Disclaimer: The good people at Capcom own Resident Evil. I own this story.
Resident Evil: Armageddon
Part II- Hands of Fate
Chapter 1- Overdue Reunion
Written by: Striker
I once heard someone say that fate has its ways of reminding us what destiny it has planned for us all. That meant two things. One, that fate had planned for my friends and I to fall at the hands of Umbrella. Two, That fate intended us to win. If you had asked anyone of us which destiny we were heading for in the days after our reunion, no one would have been certain. For it was in these few days that we went through one of the toughest times in our lives. It was a time when we had to face our own problems and beat them. Looking back at this all, I now believe that this time was a test. Fate was seeing if we really were ready for the coming storm. Now all we had to do was pass it.
Barry sat in front of the off gate. He looked at has watch. He had been doing it for the last half hour. It was ten to nine. Barry had gotten to the airport early in hopes that Chris' flight may come in sooner than scheduled. He had taken the time to reserve Chris a car. From what he had read from the news in London, Chris would need a car that could take some heavy punishment. He had got a dark blue Chevy Blazer. If that couldn't take Chris' aggressive driving, nothing could. He began to read one of the magazines when he heard what he was waiting for.
"Flight 629 from London has now landed. All passengers will be getting off shortly."
Barry got up and began to head for the gate. He got there just in time to see Chris and some girl, he assumed was Chris' sister, get off. Chris saw Barry and walked towards him with a grin on his face.
"Barry, you old fox, I hope you didn't spend the night here waiting for me."
"Chris, you realize how much trouble you caused?" The two were now standing face to face.
"No, but since when haven't I."
Barry's face broke out into a big grin. "I've been waiting to do this for a long ass time." He wrapped Chris in a big bear hug. "Good to see you again man," he said, slapping Chris on the back.
"Same here bud, same here" Chris said patting Barry on the back.
"If you two are done, you can stop. I think people are starting to look."
Barry let go of Chris and turned to Claire. "You must be Chris' sister."
"Yes I am. How could you tell?"
"The infamous Redfield wit. I had to put up with it for over a year. I'm Barry." He held out his hand for her to shake.
She took it. " My name's Claire. It's nice to meet you. Chris has told me all about you."
"He did, did he?" Barry turned to Chris. "And how much did he tell you?"
"Just as much as she needed to know." Chris answered. "I didn't tell her anything embarrassing. I'm saving that for tonight."
"Well, let's go. We only have one hour before Jill gets here." Barry began to head for the luggage claim.
"Why can't we wait for her here?" Chris expected to wait for Jill's flight to come in.
"It'll be safer at my place. There's no sense in giving Umbrella an easy target."
Chris shrugged and began to follow Barry, Claire in tow. When they got to the luggage claim area, Claire got a luggage cart. Barry was shocked by the amount of bags Chris and Claire were scooping up.
"Damn Chris, don't tell me you emptied your apartment. You know I have stuff for you at my place."
"You know me Barry, I don't take handouts. Besides, Claire would kill me if I left behind all the clothes she bought me."
"Claire took you shopping?"
"That's right Barry. Got a problem with that?" Claire asked, insulted by Barry's remark.
"No ma'am. Boy, you must be his sister. You two have the same temper."
"Thank you." Claire said smiling.
They finished loading the cart and started for Chris' car.
"Here's the lot it's in." Barry handed Chris the slip for the Blazer. "I'll come over in my van and get you. I'll lead you to the hideout, and then come back for Jill."
Chris took the slip. "Jesus Barry, you have this all planned out, don't you."
"Hey, I had two days to prepare for this. I want this to go through without a hitch."
"Well, I'll see you later then." Chris began to walk away.
"Chris."
"What?" Chris turned to Barry.
"How come you never said you had a sister?"
"One, I didn't think it was anyone's business. Two, you never asked." Chris winked before walking away with Claire.
Barry shook his head. "You haven't changed at all." He then started for his van.
Barry led Chris to the hideout. Both the Redfield siblings were impressed with the sheer size of it. Barry had told them to make themselves at home while he went for Jill and Carlos. Chris spent the time exploring the place while Claire sat down on the couch and watched TV. Both were practicing what they would say and do when everyone else got here.
Barry found himself in the same situation he was in an hour ago. He was waiting impatiently for Jill's arrival. He looked at his watch.
"Damn, we're gonna have to make this quick. I want to be there when the others arrive." It didn't take long for the announcement that flight 499 had just arrived. Barry ran to the gate.
"BARRY!" Jill ran into Barry's arms. "I'm so glad to see you." She stepped back, holding Barry's shoulders. "Is Chris here?"
"He's at my place waiting for us. We better hurry, the other will be there soon."
The three of them got the luggage and made their way to Jill's rental car.
"Well, looks like this is it. You ready?" Carlos asked Jill.
"More than I'll ever be." She replied.
Chris was standing on the porch when Claire came out. They had both changed into other clothes. Chris was back to his white T-shirt and black jeans. Claire had her biker clothes on, complete with red "Made In Heaven" jacket.
"You nervous Chris?"
"Yeah. It's been so long. I don't know how any of my friends have changed. I'm also anxious about these new people. It's just so..."
"Uncertain, like you don't know what to expect. I feel the same way. All I know is that whoever these people are, we're on the same side. We all hate Umbrella and will take it down. You can trust these people Chris, just remember that."
"I will. Hey, I thought I was supposed to be the smart one in this family?"
Claire whacked his arm as two cars came down the driveway. One was Barry's van and the other was a black Subaru Outback. Both cars stopped in the parking lot and the occupants got out. Chris saw a woman with shoulder length black hair got out. He recognized her by her face. It was Jill. His then saw a man get out of the passenger side and walk to Jill. He assumed that was Carlos. His heart sank as the guy put his hand on her shoulder.
Chris sighed. 'Damn, it looks like she fell for him after all. You lost her now.'
Jill spotted Chris standing by the house. Her face lit up as she rushed towards him. He put on a smile as he embraced his partner.
"I've missed you so much Chris." Jill was almost in tears, happy to see him after so long.
"I've missed you too." Chris replied. "It's been too long." Chris looked over and noticed that Carlos was smiling, as if he approved. 'The guy's just happy that Jill's happy, that's all.'
"At least we're together now, and nothing can take us apart again."
Chris let go and stared into Jill's blue eyes. They were sparkling like they never had before. He was going to ask her what she meant when he heard the sound of other cars approaching.
"That must be our other company." Barry shouted. "It's about damn time to."
Soon, three vehicles came down the road. One was a brown Jeep Cherokee. The second one was a yellow VW Beetle. The last one was a tan Ford Explorer. All three vehicles came to a stop and two people got out of each.
Chris looked at the new arrivals. Carlos came over to Chris to introduce himself.
"Hi, I'm Carlos. You must be Chris?"
"Yes I am. Nice to meet you." Chris started walking over to the others to welcome them. He didn't give Carlos a very friendly look, it was more like dislike.
"I knew it. He hates me" Carlos wasn't surprised, he had expected it.
"He doesn't hate you. He just doesn't trust you. And he probably has good reason." Claire said as she walked by him.
"Damn, whose that hot mamma."
"That's Chris' sister Claire." Barry answered, walking over to Carlos. "I wouldn't make any moves on her, or Chris may kick your ass."
Claire had reached Chris, who was scanning the six people. Three adults, three children. This was not what Claire had expected.
"These are our reinforcements?" Claire asked skeptically.
"I guess so. I thought there would be more."
Suddenly, a familiar young woman in a red shirt and brown shorts started to run to Chris. "CHRIS, I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!"
"Rebecca, how are..." Chris didn't have time to finish as Rebecca wrapped her arms around him and began to squeeze.
"Oh I missed you so much and I'm sorry I left you guys but now I'm back to help you and we can take on Umbrella together and..."
"Becky. You. Can. Stop. Now." Chris was desperately trying to get out of Rebecca's death grip.
Rebecca heard Chris and let go. "Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." she said as Chris hunched over, gasping for air.
"It's OK." he said, straightening back up and patting her shoulder. "Your stronger than you look."
"Thanks." She felt better from Chris' comment. She then saw Jill and Barry with Carlos. "JILL, BARRY. THIS IS SO GREAT!" She took off full speed at them. She immediately hugged Jill like she had hugged Chris. "Jill, I missed you I'm so sorry it's good to be..."
"I know. I know. Barry help!"
Barry pried Becky off of Jill only to have her clasp on to him. "Oh great," he growled.
"Oh Barry, I'm so happy right now I don't know what to do."
"You can start by letting me go." Barry considered himself a strong man, but Becky almost had him to his knees.
Rebecca let go. "Sorry. It's just been so long I kind of got carried away."
"Don't worry." Jill said, "Everyone's a little excited now. Right Carlos?"
Becky's attention was turned to Carlos. Her heart stopped at the site of him. 'What a hunk,' she thought to herself. "HI!"
Carlos stepped back and put his hands up. "Oh no. I don't feel like being crushed."
Rebecca looked puzzled. She then figured it out. "Hi, I'm Rebecca." She put out a hand.
"And I'm Carlos." He took her hand and kissed it, causing her to almost faint.
Chris and his sister had watched all this. Chris was still stumped by Carlos' actions. Maybe he wasn't with Jill. Or maybe that was just his way of staying "hi" to women.
"Boy, she sure is hyper, isn't she. Is she always like this?" Claire asked.
"Most of the time. We may have to give her some tranquilizers to calm her down."
"CLAIRE!"
Claire turned to see a girl in a pink dress and a jacket like hers. "SHERRY!"
Claire squatted down as Sherry ran right into her open arms. The impact almost sent both of them tumbling over.
"Sherry, I've missed you." Claire had tears of happiness pouring down her face.
Sherry was the same way. "I knew you would come back to me. I never gave up on you." She sobbed.
"I swear I'll never leave you again." Claire promised her.
Chris watched with a smile on his face. So Claire had a soft spot after all. It was funny because he never saw her as a motherly person. He looked over to see man in a blue shirt and brown dress pants coming over to him.
"Hi, I'm Leon Kennedy, Claire's friend." He put his hand out.
Chris took it in a firm handshake. "I'm Chris, her brother."
Leon could sense the protectiveness in his voice. It wasn't going to be easy getting along with him. "I met Claire in Raccoon. I helped her get out."
"I'm familiar with your story. Claire has told me all about it. Just watch yourself around her." Chris turned and walked away, leaving Leon standing there.
"Why do I have a funny feeling it'll take time for him to even let you near Claire." Ark had come over to Leon's side after watching his conversation with Chris. "I tell ya, he does not look like a friendly guy."
"Come on Ark, he's been through hell. Besides, from what Claire told me, he's not a people person to begin with." He turned to see Claire looking at him. "Claire, how have you been?"
"I've been better." She walked over and hugged him. "Thanks for watching over Sherry for me."
"It was nothing. I think we should head over and introduce ourselves to the others."
Claire, Leon, and the others walked over to Barry's little group. They all began to talk and shake hands. Barry looked around, not finding Chris. He finally found Chris leaning on one of the supports of the roof of the porch. He was standing with his left arm around his waist and his right hand in a fist over his mouth. He seemed to be watching everyone else. Barry walked over to him.
"What are you thinking about Chris?"
Chris looked at Barry and dropped his right hand. "Just that this has been a long time coming. We finally can do something instead of sitting around on our asses trying to find out where each of us could be. I just wish this could have happened sooner, or not at all. If I hadn't of left, things could of been different."
"That's the past Chris. You can't keep looking back to it. You have to think about the future. Now that we're together, we can teach Umbrella a lesson those bastards will never forget. Now come on. We have to introduce ourselves."
Chris nodded and headed for the group. Everyone was in a small circle as he approached. "Now that we're all here, I believe we should formally introduce ourselves. I'm Chris Redfield. You probably know about me since half of you have been looking for me for the last few months."
"I'm Claire Redfield, his sister."
"I'm Jill Valentine, Chris' partner from S.T.A.R.S."
"I'm Barry Burton. I was also in S.T.A.R.S. with Chris. I'm also his old friend too."
"I'm Rebecca Chambers, but you can call me Becky. I was in S.T.A.R.S. also. I was in another team, but it was wiped out."
"I'm Carlos Oliveira. I'm Jill's friend and used to be in Umbrella. Now I'm against them since they stabbed me in the back." He looked at all the dirty looks everyone was giving him. He felt very uncomfortable.
"I'm Leon Kennedy. This is Sherry Birkin. We both escaped with Claire from Raccoon."
"I'm Ark Thompson. I'm Leon's friend. This is Rott and this is his sister Lily. I rescued them from an Umbrella island."
Chris looked at everyone around him. "I'm sure we can talk some more later. Right now we should unpack and settle in."
"That's right." Barry said. "You can just throw your bags anywhere. We'll decide the sleeping arrangements tonight. Right now I think we're all a little hungry, so after we get moved in, we can get something to eat."
Everyone agreed and started for their vehicles, except for Chris and Claire, who had moved their stuff in earlier. As Claire helped Leon and Sherry, Chris headed for the house.
He gave one last look at Jill and Carlos, who were by her car laughing. 'Looks like this is the way things are Chris. Now you have to live with it.'
Author's Comments: It finally happened, The event you have been waiting for. It wasn't a big hug fest, but did you really expect that. Looks like Chris has the wrong impression of Jill and Carlos' relationship. Hopefully Jill will clear this all up. Chris also has a problem with Leon. He warned him to stay away form Claire right off the bat! Boy, is this guy anti-social or what? Either that, or a little too over-protective. Don't worry, we'll see the other's problems emerge later. Also, while this part will have its action and suspense sequences, expect more drama in this one. Hey, the characters have to resolve their problems before they can kick Umbrella's ass. Right?
In chapter two the team goes into the
past to explain how they got to where they are now. Old secrets will be
revealed, and new questions will be presented. It all happens in RE Armageddon:
Part 2, Chapter 2- What Have You Been Doing?