To continue the fight
By: Bloodlover
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Capcom, except for the ones I made up inspired by the game. Please don´t use them without permission.
A/N: Here is the epilogue! Now the story is complete, finally. It took me quite awhile but now it´s the end. Hope you liked it and thank you for the feedback. It meant a lot.
Epilogue
February 12 1999, U.B.C.S base, U.S.A
Claire stumbled down the corridor, yawning. She was NOT a morning person. She was on her way to the kitchen to get some breakfast. There was no guarantee that she´d feel better but it was worth a try. She was just glad that they all made it out alive. No not ALL of us… Emily and Dan… You would be proud, we took down Umbrella and they will pay for their crimes but I wish you could be with us now.
She walked past the door to Chris´s room and stopped, staring suspiously at it. A thought had just crossed her mind. Didn´t Jill follow Chris last night..? Claire´s eyes narrowed as always when she became suspious. Could this mean…! Why didn´t I notice this yesterday? The later was easy she had just wanted to get some sleep, Steve had to carry her to her room. The first one however… Truth to be told she didn´t want to know but she had always been curious. Her thoughts were interrupted by a tapping on her shoulder.
"Didn´t you know it´s not nice to eavesdrop?" It was Leon. Of course.
"I wasn´t eavesdropping!"
He crossed his arms. "If you didn´t then you were about to."
"It isn´t the same!" Claire started to get really annoyed with Leon. Why did he had to be so bossy?! He was acting like he was her big brother or something like that. Like having ONE big brother wasn´t bad enough. And speaking of Chris…
"Anyway, I wonder if Chris is awake?"
"What you REALLY wonder is `what happened between my brother and Jill last night?´. They are grown ups Claire."
"Like you would know."
"Ouch! That hurt." They both laughed, to an outsider this might have looked more serious than it was but that was Leon and Claire´s style. Even though Claire could get VERY annoyed with him sometimes. After being through the hell with Umbrella they needed to laugh.
"No, seriously Claire they are probably both asleep now. We should let them come out themselves instead of barging on the door. Why don´t we go get some breakfast?"
Claire nodded. "Right on. Steve is probably in the kitchen by now. He waked up and was REALLY hungry."
"I certainly don´t blame him. After going up against that freak Wesker… A miracle he survived."
"He survived thanks to those special abilities." Suddenly she stopped, clearly alarmed. "Leon… Just thought of something, will Steve continue to be okay? I mean who knows what side effects could be, after all those expriments they did on him."
"I talked with Rebecca earlier. She said that she didn´t think Steve was in any danger, she took some tests just to be sure. Maybe you could ask her? But I don´t think you need to worry Claire."
"I guess you´re right. Thanks Leon." They started to walk again. Claire knew Steve didn´t seemed sick at all, she knew from her experience earlier. They hadn´t done "it" yet but they had been doing some… groping. She blushed for a moment but quickly hid it. If Leon saw it he would tease her for it the next 100 years.
"What about Ada?"
"She is still out like a light. I decided to bring breakfast with me to our room."
Claire saw her chance to get her payback. "Aww… isn´t that cute? Hope you won´t dirty the sheets…"
Leon laughed as he shook his head. "God, I deserved that didn´t I."
"You bet."
He opened the door to the kitchen and they saw Steve at the fridge. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at them.
"Claire, Leon! You´re awake!" Claire went over to him.
"Yes, have you prepared anything?"
"Yes, coffee for all of us. The others can take a cup if they want to when they get up."
"Wow! You seem to think of everything."
"Thanks Claire." He closed the fridge and hugged her. Leon took his place at the freezer, deep in thought. Wonder what Ada likes… I can take some coffee, a sandwish maybe even some cake? We should celebrate. Yes that´s sounds good. He opened the freezer again and took what he needed. Then he poured up two cups of coffee to himself and Ada and left the room.
"I´ll go back to my room now. Make sure you don´t mess up the kitchen too much!"
That, of course, earned him some comebacks from Steve and Claire.
***************************
Chris smiled, still a bit tired, when he heard his sister and Leon quarrel. Yeah I bet you did the same as her, Leon. Eavesdropping, EVERYONE loves that even those who deny it. He looked down at Jill´s sleeping form. Her breath came slow but regular, sometimes she snored. Not that Chris minded, he thought she looked cute when she did that. He didn´t want to wake her up but he guessed that the debriefing meeting would start as soon as possible and they shouldn´t keep the others waiting. Gently, he shook her.
"Wakey, wakey sleepyhead."
Jill groaned and opened her eyes. "Mmm… Couldn´t you have waited a little more longer?"
"Jill according to the clock it´s 10 already. The meeting…"
She began to sit up. "Yeah, yeah. We shouldn´t keep the others waiting. Come on let´s go!"
Chris watched after his girlfriend as she ran to the bathroom. God how does she do that? She still keep surprising me, even after this time. He began to sit up to gather his clothes. He winced a little. Even though Becky had healed their wounds last night, his scars still hurt a bit. Yet he knew how lucky they had been to survive. Those who HAD survived. He remembered Emily and Dan, not to mention all those soldiers that he never got the chance to get to know. You will be remembered, guys. I promise.
*******************************
"Ada?" Leon shut the door behind him as careful as possible. He wanted to wake her up slowly, since he knew that waking too fast was terrible.
Ada begun to move under her blanket. "Leon? Is that you?"
He sat down beside her, being careful with the food. "Yes. I brought you some breakfast."
She began to sit up. "Breakfast on the bedside? Leon, you´re such a sweetie…"
"Anything for you."
The s smile on her face grew bigger. "That´s one of the things I love with you Leon. Few men seems to be gentlemen those days…"
After the had eaten and got dressed, they went to the briefing room. All of them was there, including Ark and Sherry. The little girl had been hugging Claire, but when Leon showed up he got a hug too.
"Leon!" Sherry hadn´t seen Leon for a long time, and even though she had been told that he was alright she felt better when she saw him with her own eyes. After she released him it was Ark´s turn to give him a hug.
"Good to see you´re okay Leon."
"I thought that was MY line. I heard what happened to you Ark. I´m sorry for not being there to prevent it…"
"I don´t think you could have done so much Leon. STAR pulled me aside and then…" He hung his head remembering the whole thing. "I still can´t believe it. Then again he saved mine and Sherry´s life, so I forgive him." Ark lifted his head and greeted Ada. "I´ve heard a lot of you too Ada. If it´s okay to call you by that name…"
"It´s okay. I thought I could leave `Ada´ behind but this time things didn´t go according to plan." She glanced up to Leon and stroke his cheek. "Which I´m so glad for."
Ark turned to Steve. "We all heard about what you did. People really look to you as a hero now." Steve blushed at that.
"Thanks. I just wished I had gone up against him earlier."
"Hey, better late than never. It all turned out well right? Maybe you would like to join our rank of agents…"
Before Steve could answer, Claire shook her head. "First of all Steve needs a vacation. I think Hawaii is still nice this time of the year?" she winked at Steve. Before that nut case Alfred Ashford had taken over their plane when they left Rockfort, she and Steve had talked about going to Hawaii. She remembered it all so well… the feeling that they had escaped, that they had had the chance to go anywhere. Of course she had been thinking about Chris and she still wanted to find him. But there were a lot of times when she thought she and Steve would die on that freaky island, so when they finally got out she just wanted to feel joy. But then they arrived at Antarctica and then Alexia got to them… Until now she had thought Steve to be dead, it was time to make up for the lost time.
Claire´s thoughts were interrupted by Chris, who had just came into the room with Jill. "No way I let her go alone to Hawaii!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Chris… I´m 19 years old. I think I can go on vacation without you watching so I won´t trip on my own feet."
Chris ignored her response as well as the snicker that followed it. "Claire…"
"Don´t `Claire´ me Chris! Me and Steve WILL go to Hawaii!"
"You don´t have any money." Chris crossed his arms in front of his chest in trimph. Before Claire could admit defeat, Leon saved her.
"I have some money on my account. I´ll pay for her and Steve."
"Thanks Leon!" said Claire with a gleeful smile at her brother. Chris sighed in defeat causing her smile to get even more wider and gleeful.
"You´re welcome. So Sherry how would you like your room to be?"
"Oh… I want…"
Before Sherry could give Leon her wishlist Claire interrupted.
"Wait a minute Leon! What are you talking about?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, sorry Claire. I should have told you earlier. Ada and I will adopt Sherry."
"How could you forget to tell me that?!"
"It slipped my mind. Don´t get so upset Claire, you two can still see each other."
She was about to go into another tirade but then stopped. What´s the matter, really? He HAS taken good care of Sherry. Even though she was put into danger. On the other hand it wasn´t really Leon´s fault, he did his best to take care of her after I left. I know Leon is a nice guy and Sherry likes him and Ada. I know they´ll take good care of her.
"Good to hear Leon. Sorry for exploding."
"I understand Claire. After all you are like a mother to Sherry. Or maybe an older sister."
Ark laughed. "He´s right. And Sherry, after this meeting is over maybe you would like to meet Lott and Lily. They are really nice kids I´m sure you will get along great." Sherry smiled at him. She hadn´t had any contact with other children during her stay at the base. She was happy to finally get out of there and live with Leon and Ada. And Claire would come and visit them too. Sherry hadn´t felt this good for a long time.
Chris still hadn´t given up. "I still think that going to Hawaii alone…" A glare from Jill silenced him.
"Chris, can´t you just trust her? She´ll be with Steve and he seems to be a good guy." He hung his head in defeat. "Let´s get seated the meeting is about to start."
They all sat down round the table. The moment after, the door opened and the boss for the goverment´s secret agency arrived. He nodded quickly to Leon, Ada and Ark, and smiled to Sherry before he sat down at the table.
"I´m pleased to finally meet you all. For those who don´t know me, I´m the boss for the goverment intelligence agency. You can call me Holder. First of all I would like to congratulate you to your victory. It wasn´t easy but you won, saving countless lives in the process. Sadly you lost a lot of fellow soldiers and friends. Before starting the debriefing, I suggest we remember them."
The room fell silent as they all bowed their heads, thinking of those who had died. Dan, Emily… Even STAR who had redeemed himself when he had saved Ark and Sherry. They also thought about the ones who died before that; the S.T.A.R.S, the people in Raccoon City and the U.B.C.S. Finally, he lifted his head.
"Let´s begin then. Chris Redfield, you may start."
Chris started to go through how they had arrived, the monsters they encountered, the discover of Dan´s and his men´s bodies, the return of Wesker and Steve´s rescue, the traitor Gilbert Masters who was ultimely killed, the death of Wesker and Nicholai and finally how they got the evidence against Umbrella and their escape. When he was done, Holder nodded, clearly pleased.
"My men has gone through the evidence and they are positive that it will bring down Umbrella. I also have to say that I´m impressed that you, mr Burnside managed to take down Albert Wesker. The man was a total renegade and even though I´m been told that he was working with another company, he still clearly had some connection to Umbrella. He was really a dangerous man. Therefore, I´m offering you to become one of our agents. You don´t have to answer right away, of course. You clearly need a vacation. In fact all of you do. Therefore you, mr Thompson, mr Kennedy and ms… Wong?" he gave Ada a look and she nodded. "...will have a two months vacation. After that, you´ll be back to report. Mr Burnside you may give your answer at that time too."
Holder´s face expression turned a bit worried. "I don´t want to end this debriefing sounding grim, after all you won a big victory. But I have to warn you that even if we won this time and Umbrella went down, there is no guarantee that some other company won´t continue Umbrella´s work. Therefore I´m going to have a special team that will be checking those companies." He smiled a little. "But that will be in the future. Those companies will surely keep a low profile in the near future. Hopefully they have learned their lesson. I just wanted to tell you of this possiblity. And the next assignment." He turned to Chris. "Mr Redfield. I heared from the S.T.A.R.S that you will most likely be promoted to Captain. I hope I can count on you and your friends in the future."
Chris nodded. "Thank you sir. And you can count on us."
"Good to hear that. With that I declare the debriefing concluded." Holder got up and left the room.
The rest of them began to get up. They congratulated each other to the promotions and discussed what they would do during their two months vacation. Carlos went over to Claire.
"Well, good that it all went so well. Even though I didn´t get my revenge on Nicholai…"
She punched his arm lightly. "Come on! He got what he deserved, it doesn´t matter WHO got to do it."
"You´re right. Anyway, good to hear about you boyfriend´s promotion. And that Leon will pay for your vacation too." Carlos gave her his most mischievous smile.
"Yeah, isn´t he the nicest. Though I´m sure that he, Ada and Sherry will most likely take a vacation too. What about you Carlos?"
"Oh I´m not really sure. I´m thinking of asking Becky to go on vacation with me."
"Ah… So she will be your next victim?"
"No. I just want to make her feel good. That girl sure has gone through a lot."
"We all have." They looked over to where Jill and Chris stood. Carlos looked thoughtful."Wonder what THEY will do?"
"Hmm… My brother is REALLY passionate about his work. Then again, he needs some time to relax and spend some time with Jill. They hadn´t seen each other for months until now."
"You´re right."
Claire looked like she was going to tell him something but hesitated. "Claire. Do you have something on your mind?"
"Um, yes. How do you feel about my brother and Jill?"
"I´m happy for their sake of course! Jill is a very good friend of mine."
"So no hard feelings?"
Carlos rolled his eyes. "No! Why should I?" He blinked and Claire understood.He must have had some sort of feelings for Jill, but he is still happy for her and Chris. Carlos is a great man and friend, no doubt about it.
Steve had came up to them. "Hey Claire! Shouldn´t we start planning our vacation?"
"Sure." She looked over to where Rebecca was standing with Leon and Ada. "Just wanted to talk to Becky…" She walked over to her friends, feeling a bit worried. Even though Leon had thought that Steve would be okay, she still needed to hear it from their medic. "Rebecca. I just wondered…"
"If the tests on Steve shows he´s okay? I can tell you Claire, he seems fine. Just take good care of him."
Claire let out a deep breath. "Thank you. We´ll be off to plan our vacation but we´ll meet up later, right?"
"Of course!" They hugged. "Take good care of yourself, Becky."
"You and Steve too Claire."
Leon gave her a tight hug. "Hope you´ll have fun Claire!"
"You too Leon. And thank you once again, this really meant a lot to me. Watch over him Ada."
"I will. See you again Claire." She hugged the younger woman fondly. Even though they didn´t knew each other that well, Ada had already developed an affection for Claire. The girl was strong and passionate. I wish I could have been that carefree when I was her age. Instead… No I can´t dwell on my past. I have to go forward.
Claire and Steve said their goodbyes to the rest, and getting strong hugs from Sherry and Chris. Then they walked to their room, holding hands.
Chris watched after them as the door closed. "They are really happy."
Jill nodded. "Yes they are. Just trust them Chris."
He smiled down on her. "I´ll try. Instead I´ll think about where we will go on vacation. Have any ideas?"
She hugged him tightly. "Someplace nice and quiet…"
"Maybe Hawaii?"
"Is it because Claire and Steve?"
"No! I trust them! It just sounds like a good place to rest on."
"We´ll see." Jill detached herself from Chris. "But first I have to call my parents."
Chris followed her as they said their goodbyes to their team mates. Barry and Rebecca told them to have a good time, Carlos wished them luck, Leon and Ada joked about joining them later and Donnie asked if he could watch. Before he could regret his words he told them he was just joking. Leon said something about "there are kids present" but Sherry didn´t seem to be so bothered about it, she just gave them a hug Richard shook their hands and wished them a good time.
When they got out, they started down the corridor to the room where Jill had contacted her parents before they moved into action.
"Didn´t you call them last night." Wondered Chris.
She glanced up at him. "I was out like a light, remember? Ark said that he got in touch with them but I want to speak with them myself. I missed them so much."
He put his arm around her shoulders. "Jill, I got a great idea. Before we go to Hawaii or whatever, why don´t we pay a visit to your parents? I´m sure they would like to see you in person."
She laughed. "Great idea! And then you can meet them too."
Chris suddenly looked concerned. "What should I wear? A tuxedo?"
"Let´s talk about that later."
"Okay."
They stopped at the door. When Jill opened it Chris stopped her.
"Jill?"
"Yes?"
"I´m so glad we´re here. Our friends. And most of all you."
"Same here Chris, same here." She pulled him down for a kiss. When they broke it she continued. "Whatever the future holds, we´ll be together."
THE END
The end at last! Our heroes finally got their well deserved vacation. Chris might have seemed a little suspiuos about Steve and Claire but he´s her older brother, he just want her best. Chris and Jill will get some peace and quiet too. After their battle with Wesker, Umbrella and monsters… Sherry is going to be happy with Leon and Ada, even though she´ll always remember her parents of course.
This was the ending and I thank you for the feedback you have given me. I´ll write more stories later. Until next time, have a good time!