Disclaimer. Resident Evil is owned by Capcom, who make a shit load of money from it. This story is owned by me, who doesn't make Jack shit from it. Isn't life cruel?
Resident Evil: Armageddon
Part II- Hands of Fate
Chapter 4- Hidden Feelings
Written by: Striker
Ark sat in the recliner. He couldn't believe Barry's gull, calling his friend a spy. Barry didn't even know Carl. He had no right making assumption without any evidence. That was what Ark had been taught to do. He had thought that all the stuff about Umbrella wasn't true, but he had come to that conclusion only after hearing Leon's story. He had seen all the evidence he needed to see on Sheena. That island had shown him Leon was telling the truth. Barry, on the other hand, had never met Carl. In fact, this was the first time he had told anyone about Carl since he got here. Maybe Leon would back him up on the fact that Carl was a good person. Leon had talked to him, and the conversation had gone well. Carl didn't try to force Leon to cooperate. Barry was just being a fool, letting his experience with Wesker cloud his reason.
Leon walked into the room and sat in the chair next to his friend. "Mad at Barry, huh?"
"He called my best friend a spy and a traitor. Of coarse I'm mad at him. I feel like going up and punching him in the face."
"That wouldn't solve anything, now would it. He would still think that Carl is an Umbrella agent, and everyone would not trust you."
"It's not like they trust me already. Chris didn't even look at me when we first got here. The others have been giving me strange looks. Plus, not only am I the odd man out, I work for the government. To them, I might as well leave and they wouldn't care at all."
"Is that why your staying behind, cause you think no one trusts you. Let me tell you something. I have as much to worry about as you do. Hell, Chris doesn't trust me either. He even told me to stay away from Claire. I don't think he trusts Carlos. You know what, I don't trust Carlos either. And if you ask me, I think all of us have a reason not to trust each other so easily."
"Why is that? Why shouldn't we trust each other? I don't see why. We all hate Umbrella. We all what to take it down. We all want to make sure Umbrella doesn't contaminate any other cities. We all have people we want to protect. What possible reason is there that everyone has to be so untrusting?"
"Maybe because some of us have been betrayed before."
"You mean like Ada?" Ark had heard about Ada Wong. She had used Leon to get the G-virus.
"Yes, someone like Ada." Leon didn't like to talk about her. As far as he was concerned, she was dead.
"You left her out of your story. Why?"
"Cause it wasn't anyone's business. She didn't matter anyway."
"Didn't matter! Leon, she tried to get the G-virus from Birkin. The others should have known that Umbrella sent more than one party to get that damn thing. For all you know she could still be..."
"She's dead." Leon cut Ark off. "I know because she died in my arms. You know what the funny part is? Even though she used me, I still fell in love with her. That's something I have to live with, and that's why I didn't tell anyone about her. What would they say if they knew I fell for someone from Umbrella. Trust can be just as deadly as a gun, it can wound you for life." Leon pointed to his bullet wound above his heart.
"I just want to know how to get these people to at least see me as part of the team."
"Simple, you show them you're part of the team. You prove to them that they can trust you. In time, they'll come around. You have to wait, that's all." Leon got up and left the room.
Ark watched Leon leave. "I hope your right."
Everyone was gathered around the dining room table. Their minds all raced with thought about the mission that would take place the next day. Barry finally look over to Ark.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I was wrong to suspect your friend. It's just that in this situation, anyone can be an enemy."
"I understand." Ark replied. "I guess we're all nervous about tomorrow. Forget it, it didn't matter at all."
The rest of dinner went on with people starting to talk to each other. Only Chris remained silent. He was going to miss his friends, and he was never going to get to know the new people. He wanted to remember this night, for he would never have another night like this for the rest of his life. Jill noticed the way he was staring at everyone. She knew she had to talk him tonight. She had to know what was going on, and she had to confess her feelings for him too.
After supper, everyone had moved into the living room. It was seven, so all the good shows were on. There had been an argument over what to watch, mostly from the kids. They had finally picked a show to watch and all was well. Sherry and Lily had taken the floor. Jill, Leon, and Claire had the couch. Carlos and Rebecca had opted for the loveseat, while Rott had the chair next to it. Barry took the recline, and Ark got the chair next to the window. Jill noticed that Chris wasn't in the room. She got up and looked in the kitchen. He wasn't there. She walked into the dinning room. He wasn't there either. It wasn't till she looked towards the den that she saw a soft glow coming from it. She walked in to see Chris at his laptop, going over the building plans. She walked up and stood behind him. He noticed she was there.
"Hey Jill. I thought you would be with the others watching TV."
"No. I was looking to see were you went to. What are you doing? Why aren't you with the rest of us?"
"I'm going over our entry and exit routes. I want to be and out as fast as possible. Once the self-destruct is set, it can't be turned off. I don't want anybody left behind. This mission will be a template for the other missions to come."
"In other words, it's a dress rehearsal for everything else we do."
"Right, I just have to make sure the route is direct and I know what sections it runs by. I don't need any surprises. I want this over and done with as quickly as possible."
"Chris, about earlier today." Jill changed the subject. "I'm worried about you." The volume of the TV in the other room drowned out her voice. If there was any time to talk, it was now.
"Why? There's nothing to worry about."
"Like hell there is. You should have seen yourself in the kitchen. You looked like you were going to seriously hurt Claire. I only saw that look you had once, and that was in Irons' office. You scared everyone."
"First off Jill, I would never hit my sister. Second, you know I have a bad temper. Sometimes I just loose it."
"That wasn't just loosing it. You looked like you were going to explode. I hoped that I never had to see you like that again. And I have a pretty good idea that the others don't want to any time soon."
"Don't worry, you won't."
"What's that suppose to mean? Ever since we all got here, you haven't been yourself. What is your problem Chris? You can tell me."
"I'm just tired. The last couple of weeks have been tough. I guess the pressure's getting to me. All this has happened so fast, I just have to adjust to it. I'll deal with this, you just worry about yourself."
Jill knew this was hopeless. Chris was stubborn and never admitted if he had a problem. Maybe if he knew she loved him, he would open up to her. "Chris, I..."
She was interrupted by Barry. "Come on guys. There's nothing on the tube, so we're watching a movie."
"We'll be right there." Jill turned to Chris. "I'll tell you later tonight." She walked into the living room.
"I already know." Chris printed out the building plans before turning off his laptop and headed for the living room.
Barry had chosen to watch STAR WARS because of the children. Jill had motioned for Chris to sit next to her on the couch. Chris gave Leon a warning look as he passed by to take his seat, much to Claire's disapproval. Jill decided to sit between Chris and Leon to act as a buffer zone. The night went without incident. The guys made stupid jokes about the movie while the women tried not to get drawn into the discussion. After the movie was over, an important topic was to be discussed.
"It's time we get settled into our rooms." Barry said. "Now, who wants to sleep where?"
"There's one problem." Claire said. "I only counted seven rooms. If I'm not mistaken, there are eleven of us here."
"I anticipated that." Barry said. "As you well know, this used to be a hunting cabin for me and my friends. Therefore, we always had enough beds for people to sleep on. As soon as I found out how many guest I was having, I set up the rooms. The room at the right end of the hall is the master bedroom. I'll be sleeping in there. The bedroom at the left end of the hall has four beds in it. The room next door has two beds. The remaining rooms have one bed each. So, who wants to sleep where?" Barry was just asking for trouble when he asked that question. Everyone started talking at once.
"Claire and I will take the room with two beds." Chris said.
"No, Sherry and I will take that room." Claire responded.
"I'll take the room next to Chris." Jill said.
"I don't care where I sleep." Becky chimed in.
"Me neither." Carlos didn't feel like fighting over rooms, he just wanted a bed.
"Hey, I don't care as long as I don't have to sleep on the couch." Ark said.
"I'll share a room with Claire." Leon said.
"I bet you would." Ark snickered.
"Like hell he will." Chris said, ticked off by Ark's comment and Leon's suggestion.
"I'll only sleep in a room that my sister's in too." Rott said, trying to get his word in. Lily nodded in agreement.
"I want a room with both Claire and Leon." Sherry said.
"Why don't you and the other two kids take the room with four beds?" Carlos asked.
"Cause I want to be with Claire and Leon." Sherry whined.
"I'll take the room with Chris." Jill said.
"Are you sure you don't want a room with one bed?" Claire asked mockingly.
"That's none of your business, now is it." Jill replied bitterly.
"I don't care who I sleep with." Rebecca blurted out. She turned red as soon as she realized her slip of tongue.
"Really?" Carlos asked, his one eyebrow raised.
"The only person Claire is sharing that room with is me." Chris said
"Fine. If I can't share that room with Claire, I'll stay in the one next to it." Leon said.
Ark did all he could to keep from laughing. "Hey Barry, what do you have to say about this?"
Barry had his right hand on his forehead, wondering how such a simple question could get so out of control. "Why do these things have to be so hard?" He had finally had enough. "EVERYONE SHUT UP!" He roared. "If you can't figure out who's sleeping where, I will."
Barry had put Rebecca, Sherry, Rott, and Lily in the room with four beds. He said the children should sleep in the same room. Becky had been offended by that. Carlos and Ark would take the next room over. It was the one with two beds. Claire would take the next one, so she could be close to Sherry's room. Leon got his wish and got the room next to Claire, much to Chris' protest. Chris had the room next to Leon. Barry took the master bedroom. Jill got the room across the hall from Chris. With that settled, everyone moved their stuff into their rooms. It was late by the time they finished. It was decided to unpack tomorrow and just get some sleep.
It was around midnight that Chris was woken by the familiar sound of Claire screaming. "Fuck!" He jumped out of bed and threw open his door. Everyone was coming out to see why Claire was screaming out Steve's name. Chris got to Claire's room, only to find that Leon had gotten there first. He was holding Claire, who was crying uncontrollably.
"What in God's name is going on?" Barry was coming from his room, Jill in tow. "One minute everything's quiet, the next your sister is screaming at the top of her lungs."
"Will she be alright?" Jill asked. She was startled as much as everyone else was.
"She will be. This has happened before. I'm used to it." Chris said.
"Damn, I swear, she was screaming loud enough to wake the dead." Ark had just come out of his room along with Carlos.
"What's up with her? It's like someone died or something." Carlos added.
"CLAIRE!" Sherry came racing by Chris and ran up to Claire's bed.
"Sherry." Claire was still in tears as she hugged Sherry.
"I heard you screaming. Did you have a bad dream?" Sherry asked, concerned about Claire.
"Yes, I did."
"I think I should stay with her until she quiets down." Leon said. "Is that OK with you Chris?"
"You got here before me. Stay with her until she falls asleep. Then take Sherry back to her room." Chris began to go back to his room.
"Hold on a second." Barry stepped in Chris' path. "Tell us what this is about. Your sister scared the hell out of me, as well as everyone else. We deserve an explanation."
Chris leaned against the wall as he spoke. "There's something Claire forgot to mention when she was telling her story. During her time on Rockfort Prison and in Antarctica, she and Steve fell for each other."
"They fell in love?" Ark said. "That's not the most romantic place I could think of, but I guess I shouldn't talk."
"They did." Chris said, looking at his audience. "Alexia knew this. That was why she captured Steve and made him into a monster. She wanted to hurt Claire for killing Alfred. Claire was forced to kill him."
"That's horrible. Couldn't you two have done something to help Steve?" Rebecca asked.
Chris shook his head. "We didn't have a cure. Besides, Steve asked her to kill him. The last thing he said before he died was that he loved her. She took that hard. Almost every other night for the last three weeks this has happened. This is the first time I wasn't there to comfort her. I guess Leon just took over my job. You know what, I don't blame her. I know just how she feels." Chris started back to his room, brushing past Barry.
"What do you mean?" Barry said. "I know you lost your parents, but this is different. How do you know what she's going through?"
Chris spun around and looked Barry dead in the eye. "Believe me, I know, more than anyone will ever know." Chris walked into his room and shut the door.
'What is wrong with you Chris?' Jill thought. She knew she was going to find out.
It was some time before Claire was back asleep. Everyone had gone back to bed. Chris lay in his bed, unable to sleep. 'I guess Claire doesn't need me anymore. No one does. I'll just be in everybody's way. It's better if I leave.' His train of thought was broken by a knock on his door. "Come in."
Jill opened the door and walked over to his bed. She sat down. "Chris, I have to know, who did you loose?"
He sat up in his bed. He looked at the sheets before turning his attention to Jill. "It was a long time ago." Chris began. "I loved her so much. I would do anything for her. The only thing I couldn't do is tell her that I was in love with her."
"Did she die before you had a chance to?"
"No, she's still alive. I lost her to someone else. I should of known that she would have found some other person. I left her, just took off and left her there. She met a guy that saved her and now, she's with him. And I have to live with the fact that I was too late to tell her I love her."
"Who?" Jill had an idea who he was talking about.
"You."
"Me? What do you mean? You never lost me. I'm here with you now."
"But you're with Carlos now. I lost you to him."
"Carlos! I'm not with Carlos. We're just friends. He's been helping me look for you. There is nothing between us. He knows about how I feel about you. He wants me to be happy. I don't love Carlos." Jill paused. "I love you."
Chris couldn't speak. He was surprised by what she had just said. He thought back to the whole day. She had been trying to show him, but he had missed it. He was convinced that she was with Carlos. Then he thought about Carlos' behavior. The guy had known how Jill felt. Damn! How could he be so blind. He looked into Jill's soft, blue eyes. "I love you too. I always have, but were never sure if you did. I thought that you fell for Carlos. I, I, I should have said this before I left. Hell, I shouldn't have left."
"It's OK Chris, no one is blaming you. You had to do it. I wanted to go with you, but I had to stay in Raccoon. I didn't want you to go. I wanted you to stay with me. You don't know how long I spent trying to find you. Now that we're together again, we can finally do what we should have done before, be more than friends. We can be a couple, like I believe we were meant to be."
"Jill," Chris said, "It's too late. You've changed so much. You've become stronger and smarter. You know how to survive on your own. You're more determined to take Umbrella. I haven't changed at all. I thought I had, but what happened today just proved me wrong. I'm the same jerk I always was. You don't deserve someone like me. You deserve someone better, like Carlos. Just forget you ever cared about me. We may have deserved each other before, but not anymore."
"But Chris..."
"Just go, please. Go away. Forget about me and go." This was killing him inside, but he had to do this. "Go."
Jill had tears in her eyes as she got up off the bed and walked to the door. She took one last look before she closed the door. She broke into tears and quickly went into her room. She fell face first onto her bed, crying softly into her pillow. 'My God,' she thought, 'He sounds like someone who wants to die.' She rolled over and sat up. She looked at the picture of her and Chris that she had placed on the dresser in the room. "Sorry Chris, but I'll be dammed before I let you kill yourself." She said. "I lost you once, there's no way in HELL I'll lose you again."
Meanwhile, Chris sat in bed. He looked over at the bag that had the necklace he was going to give Jill. He would never see it around her neck. He would never see her eyes light up at the sight of the diamonds and rubies. More importantly, she would never know about it at all, unless she went through his stuff. "It'll be the only way. Tomorrow will be my last mission." He said before he went to sleep.
Author's Comments: Not what you expected didn't you. It looks like Chris has finally given up. Looks like Jill's confession and Claire's episode combined were the straw that broke the camels back. You can say that Chris didn't just shot Jill down, he blew her out of the sky. At least she hasn't given up on him. Guess love is unconditional. Now we just have to see how this will affect the mission. We're quickly coming up on one of the most pivotal parts of this whole saga. What happens in the next four chapters will affect everything that follows. We're also hitting what may be the biggest dramatic scene in the whole story. Just get ready, cause it's coming up fast.
The mission finally gets under way.
We'll see a little pre-fight jitters, and some other problems emerge. The team will finally get to the factory and
begin the fun. The action heats up in RE Armageddon: Part 2, Chapter 5- First
Strike.