston frowns and nods, "Apparently they are using her to peddle the G-Virus to interested parties."

"Does that mean….?" Leon can't bring himself to say it, but Claire is determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Does that mean we need to take down the buyer, seller, and rescue Sherry?" the color fades from her face as their boss shakes his head.

"Miss Birkin is not out concern at this time. We need to eliminate the bioweapons that were purchased and find the seller. If you happen to gather intel on Sherry while conducting your investigation, we can begin a file and search for her at a later date."

A fist slams onto the desk as Claire growls, "Sherry is a survivor! We need to rescue her!"

Leon reaches to grab Claire before the female Redfield does something stupid, but Director Cranston just leans back in his chair and replies, "You are ordered to complete the mission assigned to you. Do not deviate from this mission. If you attempt to rescue Miss Birkin at the risk of the mission, don't bother coming back to the states."

11

"That bastard!" Claire growls and paces around the room as Leon continues packing a bag with the essentials for their trip.

"Passports, enough cash for extra purchases, spare clothes for you and me, forgetting anything, dear?" he arches an eyebrow as he waits for her reaction to the comment.

None comes though as his partner continues her colorful rant about their boss's nighttime adventures, "Probably sits in dark alleys staring at whatever teen crosses his vision! Don't forget our ID kits. How dare he think he can put Sherry's life at risk when we've gotten the first clue in YEARS!"

The male in the room smiles and tosses the small boxes into their shared bag before he picks it up and turns to face the angry woman. Before Claire could start another tirade at the expense of their uninformed supervisor, Leon grabs her by the shoulders and spins her toward him, his eyes cutting into hers as she stammers to say something. There was once a moment when Leon wouldn't dare dream of thinking the thoughts he is, or preparing to say what he is going to. Of course that was before he got to know the larger and easy-to-anger Chris Redfield. Now though, things are different, and with a smile and a deep breath, Leon steps over the edge and takes the free-fall.

"You know you're actually cute when you are angry?" the blush that floods her cheeks almost makes him laugh.

Claire tries to turn away but he just holds her tighter, "It's an awesome trait to have…. I love it about you.. With anger like that, are you sure you're not a redhead?"

"I dye it," her confession is hidden in a soft voice as she slowly backs away from Leon's hold on her.

Leon watches as his partner busies herself with double-checking what he packed, her body shaking as she sighs heavily and dumps the contents out onto the table. The former cop leans against the wall as Claire begins to repack the bag, talking to herself about how bad men are at packing the essentials. A smile creeps across his face as his fellow Raccoon City survivor becomes a whirlwind of movement and sound as she replaces the crap he grabbed with better pieces and neatly sorts it all into the brown leather duffel bag they share for missions.

"Jesus, Leon, why did you pack toothpaste and soap? We can buy all that there if we need it!" the items are tossed back into the mini-bathroom of their shared office in the Anti-BOW compound they have been working at for six years now.

"Figured we could you know… Use it?" he keeps his voice low, hoping she didn't hear him.

Claire continues in her womanly rage to fix his mistakes, lost in her ways so Leon takes this time to head down to Chris's office, hopefully get a few words of encouragement to give to Claire regarding the Sherry situation. As the younger male of the group of Umbrella survivors makes his way to the office of the heroic Chris Redfield, someone else bumps into him, the two coffees they were holding spinning through the air effortlessly. One opens up and falls onto his head while the other bounces off his shoulder and empties itself onto Leon's shirt and pants.

"Son of a bitch that is hot!" Leon jumps up and attempts to clean some of the coffee off as he finally gets a good look at who bumped into him.

Jill Valentine frowns from her position on the floor and huffs, "You know the only way to make the coffee here bearable is to nuke it into submission, Leon.. Sorry about the spill…"

"Speaking of spills…. Could you do me a favor and talk to Claire? We got a bit of… Sensitive information and she's not taking it well… Might be nice for her to confide in a friend more than a partner right now…" Leon is uneasy about asking Jill to get involved, but they are a family here, and Claire will definitely open up more to Jill than Leon or Chris.

The brunette smiles and swipes a stray lock of hair from her face, "Yeah no problem. This have anything to do with that mission in France?"

"You always could read everyone like open books, Jill," he replies with a laugh and a wave as he makes his way to Chris's office, hoping the elder Redfield is still in as happy a mood as he was at Claire's party.

11

"What do you mean you lost track of them!? What the hell, DeChant!?" Chris tosses the nearest unbreakable item at the wall as Leon enters; apparently the mission Chris sent his team out on didn't go as planned.

There is an uneasy voice, followed by the hollow pops of automatic fire before Chris promptly sits down and calmly utters orders into the phone. Leon and Claire joined the Anti-BOW group Jill and Chris founded a little after Claire and Chris returned from Antarctica. Ever since they joined her brother in their combined mission to eradicate bio-weaponry from the world's black market, Chris has taken a back seat to being in the field and has instead focused all of his energy and resources to tracking down the last few remnants of Umbrella's leadership. The search for Spencer is going better than the quest for the elusive Albert Wesker.

Leon silently takes a seat in the chair opposite Chris's desk and nods at the elder male to let him know he'll keep quiet until the phone call is completed to success. Everyone sees Chris Redfield as this indomitable wall of will and resilience, but Leon has seen the side of Chris few get to: the exposed and vulnerable side. When Leon got the email from Claire about her being held on Rockfort Island, he got to see firsthand the wall come down as Chris took it hard at first. There was anger at first, accompanied by objects thrown at walls, windows, and other breakable barriers he found nearby. But after the initial rage and worry came the cold soldier people expect of Chris Redfield. That cold soldier left in a jet to find his sister and that cold soldier was what returned as he set foot in his office and rarely came out.

"Yeah, Leon? Sorry, had a team chasing down a lead on Wesker in the northern Ukraine," Chris leans back in his chair and props his feet up on the desk, lighting a cigarette as Leon leans forward.

"Claire and I just got a mission to take out a buyer of bio-weapons in Paris. Claire isn't taking it too well because there was a picture taken of Sherry Birkin at the sale," Leon's green eyes carefully watch Chris as he absorbs the information.

A long drag is taken of the cigarette in Chris's lips before he opens his mouth to reply, "You're worried that she'll get into trouble trying to chase down leads about Sherry, right? Neglecting the mission in order to correct a mistake she made. I feel for her, it's the same thing I did with Wesker when I found he was alive in Antarctica. I hate to say this, but there is only one thing you can do for her…"

"What's that?" the ex-cop leans back and stretches, looking to get this day over with and get a good night's rest.

A chuckle grabs his attention as Chris responds quickly, "You got to be Jill Valentine to her Chris Redfield… Be there for her to help her through it all and keep her mind on the mission at hand."

"Thanks for nothing….." Leon quickly stands up and exits the room, stopping for a second as Chris shouts back one more line.

"Jill has been my biggest supporter in my crusade against Wesker… Being a shoulder for support goes both ways, partner!"

END