A/N: Thanks again to Captain for betaing, Ramen for reading, Shak for
reviewing the original, and the regulars. You guys rawk.
Alanna Turnbull sighed to herself as she peered into the microscope. With the two Spencer girls taking off from the labs, she was left to shoulder most of the workload. And no matter how indignant Gabriel got, she was stuck with it.
"What gives them the right?" she asked the samples that she was peering through. "To do something so stupid and to leave *me* with all the work?!"
The specimen did not answer her. Irritably, she took the slide out from underneath the microscope and mixed it in with the feed for the rabbits in the cage, pausing to scribble a note on a paper.
"Is there a problem, Miss Turnbull?" Alanna's superior, a dark skinned man clad in extravagant clothes that clashed with the strictness of the labs.
"No."
"It seems that way." he leaned back, frowning at her. She continued to scowl.
"I'm taking my lunch break." She told him, handing him her lab coat and stalking out. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her dark purple vest, muttering beneath her breath, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around.
A man with immaculate blond hair, cold blue eyes, and a smile was on his face.
"You know a Gabriel Turnbull?"
"Yes. He is my brother."
He gave a nod, and then something crashed down on the back of her head. For a moment, she staggered.
"What...?" she managed to say.
"Umbrella will be ours again, sister!" The blond man said merrily. "First Paris, then America, then the world!" Then the world faded to black, and Alanna went limp. *
Hojo wondered whether he should have bought flowers. Women liked flowers. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and jumped three feet in the air.
"Catherine!" he gasped.
Scythe raised an eyebrow at the jumpy recruit, who turned red.
"Uh... sir! I wasn't expecting you here!"
"And I wasn't expecting you in the labs, either, Hojo. I have orders for you. I need you to sort through the files from missions and dispose of those that aren't relevant anymore."
"But, sir!"
They were interrupted by the door swinging open and hitting the wall with a 'thud' and Catherine Spencer, looking pale and harassed as always, appearing in the doorway.
"You've come to learn about the virus?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Um, yes." Hojo said. Scythe was staring at him, then finally he hissed:
"Real romantic date, Hojo. A corpse in a lab."
"Ssh!" Hojo shushed.
"Wait until the guys hear about this." and then Scythe was gone.
"If you're just here to learn about the virus, why are you wearing cologne?"
"I wanted to smell nice."
"You are distracting me." she complained, and pointed at a small metal sink. "Go wash that infernal concotion off."
Hojo complied meekly, heading over to the sink. He scrubbed a still wet hand through his hair in irritation, causing his spikes to droop. He looked so out of place in the lab that Catherine frowned at him.
"You're breaking my concentration."
"Sorry." he said, stepping backwards and knocking over a tray. Catherine glared at him.
"Get OUT!" she snapped. Hojo fled.
/That's what you get for liking a mad scientist./
*
Chris yawned, dragging himself out of bed. They had arrived in Paris only last night. They spoke little French - Claire took it in high school, Chris had to learn some for the Air Force, but enough to get a hotel.
Chris pulled on a pair of jeans then trudged into the bathroom that he and Claire shared. After brushing his teeth and combing his hair, he pulled on a black t-shirt and knocked on his sister's door.
"Sis? You ready?"
There was a muffled groan from inside Claire's room.
"Come *on*, Claire. If you hadn't had so much champagne..." he raised his fist to bang at the door some more, and it swung open. He started - Claire looked like a zombie.
"That nice boy kept on refilling my glass." she muttered. She had not bothered to tie her hair back, it lay in tangled to her shoulders. Her eyes were bleary, her skin pale, her shoulders hunched and her posture bent.
"So you didn't have to drink that much. Now, c'mon, we have a base to examine."
"Aah, talk a bit quieter please, thank you." Claire flinched.
"I'm not impressed."
"And I don't fucking care if you're impressed." Claire said. "Can I just get an aspirin before we leave to scout out the base?"
She gave him a pleading look.
"Fine." he ruffled her hair. "And try to look presentable?"
"I'm sure the zombies want their meat to be well-groomed."
"Like they'll see long enough before I blast their heads off."
Claire gave a weak laugh before following her brother. *
"Phoenix?" an unfamiliar voice interrupted Cora's train of thought. She leapt to her feet out of her mid push up.
"Hi." she greeted the unfamilar man. A young girl was at his soldier, hair in two braids, expression bright and cheery - but with an odd hardness and defiance to it.
/Who is that.../
It hit Cora like a bolt of lightning.
/Amelia./
"Amelia!" she cried, not caring what her sister wanted her to call her, not caring what this strange man thought. She wrapped her sister up in a hug. "Amelia! I haven't seen you in so long! I'm sorry - I was in Europe healing and even before then - I'm so sorry." An odd feeling welled in Cora - pride. Her sister was not whining, not complaining... she was like a well trained soldier. There was a pride in that, even if Cora would have felt horror so long ago.
"Cora ... air!" gasped her little sister. She released Amelia.
"I'm Jim Linden." Linden extended a hand and Cora tentavily shook it. "I'm here to talk to you about your sister."
"Will you teach me knife work, Cora? I want to be a great soldier like you."
"No!" Cora said vehemently. "You will NOT do that!"
Linden shot her an odd look, and Cora realized that she had spoke in Spanish.
"What did you come about?" she asked Linden cooly.
"You don't want your sister on my UBCS team, and I don't want her on my team. Let's get her off, send her off to your mother in Florida."
/Thank God. Mom's safe in Florida. And Amelia can be safe in Florida too. I just have to say the right word./
"And why don't you want her on your team?" Cora asked frostily. The defiant fear on Amelia's face of being sent away faded, and was replaced with hope.
/That *wasn't* the right word, Merandez!/
"She's fourteen!" Linden said indignantly.
"I try hard!" Amelia leaped in for her own defense. "I do everything you ask me! Even that time when I had to crawl through mud and hook up the explosives, I did it."
Cora turned cold eyes to Linden.
"You never even gave my sister a chance." she growled.
"She's fourteen, and a bloody Mexi-" he never got the word out, as Cora tackled him , sending him crashing to the floor. Gasping for air, he stared up into Cora's face.
"What does her being Mexican have to do with it? I am Mexican."
"No - it's just that she was poor and she has limited knowledge and -"
"So teach her." Cora said coldly.
"Phoenix, with all due respect!"
"I've shown you as much respect as you deserve." her voice was cold, a snake's hiss.
/Why am I doing this?/
Linden finally nodded, and Cora stood, her own voice replying to her question.
/Pride. Pride and because you are under Umbrella's thumb. You want your sister to become a soldier, and you want to be proud of her. You want to keep her. How selfish./
"Cora!" with a squeal, Amelia tackled her older sister. "Thank you!"
"You won't be thanking me after you see a zombie." Cora told her sister grimly.
"Zombies?" Amelia laughed it off, and she broke free, grinning wildly. "I saw them. They were slow, easy to take care of."
/What happened to her innocence? No, she can protect herself this way. But ... But it isn't right./
Cora sighed, and Amelia didn't notice, she was too busy chattering about how she would become a team leader one day.
/She wanted to be a ballerina once. She even got mom to get her a tutu when money was so tight. Now look at her. She's like me. A monster./
Alanna Turnbull sighed to herself as she peered into the microscope. With the two Spencer girls taking off from the labs, she was left to shoulder most of the workload. And no matter how indignant Gabriel got, she was stuck with it.
"What gives them the right?" she asked the samples that she was peering through. "To do something so stupid and to leave *me* with all the work?!"
The specimen did not answer her. Irritably, she took the slide out from underneath the microscope and mixed it in with the feed for the rabbits in the cage, pausing to scribble a note on a paper.
"Is there a problem, Miss Turnbull?" Alanna's superior, a dark skinned man clad in extravagant clothes that clashed with the strictness of the labs.
"No."
"It seems that way." he leaned back, frowning at her. She continued to scowl.
"I'm taking my lunch break." She told him, handing him her lab coat and stalking out. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her dark purple vest, muttering beneath her breath, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around.
A man with immaculate blond hair, cold blue eyes, and a smile was on his face.
"You know a Gabriel Turnbull?"
"Yes. He is my brother."
He gave a nod, and then something crashed down on the back of her head. For a moment, she staggered.
"What...?" she managed to say.
"Umbrella will be ours again, sister!" The blond man said merrily. "First Paris, then America, then the world!" Then the world faded to black, and Alanna went limp. *
Hojo wondered whether he should have bought flowers. Women liked flowers. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and jumped three feet in the air.
"Catherine!" he gasped.
Scythe raised an eyebrow at the jumpy recruit, who turned red.
"Uh... sir! I wasn't expecting you here!"
"And I wasn't expecting you in the labs, either, Hojo. I have orders for you. I need you to sort through the files from missions and dispose of those that aren't relevant anymore."
"But, sir!"
They were interrupted by the door swinging open and hitting the wall with a 'thud' and Catherine Spencer, looking pale and harassed as always, appearing in the doorway.
"You've come to learn about the virus?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Um, yes." Hojo said. Scythe was staring at him, then finally he hissed:
"Real romantic date, Hojo. A corpse in a lab."
"Ssh!" Hojo shushed.
"Wait until the guys hear about this." and then Scythe was gone.
"If you're just here to learn about the virus, why are you wearing cologne?"
"I wanted to smell nice."
"You are distracting me." she complained, and pointed at a small metal sink. "Go wash that infernal concotion off."
Hojo complied meekly, heading over to the sink. He scrubbed a still wet hand through his hair in irritation, causing his spikes to droop. He looked so out of place in the lab that Catherine frowned at him.
"You're breaking my concentration."
"Sorry." he said, stepping backwards and knocking over a tray. Catherine glared at him.
"Get OUT!" she snapped. Hojo fled.
/That's what you get for liking a mad scientist./
*
Chris yawned, dragging himself out of bed. They had arrived in Paris only last night. They spoke little French - Claire took it in high school, Chris had to learn some for the Air Force, but enough to get a hotel.
Chris pulled on a pair of jeans then trudged into the bathroom that he and Claire shared. After brushing his teeth and combing his hair, he pulled on a black t-shirt and knocked on his sister's door.
"Sis? You ready?"
There was a muffled groan from inside Claire's room.
"Come *on*, Claire. If you hadn't had so much champagne..." he raised his fist to bang at the door some more, and it swung open. He started - Claire looked like a zombie.
"That nice boy kept on refilling my glass." she muttered. She had not bothered to tie her hair back, it lay in tangled to her shoulders. Her eyes were bleary, her skin pale, her shoulders hunched and her posture bent.
"So you didn't have to drink that much. Now, c'mon, we have a base to examine."
"Aah, talk a bit quieter please, thank you." Claire flinched.
"I'm not impressed."
"And I don't fucking care if you're impressed." Claire said. "Can I just get an aspirin before we leave to scout out the base?"
She gave him a pleading look.
"Fine." he ruffled her hair. "And try to look presentable?"
"I'm sure the zombies want their meat to be well-groomed."
"Like they'll see long enough before I blast their heads off."
Claire gave a weak laugh before following her brother. *
"Phoenix?" an unfamiliar voice interrupted Cora's train of thought. She leapt to her feet out of her mid push up.
"Hi." she greeted the unfamilar man. A young girl was at his soldier, hair in two braids, expression bright and cheery - but with an odd hardness and defiance to it.
/Who is that.../
It hit Cora like a bolt of lightning.
/Amelia./
"Amelia!" she cried, not caring what her sister wanted her to call her, not caring what this strange man thought. She wrapped her sister up in a hug. "Amelia! I haven't seen you in so long! I'm sorry - I was in Europe healing and even before then - I'm so sorry." An odd feeling welled in Cora - pride. Her sister was not whining, not complaining... she was like a well trained soldier. There was a pride in that, even if Cora would have felt horror so long ago.
"Cora ... air!" gasped her little sister. She released Amelia.
"I'm Jim Linden." Linden extended a hand and Cora tentavily shook it. "I'm here to talk to you about your sister."
"Will you teach me knife work, Cora? I want to be a great soldier like you."
"No!" Cora said vehemently. "You will NOT do that!"
Linden shot her an odd look, and Cora realized that she had spoke in Spanish.
"What did you come about?" she asked Linden cooly.
"You don't want your sister on my UBCS team, and I don't want her on my team. Let's get her off, send her off to your mother in Florida."
/Thank God. Mom's safe in Florida. And Amelia can be safe in Florida too. I just have to say the right word./
"And why don't you want her on your team?" Cora asked frostily. The defiant fear on Amelia's face of being sent away faded, and was replaced with hope.
/That *wasn't* the right word, Merandez!/
"She's fourteen!" Linden said indignantly.
"I try hard!" Amelia leaped in for her own defense. "I do everything you ask me! Even that time when I had to crawl through mud and hook up the explosives, I did it."
Cora turned cold eyes to Linden.
"You never even gave my sister a chance." she growled.
"She's fourteen, and a bloody Mexi-" he never got the word out, as Cora tackled him , sending him crashing to the floor. Gasping for air, he stared up into Cora's face.
"What does her being Mexican have to do with it? I am Mexican."
"No - it's just that she was poor and she has limited knowledge and -"
"So teach her." Cora said coldly.
"Phoenix, with all due respect!"
"I've shown you as much respect as you deserve." her voice was cold, a snake's hiss.
/Why am I doing this?/
Linden finally nodded, and Cora stood, her own voice replying to her question.
/Pride. Pride and because you are under Umbrella's thumb. You want your sister to become a soldier, and you want to be proud of her. You want to keep her. How selfish./
"Cora!" with a squeal, Amelia tackled her older sister. "Thank you!"
"You won't be thanking me after you see a zombie." Cora told her sister grimly.
"Zombies?" Amelia laughed it off, and she broke free, grinning wildly. "I saw them. They were slow, easy to take care of."
/What happened to her innocence? No, she can protect herself this way. But ... But it isn't right./
Cora sighed, and Amelia didn't notice, she was too busy chattering about how she would become a team leader one day.
/She wanted to be a ballerina once. She even got mom to get her a tutu when money was so tight. Now look at her. She's like me. A monster./