The evil Umbrella Corporation needs to be stopped, and now,
all who were involved within the Raccoon City incidents are out to do so.
:: Author'sNote ::
Hehe, this one, unlike my first Fanfic, is not
yaoi. So, all of you may enjoy this a bit more,
or a bit less. My first one was just a try at what
would be considered a risk. This one's, more of a
safe bet. I hope you like this one alot! Enjoy!
Chapter One
Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield took one another into a strong embrace, tears were pouring and the two wouldn't release eachother ever again. After the long seperation after Claire'd gone to find her brother, the two vowed to become inseperable. Chris and the former S.T.A.R.S. members watched on for a moment, then walked over to split the two up temporarily, until they got to a safe haven.
Ever since the incidents, Umbrella had been sending agents out to assassinate the remaining survivors, not wanting the press to get a leak of what had truely occurred within the city limits. S.T.A.R.S. had tried their best to make the accidents public, but Umbrella always had a way of stopping them. They'd all decided upon one thing.
Umbrella needed to be stopped.
The group took off at a run, through the streets of Buena Vista, Colorado, a city far from where the crater of old Raccoon was. Though, no real threat was obvious right now, Chris and the others knew someone was watching them. There was always some sort of surveiliance everywhere. Umbrella owned everything.
"Claire, how much longer?" Sherry ran alongside Claire, watching her with great adoration. It was Claire who'd saved Sherry from a genetic mutation gone wrong back in the Raccoon City Police Department.
"Not much longer, just hold on, okay sweetie?" Claire smiled down to her and Sherry nodded her head once to show she could be patient. In the past few weeks, Claire had become a very formidable mother to Sherry, watching her at all times and keeping her safely guarded from the Umbrella agents that would come along every now and then. Of course, Leon was always helping her along in every encounter.
The rest of the group had hurried on ahead so Claire took it upon herself to scoop up her soon-to-be-daughter and cradled her until the two of them caught up and got into the abandoned house they were staying in. When they walked in, Rebecca Chambers and Carlos Olivera looked up from the supplies they were packing and smiled.
"Chris! I'm so happy, you're back!" Rebecca smiled and walked over to him, carrying a medical pack which she'd set up from spare equipment they could find.
Chris smiled and took her in his arms for a moment, then released her only a tad to turn and smile to the rest of the group they'd just brought in, "Rebecca, this is my sister Claire and her friends Leon Kennedy, and Sherry Birkin."
"Nice to meet you." Leon took a step forword in front of Claire's outstretched hand and friendly smile to take Rebecca's hand in his. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh." Rebecca smiles, a bit insecure with Leon's take-charge attitude. "I'm sure you're going to help us out a great deal, Leon."
"Yeah, Leon. You're doing a bang-up job already." Claire smiles sarcastically and takes Sherry's hand in hers, starting to wander off. "Come on, Sherry, let's take you to go get set up with the other kids."
"Other kids?!" Sherry looked up, excited at the turn of events.
Leon smiled over to Chris, while Rebecca walks over to assist Barry Burton and Jill Valentine in setting up more equipment packs for them to use in their strike. "I see Ark got here, safely?"
"Of course. He flew the kids and himself into a rocky landing a few miles out of town." He smirked and looked up the stairs which Sherry and Claire had gone up. "Ark! Get down here!"
The door at the top of the stairs opened and Ark wandered down withouta shirt on and just a pair of jeans. He was a bit sweaty, obviously just showered from the long trip. He'd been making sure Lott and Lily were safe the entire time afterwards. "Leon, I found out so much from that island."
"It's good to see you, too." He smirked and walked up to talk with his friend, smiling to Chris. "I'm sorry, but I'm a bit tired. Is it okay if I just lounge around?"
"Be my guest." Chris smiled, then left the two friends to join his team mates in their task of supplies. Rebecca seemed to be having a touch time getting twenty syringes into one pack, so Chris took it upon himself to come up behind her and put his arms around her to help her put them in. The two had grown affectionate soon after their adventure in the mansion.
"Leon, you wouldn't beleive what they're doing out there! Thousands of those Tyrant Project's are just stacked up like an army! I think they're planning on doing a full raid with bio-terrorist weapons on the whole world! One company against the whole world and they've got the upper hand."
"Yeah, I know. The T-Virus. Claire and I found out all about it." He sighs and takes his friend by the shoulders and starts walking up the stairs. "They're stocking up all over the place. Claire and Chris even found more of them off on another island."
"That's not the only thing they found," Ark smiled, having the inside information that he'd been seeking from the rest of the task force, "they found the Alpha team leader as well. Albert Wesker was apparently in conjunction with the rest of them down there in that freak labratory."
Leon shakes his head, smiling at Ark's enthusiasm. Even within the most stressful of times, he always took a case seriously and dug his teeth into it.
"What?" Ark smiled a bit, "come on, what is it, Leon?"
"Nothing. It's nothing, okay?" He smiled, and then looked at Ark's still questioning expression. "Come on, let's just get some rest. How are the children you found?"
"They're doing good. I'm just a bit worried about Lott, he thinks he's our age or something. He keeps wanting to go out and fight the good fight. He doesn't understand... I need him here to watch his little sister."
"They're brother and sister? Wow, you're lucky to have found the two of them. That's saving a family, there." Leon tried some words of encouragment on his fellow officer of the law.
"Yeah, but something tells me they could've survived on their own. Lott's a strong-willed boy. Him and Lily had been there the whole time and he protected her, die hard."
"That's a good big brother for you." He looks down over the rail that blocked them from falling off the balcony in front of the door. "Seems to be quite a few of those combinations amongst us, look at Chris and Claire. The two wouldn't stop until they could find eachother and keep one another safe."
"Yeah." Ark's eyes closed in a heavy held breath which evaporated into a yawn.
"Sleepy? Come on, man. Let's hit the hay, I'm tired from driving here." Leon smirked, and walked with Ark into the room, "you think it was easy having to drive six hours to get here?"
The two laugh and keep going on with their reunion, while the others strategize. Barry seemed to be the leader in the situation, after them being abandoned by the traitor, Wesker. He wandered around, inspecting everyone to make sure they were packing correctly, "Watch the barrel there, Jill."
"Yes, sir." She smiled over to him, kind of cheesy in a way. She was worn out from her escape with Carlos Olivera. The two had barely made it out with their lives and were thrust back into the line of duty. Chris and the rest of the S.T.A.R.S. had made Carlos an honorary member of the team.
"Oh, man. If I'd have known how much work was involved with the S.T.A.R.S. special task force, I wouldn't have let you recruit me, Jill." Carlos's silky voice crept on her with a smile and he looked over, trying to add levity to the pressuring and testing times.
"Heh, heh. You have to have some thick skin, Carlos. Being the new guy isn't easy. Ask Rebecca." Jill smiled and laid her head on his nice strong shoulder, still keeping her hands moving across the table to pick up knives and anything she thought would be useful to her and to Claire. She was in charge of Redfield's bag.
"Yeah, they can be pretty rough. I remember my first day..." Rebecca sighed and lifted her arm to rub her forarm top across her forhead, keeping the sweat from dripping into her eyes. "They got me into so much trouble with Cheif Irons. I thought for sure I'd be fired, but he caught on soon enough and I got off."
Chris started to laugh, remembering the pointless tasks they'd had her do when she was the new girl on the team. Jill shared the sentiment, then wiped her eyes and bit on her lower lip. The gun in her hand fell onto the table and pushed some shells around after causing a dust cloud to rise. "Why did he do it to us? He could've listened, this could've all been prevented. All of our homes could've been safe. Our families."
Valentine started to break down in Carlos's arms and he let down the Aid Sprays he'd been packing to keep a hold on her, rubbing her shoulders softly as he kept his voice to a calm whisper. "Don't worry about it, Jill. It's all over now, no more tears."
The others looked over for a moment, Rebecca's eyes worried for Jill's well-being. She'd watched her own home go up in flames from a bomb tossed onto the city, just because Umbrella made a major mistake. So many had to die. So many innocent people were slaughtered for company profit.
Chris and Barry stood up, Barry keeping a stiff upper lip. "Jill, he's right. You'll get your just revenge. Umbrella is going to pay for what they've done to us."
Jill finally pulled from Carlos and straightened the hooded jacket she'd put on for warmth, "I can't take this, though Barry! I don't know how much longer I can go on just being thrown into exile. So much has happened and the world is left blind to it! It's not right! It's just not decent!"
"No one said it was, dear. Just, don't lose it on us now. Not when we need you most. Not like this." Barry reached over and tried to comfort her, but she only pulled away from his warm touch, fighting back her tears as she cringed up and blocked everyone from her. "The Jill I knew would never break down and give up. Come on, you're a figher."
Jill looked up, her eyes finally streaming with hot moist tears, which stained her pale cheeks like paint, "You're right. I can't lose it now."She smiled, brushing away her tears and throwing on her game face, no matter how hard it was. No matter what would happen, she couldn't let herself give up.
Rebecca smiled and looked to the clock, then shot her attention over to Chris, "Shouldn't we be getting to sleep? It's late." She sighed and sat back in her chair, trying to crack her stiffened back.
"Right after we get these packs set up. You know what happens in a few hours from now, we can't just let up now. Let's finish the job at hand, then turn in for the night?"
"All right." Carlos smiled, again bringing the group back together. His witty charm and smooth attitude seemed to keep everyone at ease and put tensions at a loose state. "Come on, only a few more minutes and we're all done for the night." Carlos smiled and the rest of them joined at the table.
Barry came up and smiled, seeing his team getting back into shape. He'd made sure to keep his real family safe, and so he intended on keeping this one protected as well. He saw everyone in the group as his family now, they had to be close to keep their mission in tact and the operation a success. As he looked around at the intent faces, he noticed one not so pleased one. He stepped over and took Chambers aside, looking to her questioningly.
"Is something wrong, Rebecca?" He sat her down and smiled to her, keeping his friendly appearance up and his smile hiding his fear and intimidation for what was to happen.
Rebecca nodded slowly, and looked down into her lap, watching her hands. "Yes, actually. I was just-" As she looked back up, she noticed the whole team staring at her and became nervously silent.
"Come on, Rebecca." Chris's kind smile and open eyes helped to give her strength.
"I was wondering," she took a deep breath and swallowed, "what are we all get killed tomorrow?"
The rest of the group stood there. Their past luck had kept them all off their guard, feeling they could brave any situation after what they'd been put through. Jill lost her confidence and finished her packs, then set them up on the rack for tomorrow, right next to their equipment room. Chris followed soon after, then Rebecca and Carlos. Barry stood at the base of the stairs, watching his team head off to bed and took a deep breath. Sweat fell from his brow and hit the concrete floor below his boots.
"No one's going to die," he tried his thoughts out loud. His voice was shakey, and worry soon set in on the Weapon Specialist's face. He fell to sit on the bottom step and held his head, taking a moment to pray for guidance.
Claire and Sherry smiled to one another as Claire sat beside the kids' beds. Lott and Lily were next to eachother, and Lott had taken Lily into his arms to clam his worried sister as she rested. Him and Sherry were still awake and listening to Claire as she reminised from her childhood with Chris, thinking of stories to calm the two down for bedtime.
"And, Chris was always a lucky boy with the ladies, so his girlfriends would always hang around the house and we'd all enjoy ourselves after my parents died. They were always so nice to me, except one. Felicity, she never thought Chris should've taken me as his responsibility after our parents died, and she bothered him about it so many times it drove him nuts. One night, though, she tried to get me to leave, telling me Chris hated me, and that I was causing him misery. I almost beleived her, being so young, but-"
"But, good ol' Chris came along and told Felicity to get lost." Chris stepped in and sat behind Claire, putting his arm around his sister protectively and smiled down to the children, "I'd never let anything happen to my little sister. No one would come between us."
Sherry sat up, wearing a big shirt, that was more than likely one of Barry's old tatters, as a night shirt, "Do you mean that you guys see us like your little kids to watch for?"
Claire smiled and nodded her head, "We'll never leave you three, ever. We're going to watch over you like a hawk." She smiled and started to tickle Sherry's sides, giving her a case of the giggles, "whether you like it or not."
Lott looked over and smiled at Claire and Sherry. He thought the two made a cute mother and daughter relationship, never sad, always happy, and always striving to keep eachother grounded. It's what he wished he could've had with his parents, but they'd never pay attention to him. He felt terrillblle lately, just thinking about them and how Ark was able to relate to him better than his own father ever could've.
"Something wrong, Lott?" Leon walked in the door, to the make-shift bedroom and smiled to the soon to be teenaged boy.
"Oh, nothing." Lott smiled up to him and pulled his sister close, causing her to grab onto him and snuggle herself closer. He smiled and laid down, watching the rest of them.
"Leon." Claire smiled and got up, "Will you stay in here with me tonight? I'd rather have someone helping with the night shift."
"Of course, I will." Leon smiled and wandered over to sit with Chris and Claire on the long box they'd found themselves upon. "Chris, where're you sleeping?"
Chris smirked, getting a hint of what was going on and got off the box, rising to his feet. "I'm sharing a bunk with Rebecca, Barry, and Jill. I think Carlos is staying with us, though, now that you're all here."
"Alright." Leon leaned back and cautiously put his arm around Claire, only being a bit careful since her older brother was around and he didn't want to disrespect his new friend and teammate in any way possible.
"Oh, and Ark'll be in here, so keep the door unlocked until he comes in." Chris smirked and waved to them, then left the two with the three children to rest. They had made an effort to split the two rooms up evenly, and keep the children all together as a fail safe.
Leon smiled to Claire, a decisive look coming over his face as he watched her. She looked over to him, then started to laugh a little bit, "What is it Leon?"
He gave her no response, but started to lean in slowly.
"Gah! Back off." She pushed him and let him fall onto the wooden floor, the upstairs having nice flooring than the lower level, but it was still shabby.
Sherry and Lott got into a fit of laughs and watched on as the adults continued to goof around with one another, enjoying the time when they could just let go of the world's many problems.
Leon caught Claire on his fall and brought her with him, landing her atop him and then rolling to get the advantage over her. She wouldn't let him just take the full attack and went on her defense, flipping him to his back and putting her knees on his wrists. He started to laugh and lost the strength in his arms at her spunky courage with him.
"Oh god, get a room you two." Lott rolled over and closed his eyes, letting Lily hold his back.
Leon started to laugh and got up, lifting Claire up with him. She stood and brushed her clothes off as he did the same. "Sorry about that, Lott."
"Oh, it's okay, Leon." Sherry was sitting up in bed, just watching the two of them. Claire looked over with a smile on her face and wandered up, pressing Sherry to lay down.
"You should be going to sleep, little miss." She smiled and poked Sherry's nose for a smile off the little girl.
"But, I'm not sleepy yet Claire." Sherry whined, trying to resist the nurturing voice that was urging her to sleep.
"Yeah, but if you don't get some rest, you'll be even worse come morning. Come on, you and the others have a lot to do tomorrow to help out the adults." Claire tucked her in and Sherry finally gave up her reluctance.
"Alright, Claire." She smiled and Claire leaned down to kiss her on the forhead before Sherry rolled over and closed her eye to head to sleep. Claire reached up and pulled the string attached the bulb in the room, letting it switch off. She turned and got into the veiw of the window, so she could see in the moonlight's downcast.
Leon wandered over and took Claire up in his arms, then sat down wiht her by him and let her scoot away a bit for some comforatable room. She smiled over to Leon and he smiled back to her. For a moment, their heads started to close in, losing the saftey distance placed between them.
That all ended abruptly when Ark came into the room and smiled, "Kids asleep, yet?"
"No, so be quiet." Lott looked up form the bed, hard to be seen in the darkness. Ark smiled and walked over to sit by Claire, the side empty of Leon. Lott went back to laying down, making his best effort to go to sleep.
"So, you two enjoying your time back together before tomorrow?" Ark rested his head back against the wall, looking around the shack styled room. There was nothing too glamorous about it, except the beds they'd put together.
"Yeah, it's nice to see eachother after being parted for so long," Claire smiled over to him and pulled her knees up to her breast.
"Of course it is, and it's even nicer to have caught up with you finally Ark. How long's it been?" Leon started to take some random guesses, "two, three years?"
Ark smiled, "Two and a half, but nice try." He started to play with his fingers, "and I've had nothing but hell since. So many cases, so many mysteries, but the one you've sent me on seems to be the biggest bitch of 'em all, you know?"
Leon started to laugh and Claire finally caught in on the joke for a few moments. The two looked to eachother, then Claire looked over, "Wow, dont' I feel awkward. Two cops remiscing about the past and all I've got to goof around about is Colorado University."
Leon smiles and puts his arm over her shoulders, making a daring move in front of his friend, "it's alright, Claire. I'm sure you've got to be used to having the police around you all the time, aren't you?"
"Of course I am. Jill and Barry used to be around all the time, along with Richard Aiken." She smiled and leaned into Leon's arm.
Ark looked over, hearing soft snores coming from Lott's bed and he got up, just to peak over the faces of Sherry and Lott, "The kids are asleep."
"Good." Leon smiled, and then looked to Ark, "What's the game plan for tomrrow, anyway?"
Ark sighed and looked to make sure that the children were all ready alseep, not needing any eaves dropping. Once he was sure it was safe, he spoke quietly, "Well, word is there's anotehr facility around here that Umbrella's made, but luckily there shouldn't be any biohazardous material there. They're a legit company, but they do have links to the headquarters. We originally thought that their main intelligence was in Australia, but we soon found out that that was the cover-up. Our mission tomorrow is to obtain information on all locations Umbrella has and then see which could possibly contain T-Virus generated beings. Our mission, really, is to locate the main branch off of Umbrella where all the incidents originated from, and the target it for attack."
Leon nodded and looked to Claire, who seemed just a bit uenasy about it. She looked up and spoke up, just a little louder, "How are you sure there's nothing there?"
"We've sent in a spy team already, a woman who claims to have connections into Umbrella already. She's working there along with someone already in the facility. We've gotten messages from her in covert areas, and have gotten the information we need. Tomorrow's the pick-up for her, and we intend on breaking her out on our mission."
"Who is she?" Leon asked, starting to get a bit iterested.
"Some woman, dark haired and fair skinned. Her name's something like.. umm. Margo Vasquez, I beleive. I really didn't pay much attention to who she was, just that we could get the information from her."
"Oh..." Leon looked down, the discription reminding him of the love he'd developed with the Umbrella spy, Ada Wong. But she was long gone, she'd taken a deadly plunge itno the depths of the Umbrella lab, sealing her mortal fate.
"Who's going tomorrow?" Claire chimed in.
"It's most of us. I think Barry is leading the mission with Chris in second command. Jill and Carlos are going for sure, and Leon you're scheduled to help. I think it's just going to be me, Claire, Rebecca, and the kids here tomorrow."
"Oh," Claire looked down, a bit disappointed she wouldn't be joining the investigation squadrant. She figured it was probably her brother's overprotective nature. He wouldn't want to place his sister in the face of danger again, not after the Ashford Estate and the Police Department.
Leon smiled to her and held her close, her head falling against his chest and her eyes resting. He closed his as well and looked over to Ark who was starting to drop off into a sleep himself. He smiled and rubbed over Claire's back, "Don't worry, Claire."
"I'm not worried, I'm just nervous." She said, like it was anything different.
Leon smiled and rested his chin on the top of her head, holding her close. Ark opened his left eye and watched them, winking. He smiled and closed his eye, thinking to himself about how nice a couple the two of them would make.
The dead of night was awoken with a scream from Sherry. Jill sat up in the room adjacent to Sherry's and thought a moment before getting up and pulling herself free of Carlos's loving hold. She looked over and smiled to him before nervously turning to head out the door. She turned and cautiously walked to the door next to theirs.
Out of basic instinct, she reached down to her leg and pulled the nine millimeter gun from its holster and approached with caution. She whipped open the door and aimed in, looking around. She stopped and stared around, looking over Claire and Leon snuggled up, Ark in the corner, the children nestled in their beds.
Nothing too unusual.
Sherry looked over and got up quickly, rushing over to grab onto Jill. Her arms fell around the woman's waiste and her face fell into her bosom, tears soaking the material in Jill's shirt, though she didn't seem to mind as she lifted the child and cradled her against her.
"Did you have a bad dream, Sherry?" Jill asked as they stepped out of the door and onto the balcony. She carefully shut the door behind her so no one would wake up from hers and Sherry's voices.
"Yeah," she looked down, embarrassed. How could she be so weak? She needed to be strong, she couldn't keep worrying everyone over her. They had more important things to take care of.
"Oh," Jill smiled, showing she cared as her feet guided them over the cold concrete which she ignored on her bare soles and sat Sherry down at the table they'd done the packing at earlier in the night. "What was it about?"
Sherry watched Jill step over to the miniature fridge against the wall, curiously. "I, don't want to say."
Jill reached in and pulled out a small jug of milk, "You know, sometimes it helps to talk about it. It makes the fear go away to let others know what's bothering you." She smiled over to her and came up with a cup which she put in front of her.
"Yeah, I know. I just, well," Sherry watched her pour the milk and bit her lip hard as she curled up defensively, "it's about my Daddy."
"Oh?" William Birkin, the man responsible for the invention of the G- Virus, one of the most deadly and lethal viruses created by the hated Umbrella Corporation. It was no wonder Sherry would have nightmares about him.
"Yeah. I keep having the same dream, over and over again. It's always the same. I'm laying down in the lab like he used to let me when I'd visit him and Mommy. They'd always play with me for a bit, then get on with their researchers while I was left to experiment with things on my own. But, this time, in my dream, I got into Daddy's secret drawer." She cringed and silenced.
Jill reached over and rubbed over her back, offering the glass of milk, smiling, "it's okay Sherry. Take your time."
Sherry smiled, looking over to Jill before pulling the milk to her for a sip. She took a deep breath and decided to continue, "Well, then when I was playing with the liquids he always kept safely in the air tight machine, mixed one of them with the other. And it turned a funny color, and I thought it was pretty. So I called Mommy in to come see and she took it from me, looking at it and then ran it under a machine. The next thing I know, Daddy's coming in congratulating me and hugging me tight. I'm all happy until he pulls back and he starts to turn into the monster he turned into in their labs. His face started to change and his body started to grow and he became," She started to cry hard, "he became a monster."
Jill smiled a bit and took Sherry into her lap, rubbing her back and trying to keep her from the tears that seemed so easy for the both of them tonight. She kept holding her and running her fingers over Sherry's back until the little girl finally calmed. "You have nothing to worry about Sherry, it was all just a dream."
Sherry looked to Jill, hoping she was right, but she wasn't. Not this time. She looked down and then bit her lip tighter, "You don't understand, Ms. Valentine-"
"Call me Jill." She smiled.
"Jill. It wasn't just a dream. That really happened, and now I'm remembering it!" Sherry started to sob once more and Jill stared down at the girl in horror. "Don't you get it, Jill?"
Jill looked to her, the dream being chewed over in her thoughts. She finally bit her lip and looked down, facing grim reality.
Sherry finally looked up from Jill's shirt and started to cry out, "I'm the one who did it! It's my fault Daddy was a monster." She sniffled and took a deep breath, "I'm responsible for making the virus!"
all who were involved within the Raccoon City incidents are out to do so.
:: Author'sNote ::
Hehe, this one, unlike my first Fanfic, is not
yaoi. So, all of you may enjoy this a bit more,
or a bit less. My first one was just a try at what
would be considered a risk. This one's, more of a
safe bet. I hope you like this one alot! Enjoy!
Chapter One
Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield took one another into a strong embrace, tears were pouring and the two wouldn't release eachother ever again. After the long seperation after Claire'd gone to find her brother, the two vowed to become inseperable. Chris and the former S.T.A.R.S. members watched on for a moment, then walked over to split the two up temporarily, until they got to a safe haven.
Ever since the incidents, Umbrella had been sending agents out to assassinate the remaining survivors, not wanting the press to get a leak of what had truely occurred within the city limits. S.T.A.R.S. had tried their best to make the accidents public, but Umbrella always had a way of stopping them. They'd all decided upon one thing.
Umbrella needed to be stopped.
The group took off at a run, through the streets of Buena Vista, Colorado, a city far from where the crater of old Raccoon was. Though, no real threat was obvious right now, Chris and the others knew someone was watching them. There was always some sort of surveiliance everywhere. Umbrella owned everything.
"Claire, how much longer?" Sherry ran alongside Claire, watching her with great adoration. It was Claire who'd saved Sherry from a genetic mutation gone wrong back in the Raccoon City Police Department.
"Not much longer, just hold on, okay sweetie?" Claire smiled down to her and Sherry nodded her head once to show she could be patient. In the past few weeks, Claire had become a very formidable mother to Sherry, watching her at all times and keeping her safely guarded from the Umbrella agents that would come along every now and then. Of course, Leon was always helping her along in every encounter.
The rest of the group had hurried on ahead so Claire took it upon herself to scoop up her soon-to-be-daughter and cradled her until the two of them caught up and got into the abandoned house they were staying in. When they walked in, Rebecca Chambers and Carlos Olivera looked up from the supplies they were packing and smiled.
"Chris! I'm so happy, you're back!" Rebecca smiled and walked over to him, carrying a medical pack which she'd set up from spare equipment they could find.
Chris smiled and took her in his arms for a moment, then released her only a tad to turn and smile to the rest of the group they'd just brought in, "Rebecca, this is my sister Claire and her friends Leon Kennedy, and Sherry Birkin."
"Nice to meet you." Leon took a step forword in front of Claire's outstretched hand and friendly smile to take Rebecca's hand in his. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh." Rebecca smiles, a bit insecure with Leon's take-charge attitude. "I'm sure you're going to help us out a great deal, Leon."
"Yeah, Leon. You're doing a bang-up job already." Claire smiles sarcastically and takes Sherry's hand in hers, starting to wander off. "Come on, Sherry, let's take you to go get set up with the other kids."
"Other kids?!" Sherry looked up, excited at the turn of events.
Leon smiled over to Chris, while Rebecca walks over to assist Barry Burton and Jill Valentine in setting up more equipment packs for them to use in their strike. "I see Ark got here, safely?"
"Of course. He flew the kids and himself into a rocky landing a few miles out of town." He smirked and looked up the stairs which Sherry and Claire had gone up. "Ark! Get down here!"
The door at the top of the stairs opened and Ark wandered down withouta shirt on and just a pair of jeans. He was a bit sweaty, obviously just showered from the long trip. He'd been making sure Lott and Lily were safe the entire time afterwards. "Leon, I found out so much from that island."
"It's good to see you, too." He smirked and walked up to talk with his friend, smiling to Chris. "I'm sorry, but I'm a bit tired. Is it okay if I just lounge around?"
"Be my guest." Chris smiled, then left the two friends to join his team mates in their task of supplies. Rebecca seemed to be having a touch time getting twenty syringes into one pack, so Chris took it upon himself to come up behind her and put his arms around her to help her put them in. The two had grown affectionate soon after their adventure in the mansion.
"Leon, you wouldn't beleive what they're doing out there! Thousands of those Tyrant Project's are just stacked up like an army! I think they're planning on doing a full raid with bio-terrorist weapons on the whole world! One company against the whole world and they've got the upper hand."
"Yeah, I know. The T-Virus. Claire and I found out all about it." He sighs and takes his friend by the shoulders and starts walking up the stairs. "They're stocking up all over the place. Claire and Chris even found more of them off on another island."
"That's not the only thing they found," Ark smiled, having the inside information that he'd been seeking from the rest of the task force, "they found the Alpha team leader as well. Albert Wesker was apparently in conjunction with the rest of them down there in that freak labratory."
Leon shakes his head, smiling at Ark's enthusiasm. Even within the most stressful of times, he always took a case seriously and dug his teeth into it.
"What?" Ark smiled a bit, "come on, what is it, Leon?"
"Nothing. It's nothing, okay?" He smiled, and then looked at Ark's still questioning expression. "Come on, let's just get some rest. How are the children you found?"
"They're doing good. I'm just a bit worried about Lott, he thinks he's our age or something. He keeps wanting to go out and fight the good fight. He doesn't understand... I need him here to watch his little sister."
"They're brother and sister? Wow, you're lucky to have found the two of them. That's saving a family, there." Leon tried some words of encouragment on his fellow officer of the law.
"Yeah, but something tells me they could've survived on their own. Lott's a strong-willed boy. Him and Lily had been there the whole time and he protected her, die hard."
"That's a good big brother for you." He looks down over the rail that blocked them from falling off the balcony in front of the door. "Seems to be quite a few of those combinations amongst us, look at Chris and Claire. The two wouldn't stop until they could find eachother and keep one another safe."
"Yeah." Ark's eyes closed in a heavy held breath which evaporated into a yawn.
"Sleepy? Come on, man. Let's hit the hay, I'm tired from driving here." Leon smirked, and walked with Ark into the room, "you think it was easy having to drive six hours to get here?"
The two laugh and keep going on with their reunion, while the others strategize. Barry seemed to be the leader in the situation, after them being abandoned by the traitor, Wesker. He wandered around, inspecting everyone to make sure they were packing correctly, "Watch the barrel there, Jill."
"Yes, sir." She smiled over to him, kind of cheesy in a way. She was worn out from her escape with Carlos Olivera. The two had barely made it out with their lives and were thrust back into the line of duty. Chris and the rest of the S.T.A.R.S. had made Carlos an honorary member of the team.
"Oh, man. If I'd have known how much work was involved with the S.T.A.R.S. special task force, I wouldn't have let you recruit me, Jill." Carlos's silky voice crept on her with a smile and he looked over, trying to add levity to the pressuring and testing times.
"Heh, heh. You have to have some thick skin, Carlos. Being the new guy isn't easy. Ask Rebecca." Jill smiled and laid her head on his nice strong shoulder, still keeping her hands moving across the table to pick up knives and anything she thought would be useful to her and to Claire. She was in charge of Redfield's bag.
"Yeah, they can be pretty rough. I remember my first day..." Rebecca sighed and lifted her arm to rub her forarm top across her forhead, keeping the sweat from dripping into her eyes. "They got me into so much trouble with Cheif Irons. I thought for sure I'd be fired, but he caught on soon enough and I got off."
Chris started to laugh, remembering the pointless tasks they'd had her do when she was the new girl on the team. Jill shared the sentiment, then wiped her eyes and bit on her lower lip. The gun in her hand fell onto the table and pushed some shells around after causing a dust cloud to rise. "Why did he do it to us? He could've listened, this could've all been prevented. All of our homes could've been safe. Our families."
Valentine started to break down in Carlos's arms and he let down the Aid Sprays he'd been packing to keep a hold on her, rubbing her shoulders softly as he kept his voice to a calm whisper. "Don't worry about it, Jill. It's all over now, no more tears."
The others looked over for a moment, Rebecca's eyes worried for Jill's well-being. She'd watched her own home go up in flames from a bomb tossed onto the city, just because Umbrella made a major mistake. So many had to die. So many innocent people were slaughtered for company profit.
Chris and Barry stood up, Barry keeping a stiff upper lip. "Jill, he's right. You'll get your just revenge. Umbrella is going to pay for what they've done to us."
Jill finally pulled from Carlos and straightened the hooded jacket she'd put on for warmth, "I can't take this, though Barry! I don't know how much longer I can go on just being thrown into exile. So much has happened and the world is left blind to it! It's not right! It's just not decent!"
"No one said it was, dear. Just, don't lose it on us now. Not when we need you most. Not like this." Barry reached over and tried to comfort her, but she only pulled away from his warm touch, fighting back her tears as she cringed up and blocked everyone from her. "The Jill I knew would never break down and give up. Come on, you're a figher."
Jill looked up, her eyes finally streaming with hot moist tears, which stained her pale cheeks like paint, "You're right. I can't lose it now."She smiled, brushing away her tears and throwing on her game face, no matter how hard it was. No matter what would happen, she couldn't let herself give up.
Rebecca smiled and looked to the clock, then shot her attention over to Chris, "Shouldn't we be getting to sleep? It's late." She sighed and sat back in her chair, trying to crack her stiffened back.
"Right after we get these packs set up. You know what happens in a few hours from now, we can't just let up now. Let's finish the job at hand, then turn in for the night?"
"All right." Carlos smiled, again bringing the group back together. His witty charm and smooth attitude seemed to keep everyone at ease and put tensions at a loose state. "Come on, only a few more minutes and we're all done for the night." Carlos smiled and the rest of them joined at the table.
Barry came up and smiled, seeing his team getting back into shape. He'd made sure to keep his real family safe, and so he intended on keeping this one protected as well. He saw everyone in the group as his family now, they had to be close to keep their mission in tact and the operation a success. As he looked around at the intent faces, he noticed one not so pleased one. He stepped over and took Chambers aside, looking to her questioningly.
"Is something wrong, Rebecca?" He sat her down and smiled to her, keeping his friendly appearance up and his smile hiding his fear and intimidation for what was to happen.
Rebecca nodded slowly, and looked down into her lap, watching her hands. "Yes, actually. I was just-" As she looked back up, she noticed the whole team staring at her and became nervously silent.
"Come on, Rebecca." Chris's kind smile and open eyes helped to give her strength.
"I was wondering," she took a deep breath and swallowed, "what are we all get killed tomorrow?"
The rest of the group stood there. Their past luck had kept them all off their guard, feeling they could brave any situation after what they'd been put through. Jill lost her confidence and finished her packs, then set them up on the rack for tomorrow, right next to their equipment room. Chris followed soon after, then Rebecca and Carlos. Barry stood at the base of the stairs, watching his team head off to bed and took a deep breath. Sweat fell from his brow and hit the concrete floor below his boots.
"No one's going to die," he tried his thoughts out loud. His voice was shakey, and worry soon set in on the Weapon Specialist's face. He fell to sit on the bottom step and held his head, taking a moment to pray for guidance.
Claire and Sherry smiled to one another as Claire sat beside the kids' beds. Lott and Lily were next to eachother, and Lott had taken Lily into his arms to clam his worried sister as she rested. Him and Sherry were still awake and listening to Claire as she reminised from her childhood with Chris, thinking of stories to calm the two down for bedtime.
"And, Chris was always a lucky boy with the ladies, so his girlfriends would always hang around the house and we'd all enjoy ourselves after my parents died. They were always so nice to me, except one. Felicity, she never thought Chris should've taken me as his responsibility after our parents died, and she bothered him about it so many times it drove him nuts. One night, though, she tried to get me to leave, telling me Chris hated me, and that I was causing him misery. I almost beleived her, being so young, but-"
"But, good ol' Chris came along and told Felicity to get lost." Chris stepped in and sat behind Claire, putting his arm around his sister protectively and smiled down to the children, "I'd never let anything happen to my little sister. No one would come between us."
Sherry sat up, wearing a big shirt, that was more than likely one of Barry's old tatters, as a night shirt, "Do you mean that you guys see us like your little kids to watch for?"
Claire smiled and nodded her head, "We'll never leave you three, ever. We're going to watch over you like a hawk." She smiled and started to tickle Sherry's sides, giving her a case of the giggles, "whether you like it or not."
Lott looked over and smiled at Claire and Sherry. He thought the two made a cute mother and daughter relationship, never sad, always happy, and always striving to keep eachother grounded. It's what he wished he could've had with his parents, but they'd never pay attention to him. He felt terrillblle lately, just thinking about them and how Ark was able to relate to him better than his own father ever could've.
"Something wrong, Lott?" Leon walked in the door, to the make-shift bedroom and smiled to the soon to be teenaged boy.
"Oh, nothing." Lott smiled up to him and pulled his sister close, causing her to grab onto him and snuggle herself closer. He smiled and laid down, watching the rest of them.
"Leon." Claire smiled and got up, "Will you stay in here with me tonight? I'd rather have someone helping with the night shift."
"Of course, I will." Leon smiled and wandered over to sit with Chris and Claire on the long box they'd found themselves upon. "Chris, where're you sleeping?"
Chris smirked, getting a hint of what was going on and got off the box, rising to his feet. "I'm sharing a bunk with Rebecca, Barry, and Jill. I think Carlos is staying with us, though, now that you're all here."
"Alright." Leon leaned back and cautiously put his arm around Claire, only being a bit careful since her older brother was around and he didn't want to disrespect his new friend and teammate in any way possible.
"Oh, and Ark'll be in here, so keep the door unlocked until he comes in." Chris smirked and waved to them, then left the two with the three children to rest. They had made an effort to split the two rooms up evenly, and keep the children all together as a fail safe.
Leon smiled to Claire, a decisive look coming over his face as he watched her. She looked over to him, then started to laugh a little bit, "What is it Leon?"
He gave her no response, but started to lean in slowly.
"Gah! Back off." She pushed him and let him fall onto the wooden floor, the upstairs having nice flooring than the lower level, but it was still shabby.
Sherry and Lott got into a fit of laughs and watched on as the adults continued to goof around with one another, enjoying the time when they could just let go of the world's many problems.
Leon caught Claire on his fall and brought her with him, landing her atop him and then rolling to get the advantage over her. She wouldn't let him just take the full attack and went on her defense, flipping him to his back and putting her knees on his wrists. He started to laugh and lost the strength in his arms at her spunky courage with him.
"Oh god, get a room you two." Lott rolled over and closed his eyes, letting Lily hold his back.
Leon started to laugh and got up, lifting Claire up with him. She stood and brushed her clothes off as he did the same. "Sorry about that, Lott."
"Oh, it's okay, Leon." Sherry was sitting up in bed, just watching the two of them. Claire looked over with a smile on her face and wandered up, pressing Sherry to lay down.
"You should be going to sleep, little miss." She smiled and poked Sherry's nose for a smile off the little girl.
"But, I'm not sleepy yet Claire." Sherry whined, trying to resist the nurturing voice that was urging her to sleep.
"Yeah, but if you don't get some rest, you'll be even worse come morning. Come on, you and the others have a lot to do tomorrow to help out the adults." Claire tucked her in and Sherry finally gave up her reluctance.
"Alright, Claire." She smiled and Claire leaned down to kiss her on the forhead before Sherry rolled over and closed her eye to head to sleep. Claire reached up and pulled the string attached the bulb in the room, letting it switch off. She turned and got into the veiw of the window, so she could see in the moonlight's downcast.
Leon wandered over and took Claire up in his arms, then sat down wiht her by him and let her scoot away a bit for some comforatable room. She smiled over to Leon and he smiled back to her. For a moment, their heads started to close in, losing the saftey distance placed between them.
That all ended abruptly when Ark came into the room and smiled, "Kids asleep, yet?"
"No, so be quiet." Lott looked up form the bed, hard to be seen in the darkness. Ark smiled and walked over to sit by Claire, the side empty of Leon. Lott went back to laying down, making his best effort to go to sleep.
"So, you two enjoying your time back together before tomorrow?" Ark rested his head back against the wall, looking around the shack styled room. There was nothing too glamorous about it, except the beds they'd put together.
"Yeah, it's nice to see eachother after being parted for so long," Claire smiled over to him and pulled her knees up to her breast.
"Of course it is, and it's even nicer to have caught up with you finally Ark. How long's it been?" Leon started to take some random guesses, "two, three years?"
Ark smiled, "Two and a half, but nice try." He started to play with his fingers, "and I've had nothing but hell since. So many cases, so many mysteries, but the one you've sent me on seems to be the biggest bitch of 'em all, you know?"
Leon started to laugh and Claire finally caught in on the joke for a few moments. The two looked to eachother, then Claire looked over, "Wow, dont' I feel awkward. Two cops remiscing about the past and all I've got to goof around about is Colorado University."
Leon smiles and puts his arm over her shoulders, making a daring move in front of his friend, "it's alright, Claire. I'm sure you've got to be used to having the police around you all the time, aren't you?"
"Of course I am. Jill and Barry used to be around all the time, along with Richard Aiken." She smiled and leaned into Leon's arm.
Ark looked over, hearing soft snores coming from Lott's bed and he got up, just to peak over the faces of Sherry and Lott, "The kids are asleep."
"Good." Leon smiled, and then looked to Ark, "What's the game plan for tomrrow, anyway?"
Ark sighed and looked to make sure that the children were all ready alseep, not needing any eaves dropping. Once he was sure it was safe, he spoke quietly, "Well, word is there's anotehr facility around here that Umbrella's made, but luckily there shouldn't be any biohazardous material there. They're a legit company, but they do have links to the headquarters. We originally thought that their main intelligence was in Australia, but we soon found out that that was the cover-up. Our mission tomorrow is to obtain information on all locations Umbrella has and then see which could possibly contain T-Virus generated beings. Our mission, really, is to locate the main branch off of Umbrella where all the incidents originated from, and the target it for attack."
Leon nodded and looked to Claire, who seemed just a bit uenasy about it. She looked up and spoke up, just a little louder, "How are you sure there's nothing there?"
"We've sent in a spy team already, a woman who claims to have connections into Umbrella already. She's working there along with someone already in the facility. We've gotten messages from her in covert areas, and have gotten the information we need. Tomorrow's the pick-up for her, and we intend on breaking her out on our mission."
"Who is she?" Leon asked, starting to get a bit iterested.
"Some woman, dark haired and fair skinned. Her name's something like.. umm. Margo Vasquez, I beleive. I really didn't pay much attention to who she was, just that we could get the information from her."
"Oh..." Leon looked down, the discription reminding him of the love he'd developed with the Umbrella spy, Ada Wong. But she was long gone, she'd taken a deadly plunge itno the depths of the Umbrella lab, sealing her mortal fate.
"Who's going tomorrow?" Claire chimed in.
"It's most of us. I think Barry is leading the mission with Chris in second command. Jill and Carlos are going for sure, and Leon you're scheduled to help. I think it's just going to be me, Claire, Rebecca, and the kids here tomorrow."
"Oh," Claire looked down, a bit disappointed she wouldn't be joining the investigation squadrant. She figured it was probably her brother's overprotective nature. He wouldn't want to place his sister in the face of danger again, not after the Ashford Estate and the Police Department.
Leon smiled to her and held her close, her head falling against his chest and her eyes resting. He closed his as well and looked over to Ark who was starting to drop off into a sleep himself. He smiled and rubbed over Claire's back, "Don't worry, Claire."
"I'm not worried, I'm just nervous." She said, like it was anything different.
Leon smiled and rested his chin on the top of her head, holding her close. Ark opened his left eye and watched them, winking. He smiled and closed his eye, thinking to himself about how nice a couple the two of them would make.
The dead of night was awoken with a scream from Sherry. Jill sat up in the room adjacent to Sherry's and thought a moment before getting up and pulling herself free of Carlos's loving hold. She looked over and smiled to him before nervously turning to head out the door. She turned and cautiously walked to the door next to theirs.
Out of basic instinct, she reached down to her leg and pulled the nine millimeter gun from its holster and approached with caution. She whipped open the door and aimed in, looking around. She stopped and stared around, looking over Claire and Leon snuggled up, Ark in the corner, the children nestled in their beds.
Nothing too unusual.
Sherry looked over and got up quickly, rushing over to grab onto Jill. Her arms fell around the woman's waiste and her face fell into her bosom, tears soaking the material in Jill's shirt, though she didn't seem to mind as she lifted the child and cradled her against her.
"Did you have a bad dream, Sherry?" Jill asked as they stepped out of the door and onto the balcony. She carefully shut the door behind her so no one would wake up from hers and Sherry's voices.
"Yeah," she looked down, embarrassed. How could she be so weak? She needed to be strong, she couldn't keep worrying everyone over her. They had more important things to take care of.
"Oh," Jill smiled, showing she cared as her feet guided them over the cold concrete which she ignored on her bare soles and sat Sherry down at the table they'd done the packing at earlier in the night. "What was it about?"
Sherry watched Jill step over to the miniature fridge against the wall, curiously. "I, don't want to say."
Jill reached in and pulled out a small jug of milk, "You know, sometimes it helps to talk about it. It makes the fear go away to let others know what's bothering you." She smiled over to her and came up with a cup which she put in front of her.
"Yeah, I know. I just, well," Sherry watched her pour the milk and bit her lip hard as she curled up defensively, "it's about my Daddy."
"Oh?" William Birkin, the man responsible for the invention of the G- Virus, one of the most deadly and lethal viruses created by the hated Umbrella Corporation. It was no wonder Sherry would have nightmares about him.
"Yeah. I keep having the same dream, over and over again. It's always the same. I'm laying down in the lab like he used to let me when I'd visit him and Mommy. They'd always play with me for a bit, then get on with their researchers while I was left to experiment with things on my own. But, this time, in my dream, I got into Daddy's secret drawer." She cringed and silenced.
Jill reached over and rubbed over her back, offering the glass of milk, smiling, "it's okay Sherry. Take your time."
Sherry smiled, looking over to Jill before pulling the milk to her for a sip. She took a deep breath and decided to continue, "Well, then when I was playing with the liquids he always kept safely in the air tight machine, mixed one of them with the other. And it turned a funny color, and I thought it was pretty. So I called Mommy in to come see and she took it from me, looking at it and then ran it under a machine. The next thing I know, Daddy's coming in congratulating me and hugging me tight. I'm all happy until he pulls back and he starts to turn into the monster he turned into in their labs. His face started to change and his body started to grow and he became," She started to cry hard, "he became a monster."
Jill smiled a bit and took Sherry into her lap, rubbing her back and trying to keep her from the tears that seemed so easy for the both of them tonight. She kept holding her and running her fingers over Sherry's back until the little girl finally calmed. "You have nothing to worry about Sherry, it was all just a dream."
Sherry looked to Jill, hoping she was right, but she wasn't. Not this time. She looked down and then bit her lip tighter, "You don't understand, Ms. Valentine-"
"Call me Jill." She smiled.
"Jill. It wasn't just a dream. That really happened, and now I'm remembering it!" Sherry started to sob once more and Jill stared down at the girl in horror. "Don't you get it, Jill?"
Jill looked to her, the dream being chewed over in her thoughts. She finally bit her lip and looked down, facing grim reality.
Sherry finally looked up from Jill's shirt and started to cry out, "I'm the one who did it! It's my fault Daddy was a monster." She sniffled and took a deep breath, "I'm responsible for making the virus!"