Title: Into the Light
Author: Malenkaya
Rating: R for violence and swearing
Summary: (RE movie fanfic, 2nd in trilogy): What began as a mindless effort to survive has developed into a race against time to stop Matt's sudden mutation as Alice, Rain, Michael, Matt and J.D. re-enter the Hive in search of a cure.
Disclaimer: After seeing all those clever disclaimers out there, I wish I had one. Any suggestions? I own nothing here but my own ideas.
Feedback: Please! I live and breathe reviews! Flames, as long as they're explanatory, are fine.
Author's Notes:
Thanks goes out of course to all my fantastic reviewers, particularly for chapter eighteen: masked-in-your-shadows, Jon the Amazing, MysticSuperSavianGohan, rain1657, SangoLancer200, schneebly, XMaster, Gabzilla, and Faded Writer.
About reviews. This, as you all very well know, is the last chapter of "Into the Light". I'm well aware that there are people here who read and haven't reviewed once (I'm guilty of the same thing!).
However, because this is the last chapter, I beg of you to review "Into the Light" as a whole right now. It can be general, precise, a flame or complimentary, whatever. Whether you've diligently read and reviewed since I started writing (for which I thank you!), always read, just started reading, or wandered into this story accidentally and are now wondering what the hell this note is for, please, please review. Whether you've reviewed faithfully since this started, on and off, once, or never, please review today! Review with a twenty minute page response; send me a note. Send me a two word response; send me a flame. Send me whatever you want, but please, please REVIEW!
There. I think you all get the point:) (hint- REVIEW (please)!)
The third part of this series should be up in about three to four weeks. Probably. It all depends if I bring my laptop with me when I leave this summer. If not, I don't know. I wouldn't be able to update until after summetime, in which case… would anyone still bother reading?
"Video Killed the Radio Star"... I'm listening to it. It's great. Has anyone else ever heard it?
Busy, slow week, but… good :)
Me and fanfiction (dot) net have a temporary alliance. Not sure how long it'll last :) Hate the new format, though! Why are they always changing?
Thanks again, enjoy the fic!
Into the Light
Chapter Nineteen: Candlelight
The next four hours were spent in total silence.
When they had all first crowded into the train, the sound levels in the tiny space had been almost deafening—all three of them questioning Alice, wanting to know what had happened, all amid the little girl's continued screaming.
And Alice hadn't answered. She'd told Lea, in a harsh voice completely unlike her own, to shut up; the little girl had complied, and Alice had turned to them and said simply, "He deserved what he got."
And then she'd turned and left the room, walking further back into the entranceway of the train.
Sometime thereafter, someone had finally brought up the idea of actually starting the train, actually going somewhere; and yet, what was the point now?
Now that Matt was gone, all their urgency had disappeared; their time limitations had suddenly vanished.
But Michael knew that had to do something—that if they'd stood there, in that oppressive silence, listening to the terrified sobs of a little girl, they would have all lost it then.
And so somehow he'd ended up here now, controlling the train himself. It hadn't exactly been difficult to learn; James had shown him the basics, but none of them had trusted him enough to actually let him drive. He was a nice kid, but he worked for Umbrella, for Archangelo, and that was fairly hard to overlook.
At first he'd watched the walls around him, the low ceiling over the train as it'd sped along the tracks, the whir of machinery somehow comforting to him, and thought about other things. Wondered what they'd do now; where they'd go.
Finally, he'd given up on that, and lapsed into hazy quiet, just staring blankly ahead of him. They were about an hour away from the Hive; chances of being attacked were fairly slim.
The rest of the group had stayed in the room with him, probably not wanting to intrude on Alice. J.D was sitting in his own chair, only a few feet away from him, staring out the front window. His face was blank, and tired; Michael had no idea what he was thinking anymore, if anything.
Rain had taken it upon herself to see to Lea; despite her previous confessions that she was horrible with kids and had no patience with them, she'd had no problem sitting down next to the child and pulling her into an immediate hug.
Michael had no idea why Lea had responded; if Rain had been bloody and exhausted looking enough for Lea to realize that she was a victim herself, and had no intentions of hurting her, or if the child had just been too tired to push her away. But she'd folded into her arms, and stayed there the whole ride through.
Now she was sleeping, and Rain was looking up at him, looking like she herself wanted to sleep this horrible day away as well, and asking, "Where are we going?"
"I don't know," he confessed. "The train is on autopilot. I'm just… following with the instructions left."
She nodded, and looked away, and that was that; there was no more conversation for the hour that followed.
After what seemed like an eternity, the train rumbled to a stop.
J.D shot awake; sometime along the way he'd fallen asleep, and he glanced blearily around the room before his eyes fell on Michael. "What's going on?"
He shrugged. "We're here," he said, not knowing what else to say, not knowing where here was.
Rain stood, balancing the little girl on her hip, and J.D cast a concerned glance towards her almost immediately. "Rain, I can take her if you want."
"No," she said simply. "I'm fine."
And she looked fine, looked better than she had in days by now, and Michael was glad to see the change in her.
They all looked towards the door into the next room; even James, who'd been sitting in the corner, silent enough that Michael had almost forgotten he was there, none of them wanting to be the first to enter.
None of them wanting to be the first to see Alice.
Part of Michael was terrified to walk in there, to see the shell of the beautiful woman Alice had been; he had no idea what to expect, whether Alice would be angry and cold still, or had finally broken down; had given up on this insane and desperate journey. If they would walk in there, to see her swinging from the ceiling, or slumped across the floor, blood pouring out from her slit wrists and pooling around her—
J.D stepped forward and pushed the door open.
They all walked through after him, and, despite having known the fairly ridiculous odds of Alice actually having committed suicide, Michael couldn't help but be relieved when he saw that the room was empty and Alice stood outside, a solid outline against the bright sun.
Walking out of the train was like being born again, like waking up in a whole new world. For the first time in weeks, maybe even months, he was seeing nature again; trees, and grass, sunshine and clouds. For the first time in ages, he wasn't locked inside a safe house, or worse, underground; he felt free, and almost safe again.
But then he heard the zombies crying out in the distance, saw the blood splattered across the once pristine white sidewalks, and knew that there was no safe place in Raccoon anymore.
"What now?" Alice asked quietly. "Where are we going?"
Looking at her, at her blond hair, flaming in the sunlight, and bright blue eyes, Michael realized her eyes were red; she'd obviously been crying.
He shrugged slightly. "I don't know," he admitted.
"Archangelo had a plan," James blurted out, and they turned to face him, Lea rubbing her eyes, obviously having already woken up.
"So what's the plan?" Rain asked, looking bored and suspicious as she shifted Lea higher on her hip. "And no bullshit."
"Someone's picking her up," James said, nodding towards Lea. "Her aunt, or something. And then a helicopter was supposed to come for the rest of us."
Rain raised an eyebrow. "The rest of us?" she asked dryly.
"You're not coming with us," Alice said flatly, and Michael was glad to see that some of the anger had gone from her eyes; that now she merely looked tired, and determined.
James fidgeted. "Then where am I supposed to go?" he asked uncertainly, looking around. "I mean—Raccoon's going to be detonated in a few hours."
At that, Rain gave an annoyed snort. "Yeah, right."
But Alice had a look of both concentration and dislike on her face, and Michael could tell that she believed his words.
J.D confirmed it, glancing at Rain as he said, "He's telling the truth. In about three hours, Raccoon's going to be gone."
"How would you know?" she asked sharply. J.D gave her a tired look, and an unspoken message passed between them; she turned away, saying shortly, "Olivia. Right."
"Yeah," James said uncertainly. "Umm. So where am I supposed to go then?"
"You know what, James?" J.D said shortly, glaring at him. "None of us really give a fuck. So maybe you should just shut the hell up."
James looked scared, and Michael, exasperated with the whole stupid situation, was opening his mouth to try and establish a shaky measure of peace when Rain, surprisingly, spoke up.
"He can go with Lea," she said, and looked down at the little girl. "Would that be okay with you, Lea?"
The little girl looked at her, and then turned those huge blue eyes on James before nodding slowly. Looking at her, Michael was struck by the lack of innocence on such a young girl's face; by the quiet despair written in Lea's eyes.
If this day was going to be remembered by them for days to come, it had definitely already shaped Lea's; had turned her into a quiet shell of herself, made her begin growing up way too fast.
And somehow, despite all Michael had seen and done since joining with this group—all the monsters he'd killed, all the things he'd learned to adjust his moralistic code for, this was the sin he felt most guilty for.
A car engine broke his thoughts; and then they were all looking up as a blue car sped towards them.
J.D and Michael pulled out their weapons immediately; Alice, who already had hers out, didn't bother, only moving to flick off the safety before turning it on the person in the car, now pulling up beside them.
The engine died; and then the door was opening, and a woman was getting out, her long, dark hair holding the same curl Lea's did. There was no trace of Archangelo in her face; whoever she was, she was obviously related to Lea's mother rather than father.
She stopped, looking hesitant as she asked, "Where's William?"
It took a moment for Michael to realize who she was talking about, and then Alice said sharply, "He's dead. Are you here to pick up Lea?"
The woman's face went white, and Michael sent a sharp glare towards Alice, pushing away the automatic sympathy that came with the anger when he looked at Alice. "Alice."
She glanced at him, her face devoid of emotion, and he didn't know what to say.
"Give me Lea," the woman said sharply to Rain. The brunette looked pissed; and Lea burst into tears, burrowing her face into Rain's neck.
The woman let out a sigh of annoyance, barely concealing her obvious fear as she said, "Lea, I'm your auntie. Don't you remember?"
"Get in the car," Rain said sharply, and she gave her a look of disbelief.
"What? That's my niece, I'm not just going to let you people—"
"Get in the car," Rain said with exaggerated patience, "And James and Lea will both go with you."
The woman gave a short sigh. "Why? I don't—"
"Because I don't trust you," Rain said bluntly. "And Lea doesn't seem to either. She trusts James, so that's who she's going with. Either deal with that, or fuck off."
The woman looked irritated by this news; and yet the nervousness was still in her features, and Michael realized that she was afraid of them.
"Look," he said quietly, and she turned to look at him. "You don't have to be afraid of us—"
"I'm not," she said sharply, but he cut her off before she could continue.
"Rain's been watching Lea for hours now—she's not going to hurt her. None of us are."
"Then why did you kill William?" she challenged him, and for a moment Michael wondered how she could have possibly figured that out just by looking at them.
Then he considered Alice's words, and the fact that they were all covered in blood; the traumatized look of Lea, and realized it would have been more unlikely for her not to have noticed.
He paused, wondering what he should say; and then Alice spoke.
"Your brother-in-law," she said quietly, "Wasn't a good person. He almost killed all of us; he did kill one of us. Killing him wasn't exactly what I'd consider a crime."
"What about Lea?" the woman countered sharply. "Did you stop to think about how killing her father would affect her?"
Michael expected Alice to get angry; to shut out all her other emotions again, and bring in the same coldness.
Instead, her face broke; her blue eyes were bright with sudden tears, and Michael turned to the woman, saying coldly, "Get in the fucking car."
"I want answers—"
"I don't think you understand," Rain said sharply, glaring at her. "We have weapons, you don't."
"So get in the goddamn car before we decide to use them," J.D said coldly, leveling his gun at her for good measure.
She got in the car.
Rain handed Lea to James, looking surprisingly reluctant, and said, "Take care of her."
There was both a pleading and threatening tone to her voice; like she'd know if James wasn't doing what she'd just told him, and hunt him down and get him for it.
James nodded, looking almost respectful.
And then he got into the car, taking Lea with him, and slammed the door behind him.
And even as the car was speeding away, the dust kicked up by it's tires and unmistakable sound of an engine revving fading into the distance, they could hear a helicopter beating above them.
xxxxx
Getting into the helicopter hadn't been difficult.
There'd been a few problems of course—mostly from the crew manning it, wondering who the hell they were and where their boss was.
Fortunately, a few well-aimed threats and flashing of their weapons convinced them that they weren't going to put up with their shit, and within a few minutes, they were in the air.
They'd landed a few miles east of Nevada, and had met up there with a black limousine. There they'd had a repeat of the same situation; again, they'd taken care of it.
And now they were pulling up to the Bellagio hotel, set into the middle of the Las Vegas strip, the bright, flashy lights and gaudy appearances almost asinine considering their current situation.
They all piled out of the car, and J.D wanted to laugh looking around him; at the strip clubs, practically jumping out at him, at the trendy little restaurants and huge, sparkling casinos.
"Vegas, baby," Rain muttered next to him, and he grinned, unable to help it.
With a bit of persuasion, the driver gave up the card Archangelo had taken for his reservations.
And then J.D was swaggering in through the front door, his arm around an equally idiotic looking Rain, and Michael and Alice slightly paled pantomimes of the same act behind them.
The concierge took one look at them, and then a man was hurrying over, black suit impeccable as he said pompously, "I'm sorry, but we only allow specific patrons entrance into this hotel."
J.D grinned at him, raising his own eyebrows arrogantly as he handed him the card.
The man paled.
"Mr. Archangelo! I'm so sorry sir. We've had your reservations for months now, the room is set up the way you wanted it—we expected you much earlier, I'm terribly sorry—"
"I don't care when you expected him," Rain said irately next to him. "We're here now, so get a fucking move on."
"Ms. Archangelo," the man said, offering her a stiff nod, trying to cover up his irritation. "Of course. Terribly sorry."
And suddenly, J.D wanted to laugh; after all the events of this horrible day, after seeing Matt for the last time, leaving Olivia behind, after all the terrible things that had happened; how stupid, that they were standing in this fancy hotel, covered in blood and dirt, exhausted as always—and yet everyone was suddenly running around them, eager now to help.
It was already too fucking late.
But the concierge was already there, a five person team there to do what, J.D didn't know—it wasn't as if they had any fucking luggage or anything—and they were being escorted into the nearest elevator, well on the way to their room.
xxxxx
"I thought you cared about me," Olivia said brokenly, eyes full of tears.
"I don't," J.D said bluntly. "I never did."
Someone in his head was screaming, "That's not true, those aren't the right words!"
But he was raising his gun anyways, leveling it at her—
And then Rain was there, glaring at him. "This is your fault," she said angrily. She was bleeding, the wound on her neck worse than ever—
And then the gun fired, and Olivia's head was exploding onto the glass wall behind him.
"J.D."
The sound of running water was pounding in his ears now, and J.D was standing outside the shower and bathtub combination, looking at the white curtain as it rapidly darkened to red.
"J.D."
He didn't want to look inside; but she was calling him, and so he reached forward and pulled back the curtain.
Olivia lay inside, submerged in bloody water, dressed in the same paper dresses Alice and Rain had been dressed in while in Umbrella's hospital so many weeks ago—
He stumbled back, trying not to throw up, tears burning in his eyes as he realized that Rain was there too, sitting on the inside edge of the bathtub, her white dress stained with blood.
"What are you crying about?" she asked sharply. "You did it,
"J.D."
J.D jerked awake, breathing hard.
Alice was sitting on the bed across from him still, gazing at him measurably. "You okay?"
He thought about telling her about the dream he'd just had—but looking at her, realized that she wouldn't hear a word anyway. Her eyes were still blank, empty; she had been
ever since they'd arrived here. Insistent on focusing on what to do next against Umbrella, she hadn't even mentioned Matt; hadn't spoken about anything personal to her, despite all their best attempts to persuade her to do so.
"Yeah," he said instead. "Fine."
She nodded. "Rain just left," she said quietly. "She looked upset—she said she was going to the pool."
A brief shadow of pain flickered on her face, and J.D couldn't help but marvel at the complexity of her emotions; that only her worry for all of them could move her sufficiently to break the mask that had settled so firmly over her misery.
"I'll find her," he said simply, and she only nodded as he climbed off the bed, leaving the room, registering the sound of running water in the bathroom as he did.
Once outside, he took a moment to rest; pushing through the door that opened into the stairwell, he sat against the wall, holding his forehead in his hands, wondering how things had gotten so fucked up.
His high from before had ended; all that he wished now was that he had some actual drugs to keep that high around.
Alice wouldn't talk, and Michael looked exhausted; J.D couldn't even tell what was up with Rain anymore. At times she seemed fine, and then she'd become suddenly moody, taking off the way she just had.
Basically, ordinary behavior for Rain.
But still he followed her, because he didn't really know anything else anymore.
After a moment, he stood up; the last thing he wanted was for Rain to return back to the hotel room and have everyone out looking for him instead.
He wandered down the rest of the stairs, finally reaching the bottom level pool only to realize that it was empty.
He was about to leave when he heard the unmistakable sound of a person taking out his or her rage on a punching bag; a sound he was fairly used to, considering his previous workplace.
Sliding his card through the slot in the door, he turned the handle and walked inside; bypassing the pool completely, he crossed over instead into the workout room.
As he'd expected, Rain was there; dressed in black spandex with small white gloves covering her knuckles.
She didn't even notice his presence when he came into the room behind her, only stepping back slightly to send a roundhouse kick flying towards the bag.
Her face was red and exhausted, and he couldn't help but worry about her.
"You sure you should be doing that right now?" he asked quietly.
Her shoulders tensed; glancing back, she said sharply, "Does it matter?"
Another few well-aimed punches hit the bag, sending it flying back as he asked, "Where'd you get the outfit?"
"Charged it to the room," she said shortly.
J.D let out a short sigh, realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere with this casual line of questioning. "Look, Rain, are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
He snorted. "Yeah, right."
She finally turned fully away from the punching bag, her face red with barely held fury. "You know what, J.D? I'm not fucking fine. Matt is gone, and you—"
He wanted to take a step back; for the first time in his fights with Rain, he was worried she was actually going to hit him.
Then she faltered, looking exhausted, angry, frustrated and close to tears as she said shortly, "Fuck off, J.D."
"No."
The word was out of his mouth before he had time to think reasonably about it, and Rain stopped, caught the swinging bag as she asked incredulously, "No, J.D?"
He thought about taking it back—but what was the fucking point anymore? She wasn't going to listen to reason.
"No," he repeated himself shortly. "Too fucking bad, Rain. I'm not just to sit upstairs and leave you down here to—"
"But it was okay to leave me alone when you left with Olivia?"
She was shouting now, taking steps away from the bag to get in his face, and he stepped forward too, shouting, "That's not the fucking point, Rain—"
And then she hit him, slamming her fist into his jaw.
The first emotion that hit him was shock; and he didn't have time to reach another, because Rain didn't even wait for him to react before punching him again.
He reacted then, shoving her back angrily; but she was still coming at him, fists raised, and he went into autopilot, throwing her back into the wall, and landing his own punch across her cheek.
She came flying at him with a roundhouse kick that sent him back into the wall—and then he hit her hard enough to send her tumbling back over a piece of exercise equipment.
He was climbing over the equipment before she even had a chance to stand, grabbing her shoulders and yanking her up to slam her back into another wall.
The blow stunned her only momentarily; and then she was up, taking a flying leap at him that brought them both crashing down to the floor.
She was straddling him, hands around his neck—
And then something inside of her stopped; something flashed through her eyes, and she stopped.
And then Rain burst into tears, holding herself up with one hand planted firmly on his chest as she used her left to wipe her eyes, covering her face when she realized the effort was futile.
And like he was coming back to Earth again, J.D finally saw her clearly; saw the evidence of the fight they'd just had already writing itself across her face, the bloody wounds that had just begun to heal split open again.
He sat up again, putting his arms around her back so she wouldn't fall back; and he realized that he was crying, could feel the salt burning paths through his now bloody face as he pulled her close to him, as she buried her face in his chest.
And then the door was being thrown open, and security teams were rushing inside.
xxxxx
The water was cold.
In fact, it was freezing, and Michael was just sitting in the corner of the bathtub, wondering what he was supposed to do now.
J.D and Rain were gone—Michael had no idea where they'd gone. Hopefully they were still in the hotel; worst case scenario, they were halfway across Vegas, working out their pain in some seedy casinos and bars.
And Alice was still inside the room, still utterly silent.
Michael didn't know which would be better—the angry Alice they'd all been blindsided with on the train, or a falling apart, weepy Alice they'd all seen when they'd been forced to leave Matt.
Anything would be better than cold, silent Alice at this point.
His skin was prickling with cold, and Michael reached forward and shut off the tap.
Silence echoed in the bathroom.
Standing, shivering, Michael stood, pulling back the pale pink and gold curtain to step out onto a matching bathmat.
Grabbing a towel, wrapping it around his waist, he peered tiredly into the mirror and was surprised to see the face staring back at him.
Somehow, in the last week, he'd aged dramatically. His green eyes, once so childish compared to the rest of his group, were lined and dark; his face looked perpetually bare of smiles.
The blood and grime was gone now, but the effects that had put them there were still written across his face.
Shaking his head slightly, he pulled the towel off again, drying off his hair impatiently before throwing it on the floor, not caring for once about any semblance of orderliness.
He yanked his t-shirt on over his head, pulling on the rest of his clothes without even trying to make himself look half decent before opening the door and walking out into the bedroom section of the hotel.
It was too late to avoid dealing with this situation.
He sent a longing look towards the minibar as he passed it, wishing that he could somehow drink this entire night away.
And then he was opening the door to the bedroom suite and walking in, still nervous despite himself.
Alice was still there, sitting on the bed, Umbrella's files scattered around her. One was in her hand, and though she was gazing at it intently, her body language showing every intent of reading it, it was painfully clear she wasn't taking in a single word—her eyes were hazy, exhausted and red, and Michael realized that she'd been crying again.
She seemed to come to when he sat down across from her, her eyes refocusing slightly as she looked at him. "Michael," she said vaguely. "Good. I think we should start working through these and figure out a plan for tomorrow."
He stared at her hesitantly, unsure of what to do. Alice was finally taking some degree of control again, and while he was glad to see that, he knew she couldn't keep doing this—that she couldn't keep pretending nothing had happened. Sometime, soon, she was going to have to face this.
Finally deciding on a neutral topic, he cleared his throat slightly and asked softly, "Where are J.D and Rain?"
Alice shrugged, barely acknowledging the question as she commented, "I've been looking over these plans for Umbrella's head corporation, and I think their only real weak point is their security. They don't check ids, and because they think we're all dead now—"
Michael flinched at the word; Alice continued on as if she hadn't noticed.
"Getting in shouldn't be a problem."
"Alice," he said quietly, and she looked up, face still horribly blank. "Would you please just… say something?"
She had to have known what he was talking about, and yet still asked, "About what?"
"Matt," he said bluntly.
And finally she looked human, looked like Alice again—her face was tired, lined again, and then the brief flicker of emotion disappeared again.
"We don't have time for that," she said bluntly, her voice breaking slightly on the last few words. Her lower lip was pushed out slightly; she looked on the verge of tears as she pulled another file towards her, tossing down the one she'd been holding.
Part of Michael wanted to let it go; to pretend, along with Alice, that nothing had happened; that Matt had been saved, was in the next room, fighting with Rain or working on his own deductions for Umbrella.
But Alice was finally there, was finally teetering on the edge between a breakdown and complete emotional isolation, and he knew that, sooner or later, she was going to have to face the facts.
"Alice, Matt's gone," he said quietly. "We have all the time in the world."
Her eyes were shocked as she looked up at him; and then she said, her voice icily, "I don't think you're in any position to be deciding what to do, Michael."
"Why not?" he said impatiently. "Alice, you have to deal with this. You can't just let it go—you have to face things, have to accept what just happened—"
"No," she said, her voice almost shrill as she stood abruptly, throwing the folder down angrily. "No, Michael, I don't."
"Matt's dead," he said angrily. "Matt's dead, and if he were here, he wouldn't let you be doing this—he wouldn't just give up on you, let you wander around like a zombie, killing people without remorse or reason—"
"Archangelo deserved what he got!" She was shouting now, face twisted with fury; tears were sliding down her cheeks, a strange paradox to her anger.
"What about Lea?" Michael asked, staring closely at her. "Did she deserve that, Alice?"
"I don't care," she sobbed. "It isn't fair. Matt shouldn't have—it's my fault—"
And she was finally breaking down, covering her face in her hands and falling to her knees on the thick carpeting as Michael pulled himself off the bed, hurrying over to kneel in front of her. "No. Alice, it's not—"
She shook her head. "You don't understand," she said brokenly. "I promised him, so many times, that it would all be okay, and it's not."
Part of Michael wanted to pull her into his arms; but he knew that she needed to say these things, that she couldn't just push it all inside again, and so he waited.
"And that little girl," she sobbed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"
And then she was the one to make the first move, reaching out to him, and he pulled her close, letting her cry on his shoulder as she continued to mumble incoherently about all that she was sorry for; all that had gone, suddenly, so terribly wrong.
And he closed his eyes, let his chin rest on Alice's shoulder, and let all the pains, all the tiny sufferings they'd both undergone in the last six weeks, deafen him.
"I'm sorry about your eye," J.D said quietly, dragging his bare foot through the water.
Rain shrugged. "Whatever. I don't—" She paused, letting out a small sigh when she realized she had no idea what to say to him. "It doesn't matter anymore."
J.D was silent, and she took the opportunity to slide forward slightly so she was sitting directly beside him, dipping her feet quietly into the pool.
They'd been sitting here for just under forty minutes now, Rain nursing a split lip and numerous bruises and J.D holding an ice pack to a rapidly blackening eye and what was almost a broken nose.
When security had burst inside, they'd obviously thought the two of them had broken in to screw around or something. Then J.D had flashed Archangelo's dumb little gold card at them, and the idiots had fallen all over themselves to impress them.
J.D had sent them to get towels and ice; they'd returned within fifteen minutes, bringing along some fruit as well that Rain promptly began to throw into the pool, for lack of anything better to do while J.D wrapped some ice and held it to her face.
He'd then turned and told the security team, plus the dipshit from the lobby earlier, to get lost.
And they had; they'd just turned and walked out of the room, all the while offering apologies and embarrassed mumblings.
In a way, it was fairly sickening. Rain had gotten kicked out of fucking bars for this kind of behavior, for fuck's sakes… but apparently, as long as you had money and power, even the Bellagio could make a few exceptions.
And now they were just sitting here, half in, half out of the water, while Rain tried to figure out what to say to J.D.
She hadn't even realized how much things had changed in the timespan of a week. They had been so close—siblings, practically, and now she felt like she was looking at a stranger.
"I'm sorry," J.D said again, staring down at the water.
"Yeah," she said tiredly, "You said that already."
"No," he said, shaking his head slightly. "I'm sorry I was such a shitty friend to you in there."
Rain paused, dragging her foot in slow circles through the water, not knowing how to respond to that.
J.D took her silence as a sign to continue. "I wouldn't listen to you when you knew what was going on; I lied to you, I listened to anyone—I listened to Olivia over you—"
"J.D," she said finally, "Stop. It's okay."
And the funny thing about the words were that she meant them completely. There was a time when she'd wanted nothing more than to hear J.D grovel for an apology; to know that Olivia was paying for her mistakes somewhere, that somehow, Rain had still managed to come out on top of this fucking mess.
But all she wanted now was for Matt to come back. For Alice to snap out of her funk and be the bright, powerful girl she was. For Michael to lose that serious look and go back to being her geeky protégé.
She wanted to be friends with J.D again.
"It's not," J.D said, shaking his head, looking out at the water. His face was twisted, moody, and wracked with guilt and sorrow.
Rain was quiet, flicking the water up with her toes; and then she commented, out of the blue, "I hope Lea is okay."
J.D glanced at her, his expression showing some surprise now, and asked, without malice, "Why do you care?"
She didn't know what to say to that. The truth was, she didn't know why she cared. She'd barely seen the kid for more than a couple of hours.
"I just do," she said finally.
For a moment J.D didn't say anything. Then, in one smooth moment, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard.
"She'll be fine," he said softly. "Better off than we are, anyways."
Rain snickered slightly at that. It wasn't a happy thought, but at least it was true.
"Things are really fucked up right now, aren't they?" she asked, an almost wistful tone ringing through the air to her.
"Yeah," J.D said.
"We're really fucked up right now too," she stated.
"Yeah," he said, and turned back to look at her; she could see him wince as he took in her swelled eye and cheek. "Rain, about what just happened—I am sorry about that."
She shrugged. "Don't be," she said simply. "I needed that."
And she had needed that, a way to finally let out the rage and anger that had been coursing through her ever since this entire nightmare had started; the frustration at her helplessness, her inability to do anything to help Matt and the others in those last crucial moments.
It was strange—fucking stupid, even—but sitting here, bloody and bruised, face still red after the emotional breakdown she would have found humiliating had it happened in front of anyone other than J.D—she felt more alive than she had all week.
J.D just smiled at her, withdrawing his hand from hers to twine it gently through her hair. "You're insane, Rain, you know that?"
She grinned at him. "So are you," she said. "We're both fucked up, remember?"
His eyes looked sad at that comment; still playing with her hair, he said quietly, "It's not over yet, though. Umbrella's still going to pay for their crimes—we're still going to keep on fighting."
She nodded silently; letting her free hand drift to J.D's lower back, tracing dainty circles there with her fingertips as he continued to run his own fingers through her hair.
Finally he pulled back, letting out a heavy sigh as he said, "We should probably head back."
Rain nodded.
"Yeah," she said. "We should."
xxxxx
Matt was gone.
Matt had mutated, Matt had died, and he wasn't coming back.
And finally, Alice was starting to realize that. The words were resounding inside her head, no longer alien but all too painfully true—she was finally waking up, finally realizing what was going on.
Finally realizing that she couldn't stay in this trance forever—
That Umbrella still had to pay for their crimes.
Her minor breakdown had lasted over twenty minutes, and Michael had been completely supportive throughout. He'd just held her, not even bothering with the idiotic phrases so many people had tried, over her twenty-six years, to calm her with; and for the longest time, all she'd been able to do was cry.
And so many different images had flashed through her mind—seeing Matt for the first time, the two of them struggling with Rain to leave the Hive; seeing Matt again months later inside Umbrella's hospital. That painfully weak-kneed sensation when she'd realized he was alive; the intensity of which had shocked her.
Matt's hands on her face, brushing her hair back gently; feather-light kisses and harder, more passionate ones. Waking up next to him in the middle of the night, and watching him sleep. Knowing, every time they went into battle, that he would be there for her—that he would keep her safe, just as she strove desperately to do for him.
Remembering that last, painful kiss; one that tasted of tears, of misery, of loss, and all too tangible love; the type of love that they'd only too recently found.
And then Matt had disappeared from her mind, and she'd seen the little girl—Lea—instead, blue eyes bright and tear-stricken, so uncannily alike to Matt's in those last fatal moments.
Eventually, she'd cried herself out; and while she'd expected to feel exhausted now, stricken with grief and pain and misery, she felt more alive, more awake than she had for the last twenty four hours.
The grief was still there; the pain of losing Matt was ever present, existing in every conscious emotion and thought.
But somehow, she'd managed to push it back, let it ingrain itself comfortably into her mind.
She'd deal with it when she could; when she was alone. When this entire mess was over, when they'd finally extracted their revenge; when they had Matt home again, and a grave to visit him at.
Until then, she needed to concentrate on the situation at hand—their group needed a leader. Umbrella needed to be taken care of.
Michael had done a fantastic job for the past few hours—far more than Alice had ever realized the university student was capable of.
Matt had, though. Matt had spoken to Michael even less than Alice had, and yet, he'd been able to see that strength hidden inside of him.
Matt had always been able to read people so much better than she could.
Now they were sitting on the bed together, staring at the tv. Some cheap movie was on—Michael had ordered it on pay-per-view. Something Disney, and light. She'd been surprised by the decision, until Michael had pointed out that, given their current predicaments, action and horror were more traumatizing than exciting.
Alice was only partially watching; most of her mind was preoccupied with plans for Umbrella, of what she was going to say to the group when J.D and Rain finally arrived.
And the other part, that part still joined so firmly with Matt, was in a league of it's own; lost with Matt, it left a gaping hole in her that she struggled to ignore.
When J.D and Rain finally entered the room, both bruised and soaking wet, she almost laughed.
Michael gaped at them. "What have you two been doing?"
Rain shrugged. "Ask him," she said carelessly, flopping down on the opposite bed and grabbing the remote. "What are we watching?"
"Thumbelina," Alice answered automatically, eyes still scanning over both her and J.D.
Rain glanced at her, expression clearly surprised; and then she smiled, and Alice couldn't help but smile back.
Michael was still staring at J.D, and so J.D answered lamely, "We went swimming," before flopping down next to Rain.
J.D, Alice was pleased to note, seemed to be doing well. Leaving Olivia the way he had was going to be hard on him—they all knew that.
But although his eyes were exhausted, he looked strangely content—the look, Alice suddenly realized, they all carried now.
"Turn off the tv," she requested simply. Rain did, if not somewhat grudgingly, and both her and J.D turned to look at her.
For a moment, Alice didn't know what to say—how to vocalize all she'd been thinking, all she'd been feeling this past hour.
Then she started to speak.
"For eight years now, I've been involved with Umbrella," she said bluntly, looking at all of them in turn. "Seven of those years was spent fighting for them—this last one, against them."
"For eight years, I've watched them tear people's lives apart; I've watched them create weapons equipped to take out continents, watched them engage in different forms of genocide. I've listened to their lies, their propaganda, their threats. I've watched them—helped them—destroy other people's lives."
She was pacing now, gesturing animatedly as she spoke; and somewhere in the back of her mind she noticed the three had sat up again, were listening intently, and was grateful for it.
"For the past six months, we've been fighting against Umbrella. And what exactly have we accomplished?"
"Not a fucking thing," Rain said amiably, and Alice smiled slightly at her.
"Not a single goddamn thing. We haven't brought a war against them, we haven't even made any big problems for them—all we've done is fight to survive. And now? Now Kaplan's dead. Matt's gone. And Umbrella has created a monster created entirely to wipe us out completely."
She had been shocked when J.D had finally told her what Olivia had told him earlier, and she saw that same shock now, in Michael and Rain's eyes as she pressed on.
"For the past six months, we've been fighting an unbeatable war. And it's time for things to change."
She paused slightly, glancing around the room, energized by the enthusiasm in everyone's eyes; by the single competitive desire to take back what was theirs.
"We have three weeks booked in this hotel. We have weapons, we have Umbrella's files—we have everything we need, and in those three weeks, we are going to make a plan; we are going to start fighting, instead of just surviving. Umbrella has taken our lives away, they've taken our homes away, they've taken our friends away. But ultimately, we're stronger—ultimately, we will win this war."
Alice paused, took a breath; and then smiled, the enigmatic, confident smile she'd missed so much the past few days, and finished.
"Umbrella is going down."
END
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And with that admittedly corny line, it ends:) Just for those who ignore the author's notes (I would too, don't worry):
About reviews. This, as you all very well know, is the last chapter of "Into the Light". I'm well aware that there are people here who read and haven't reviewed once (I'm guilty of the same thing!).
However, because this is the last chapter, I beg of you to review "Into the Light" as a whole right now. It can be general, precise, a flame or complimentary, whatever. Whether you've diligently read and reviewed since I started writing (for which I thank you!), always read, just started reading, or wandered into this story accidentally and are now wondering what the hell this note is for, please, please review. Whether you've reviewed faithfully since this started, on and off, once, or never, please review today! Review with a twenty minute page response; send me a note. Send me a two word response; send me a flame. Send me whatever you want, but please, please REVIEW!
And thank you, so much, all of you, for reading!
