Author's Note: This is a lot more "relationship oriented"
and it doesn't have much action. It may be confusing because it starts out with
Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield: not Steve and Claire. If you remember where
we left off, Claire and Steve had just barely escaped alive and were heading to
where Chris was.
This chapter'll briefly goes over why Claire caught by Wesker and it
features a lot of the other star RE characters now. Sure it's chaos but give it
awhile, you might grow to like it. Don't be afraid to try new things. In case
you were wondering, the reason why I haven't written much is due to writer's
block and school. Damn school to the depths of Raccoon City. I'd like to see it
take on Nemesis. ~ Rhea@Mayaku.org
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Missing in Action; Chapter 6
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Chris stared out the house's window into the outskirts rain-covered Paris. The city was crying for his sister. So were his team mates. Leon had been the one to take the news the hardest; he hadn't spoken once in the four day period. Right after hearing what was going on, he'd locked himself into his room, insisting on hacking into databases to find where Umbrella had taken her. It was easy to blame the large corperation for everything, but Chris didn't think Umbrella was responsible for his sister's disapearence. The whole thing reeked of Albert Wesker; he had to be the only man brave enough to kidnap a Redfield. He was going to regret taking her, Chris would make sure of that.
The older Redfield heard his door open and turned around slowly. It was his girlfriend, Jill Valentine. She walked over to him and put her arms on his shoulders.
"Hey.." She offered, meekly.
"Any news?" That was all he ever asked these days. She knew he was hurting, but she'd never seen him like this. To be honest, it scared the former S.T.A.R.'s member. Even when the siblings had been seperated earlier that year, Chris had never concentrated solely on their reunion.
"No.. but," Jill started to rub his back, ".. You have to remember, she's nearly twenty. Whatever is dealt to her, I'm sure she can handle. And not only is she a big girl now, she's a Redfield. She's grown up since Raccoon City. Something happened in the Artic, it changed her. I have faith she'll be back."
Chris pulled away from her and went back to looking out the window. "But she's my sister.."
"That's exactly my point. She's just like you."
He was growing impatient.. he appreciated Jill's efforts, but this was no time for games. "In otherwords, no news?"
"..No. But I don't think it was Umbrella," she paused then, under her breath, "this time." She gave a slight shake of her head and he watched as strands of her brown hair fell into her eyes. These actions reminded him of Claire, who'd done that numerous times. Chris sighed heavily at this thought. He didn't know how many times he'd wished that the whole group hadn't banded together to destroy Umbrella, whose head base was located in the heart of Paris. If they hadn't of come to Barry's summer house with ill-wished intents towards the company, Claire wouldn't have been walking around looking for clues in the middle of the night. His sister wouldn't be missing in action. In a nutshell, it was all his fault.
She saw his facial expressions faulter and
was walking over to give him a hug when door opened. Leon
ran in.
Chris turned and stared at the ex-cop coldly. "Can't you
learn to knock?"
"It's Claire," he stammered, "..she's there--"
"Where?" Jill interrupted.
".. On the doorstep. This strange boy is with her.." A fourth voice chimed it, and Chris looked over to see a young girl leaning into the doorway; Rebecca Chambers. "She's bleeding."
"She told me to get you. She looks like she's been through hell and--" Leon was cut off as Chris slammed the door, leaving the others behind.
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She groped blindly for the door knob of the house and found
it was locked. Leon had told her to stay in the car, but she had known that they
couldn't stay in the car any longer. It was full of ghosts. She'd practically
dragged the two of them out of the tattered Jeep and she was regretting it.
Claire looked at Steve, who was propped up against the pink shingled wall and
mouthed "locked". He whiped a pool of blood that was forming on
his face with the back of his arm and pointed to his wrist; they had time.
She wanted to tell him that they didn't, that she felt extremely weak, but all she could get out was a small moan before collapsing to the porch. He stumbled to her and sat down, stroking his hand through her hair. "Claire..hang in there."
They were still on the porch when Chris opened the door and walked out, followed by Barry, Jill, Sherry, Leon and Rebecca.
"It's Claire and.. who is the boy?" Jill stared. "Chris, do you know?"
"Steve. Steve Burnside." Chris Redfield knelt down to his sister and pulled her up into a sitting position, hugging her softly.
"How'd...you.. know.. who I am?" Steve managed to get out.
"My sister, Claire, wears your picture around her neck. She says she got it off your," he paused, "dead body. She wears it in a pendant and it's the only jewelry she'll wear. For chris'sake, I think I'd know the name of the boy who broke her heart." Chris replied, bitterly.
Steve didn't reply as Rebecca and Jill helped him inside. He turned back for a second and saw coldness in the older man's eyes. It was directed towards him. His last thought before sleeping was: "I'm here now, I came back.. for her. Isn't that all that counts?"
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"Chris, he's staying. He can help us." Claire shot a look at her brother.
"Claire, dead people just don't come back. It's probably a sick game of Wesker's. And you're sure the man that beat you up was Wesker?" Chris noticed the glare and returned it.
"Yes, I'm sure. He nearly killed me, do I have to verify that too?" She rolled her eyes. "Back to the Steve situation: he's staying."
"Claire, he tried to kill you and he could still
morph into a monster at anytime. To harbor him in this house would be like
keeping Tyrant in our basement. To be correct, Barry's basement. What would we
tell him if Tyrant-Steve broke a bottle of his expensive wine..?"
"Stop calling him that! His name is Steve Burnside, not
Tyrant-Steve. You make him sound like some fucking monster." She picked at
the bandages that were wrapped around her arm and exposed torso.
"He's not the same Steve you knew."
"Of course not. He came back to life. He's traumatized." She succeeded in ripping a small piece of the bandage off. Riiiiip.
"Claire, stop being difficult. I just want you.. to move on. It's been three months. Three months of listening to you cry. Three months of rejecting Leon." He stated. The words were losing convinction; Chris knew he was losing this sibling war.
"Move on? Are you really one to judge about moving on? You're as obsessed with Wesker as he is about you." She retorted.
"It's just... I care about you Claire, you're my little sister. I don't want to see you broken again." He sat down on the bed, next to her and wrapped his arm around her good shoulder.
"I know, I know." She returned the hug and stood up, wincing in pain. "You owe me this much at least. Give him a chance, will you?"
He folded his arms across his chest. "Do I have a choice?"
"Nope." She smiled and stumbled to the door. "I'm going to go talk to him.."
"He's in the room that's four doors down from here." Chris called out as she left.
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Claire knocked on the door lightly. "Steve?"
After a lengthy silence, he spoke. "Come in. Shut the door behind you."
She stepped inside and was greeted with a wave from Steve, who was sitting upright on the bed. He looked decent for a boy who had been mauled by Tyrant. His eyes brightened as they focused on her. "How's life?" She asked.
"I was getting lonely.. the only visitor I've gotten in the last two days was Rebecca..."
"She's a good medic."
"Sit down." He patted the bed. "Yeah.. she is. I feel better."
She sat down across from him, sprawling her legs out before her. They nearly touched his. "That's good."
"We have to speak about what happened a few days ago. Back there."
"What happened was we both nearly died." She looked into his eyes. "What else is there to say?"
Dead air. Steven was the first to break it. "I need to know something Claire.." His gaze locked with hers and she became aware of how green his eyes were, how different they looked when he wasn't stressed. This was the first time she hadn't seen him fighting for his life and he looked serene, noble. She nodded for him to ask his question. "Do you love me?"
"I.." She choked and her lips mimiced those cryogentically frozen. "I care about you.." She finally choked it out.
She saw his smile turn upside down and watched as he tried to conceal the hurt, the pain. His efforts were unsuccessful and Claire stared as a single tear drifted and collided with the curves of his face. She put her hand on his shoulder and before she realized what was happening, she was kissing him.
- He died Tyrant Steve, Tyrant Steve.. he's
fucking Tyrant Steve!
- Don't call him that!
- But he is.. he's a monster.
She shut her eyes as the memories of the conversation with her brother ran into her mind. They knocked her to her senses and she gasped, pulling away. "Steve.. I.. we.. can't."
Silence. There was no noise except for their quickened breath. Steve exhaled loudly. He moved back and opened his eyes, revealing a distant look; one that hadn't been there before. The seventeen year old slowly waved his hand, dismissing her. "Why don't you go get ready for dinner? Maybe Leon needs help or something.."
Leon didn't cook and they both knew it, yet she nodded as she stood. "Steve.. I'm just confused.. give me time.."
He paused and then spoke: "Isn't it ironic everyone wants the one thing we don't have?"
"What's that?" She stopped in the doorway, looking over her shoulder.
"Time. We don't have time. I should have stayed dead..."
"Steve.." She didn't know what to say and so she walked out the door.
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