A.N: Same as usual. Thank you for reviews, keep it up please and thank you to shadow and sacharja for their reviews.
Chapter 11
It was ten o'clock. In Leon's apartment in Washington DC, the assembled group of warriors was about to move out. Claire was checking that Sora was sleeping soundly, and to her great relief, she was. Chris was talking quietly to Barry and Rebecca and Leon was double checking all his weapons. Billy was standing near the door, his hand on the knob, his face already settling into a looking of concentration. As for the rest of the group, they were all standing quietly next to Billy, doing the same thing as Leon, checking over weapons for the most part.
Claire walked out of her daughters bedroom, dressed in normal clothing at the moment, as was everyone else.
Chris looked up at the sound of the door closing "Are we all ready?" he asked, his voice low. Everyone nodded and he turned to Billy "Let's go"
Billy pulled the door open and stepped outside walking down the corridor and glancing back to the others who were following him slowly, talking quietly amongst themselves, both trying to relieve their tension and appear to be casual, as though they were all friends going out for a meal, instead if setting out to kill a potential lethal man and save the world, in case anyone passed by. Not that anyone would really know what a person who was setting out to save the world would typically look like, not really anyway, but, if something went wrong, it didn't help if they were seen walking out of the apartment of a government agent, stone faced and looking like they were going to murder the first thing they came across (which, hopefully would be Wesker anyway). Hence this was the reason that they were dressed in normal clothing, and they had handed most of the weapons to a couple of members, so it merely looked as if it were they were taking something for a night out, perhaps going to camp somewhere, from all the cloth wrapped bundles.
Billy slowed his pace, falling back into the main body of people so he didn't look suspicious, and he smiled at something Chris was saying to Jill.
The walk to the cars, three in all, Chris's, Jill's and Billy's (they had decided not to bother with Leon's, because it was silver and would catch the light too easily if someone was out searching) was uneventful. One person passed by and raised an eyebrow slightly, but paid them no heed generally. It was when they get to the cars, piled the weapons in the boot, got in and were heading out of the city, that the tension really began to set in. In about just over half an hour, they may have just saved their worlds, killed Wesker and be returning to a hopeful peaceful life, for the most part.
Billy drove quietly, keeping his eyes on the road save for when he momentarily leaned over to put a CD on too try and soothe his nerves slightly, although the music wasn't really that soothing when it was a Green Day album.
Leon, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, glanced at Billy, wondering whether he was just tense over the mission, or if it was Rebecca that he was thinking about.
"Billy?" he asked quietly
"Hmmm?" Billy mused
"I hate to interrupt your thoughts, but we've been driving for half an hour now and you haven't said a word"
"Just thinking about the mission"
"Uh-huh…well, we're going to be there in ten minutes, or so…how you doing back there guys?" Leon asked turning around to look at the three men in the back of the car.
"Oh, just peachy" Link commented sarcastically, sandwiched between Siegfried and Maxi
"I think I'm gonna be sick" Maxi complained
"You dare and I'll use your hair to wipe it off my car" Billy growled, momentarily glancing back to glare at Billy, before turning off the main road, following the other two cars.
"Gee, thanks" the pirate muttered, turning to look out of the window "Your music isn't helping either"
"It's either this or Evanescence…which isn't exactly cheerful"
"Neither is Green Day" Leon commented "Although I suppose that even Boulevard of Broken Dreams or The Death of Saint Jimmy is more cheerful than any of theirs"
"Oh yeah, how do you get worse than something with the word 'Death' into the title" Siegfried questioned, raising an eyebrow at the thought that there was something more morbid than a song with death in the title
"Well…try Tourniquet…the last words of the song are 'Christ, Tourniquet, My Suicide' and the first few lines are 'I tried to kill my pain, but only would mourn, I like dying and I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal"
"Point taken"
"Leon, change the CD to track 3" Billy requested
"Which is?"
"Holiday"
"You're not gonna start singing are you?"
"Shut up!"
Leon grinned and poked at the buttons of the CD player, trying to find the right track, not noticing that they were now only five minutes from stopping. As the track came on they pulled onto a small dirt track, leading up onto a barren plain. They made their way across the plain, then pulled to the right, slowing to a stop under the trees.
Out of the corner of his eye, Leon saw Chris get out and wander over to them. He knocked on the window of the car and Leon opened it.
"Turn your music off. As much as I like this song, and as quiet as you've got it, now is not the time and I don't want to attract any attention"
"From what?" Maxi asked, shoving the door open "Rabbits, birds…we're in the middle of a field"
Chris turned and shot a dark glare at the black haired man who was now stretching.
"Nevertheless, I want you to turn it off and get ready. Jill and Claire have already gone behind the trees, so you'll have to get changed in the car or something." Chris walked away, back to his own dark blue car that was all but invisible in the shadows under the trees.
Leon slid out, Billy following suit, and turning the music off, of course.
"What's this about getting changed?" Link asked, desperately trying to get the stiffness out of his leg before they had to start walking.
"We're just changing into black clothing so that we're less likely to be noticed when we're in the shadows, moving towards the compound." Leon answered, grabbing a bag out of the boot of the car and unzipping, revealing all his equipment and clothing.
He started to pull off his boots and pants, leaning against the side of the car as he did so. He stopped suddenly when he heard giggling behind him, turning to see Jill standing behind him, staring at his backside.
"Oh, grow up" Billy scolded, looking over from the other side of the car where he was getting changed "You women are supposed to be more mature than men"
"Oh what's the point in being grown up and mature if you can't be childish sometimes?" she asked, pouting as she walked back over to her own car.
Leon growled, pulling on the black pants as quickly as he could, partly because of the cold and partly because Jill was throwing him exaggerated sultry gazes.
Maxi sniggered slightly at Jill's behaviour and pushed himself away from the car, moving to stand by Leon's side as he pulled his shirt off to block Jill's view.
"Oh, thanks" she complained, grabbing her equipment out of the bag at her feet. She slipped on a shoulder holster, so that it was situated for right hand draw, and then checked over her gun, which was her old STARS Berretta. She was so comfortable with the old standard issue that she didn't feel the need to get a new one. Besides, the between the entire group that had firearms, they probably had enough fire power to take out half of the residents of Raccoon city, had it still existed. Though she had to admit this was mainly thanks to the men.
Aside from her handgun, Jill only had a small combat knife and a lock pick and of course, ammo for the gun, stashed in various pockets around her body.
As far as she knew, Claire had the same, minus the lock pick. Leon was currently strapping on his Desert Eagle Magnum, and a Beretta under either armpit and was strapping another gun onto his thigh, though she didn't know what it was. He also had his standard combat knife as all of them did, in the sheath on his belt, and she had the feeling he had another one hidden in his boot.
Ever since that knife fight with Jack Krauser, that he had told them about, he had had knew found respect for his combat knives and even more now that he had seen the warriors from the past with those kind of weapons.
Billy had two handguns, and was pulling a shotgun onto his back. And finally there was Chris. And Jill didn't even want to think about the fire power he was packing, though she had a slight idea. She knew that, like Leon, he had two combat knives, a standard Beretta, a Browning and a Magnum, with enough ammo to do a bank raid. She was surprised that he hadn't brought a bloody twelve-bore or a grenade launcher to blast Wesker's head off with….though she was pretty certain that he probably had a couple of grenades in his tactical vest. He had his lighter with him, and a spray can in his belt, that she was assuming was a first aid spray, but with Chris it could have easily have been a can of deodorant to act as a substitute flamethrower when combined with the lighter.
Claire was standing off by herself by the trees, checking over her equipment and she glanced at Jill, seeing her look over everyone's weapons. Claire walked over to the other woman slowly, and leaned back against the car.
"Think Chris has got enough weapons?" she asked humourlessly, noting the amount of metal on his body. Jill just snorted in response, knowing that it was a rhetorical question.
"So…what about the guys from Hyrule and stuff…have you seen their weapons?" Claire asked, watching Link handing bundles to Liam and Yunsung, before taking out his own and beginning to unwrap it.
"Yeah, I have" Jill answered "And I've gotta admit that though it seems silly for them to be using swords and stuff…when you see their skill with them, it's really cool and amazing. Siegfried's weapon especially, considering the size of it"
"Yeah, I know…I can't believe he can even pick the damn thing up…he's stronger than he looks"
Claire looked over at Link again who was walking in the direction of her and Jill.
"Hey, Link!" she called, and the blonde looked up from the bundle of cloth "Can I see your sword?" she asked, gesturing to the lump in his hand.
He nodded slowly and walked over to her, unwrapping the cloth as he did so.
"So what do you think of this world?" She questioned as Link leaned back against the car and pulled the final bit of wrapping off the sword. He shrugged "It's OK, I guess, though I haven't had much time to see it. Though, and no offence by this, I can see that when Leon comes to Hyrule, why he appreciates the nature"
She smiled at him "That's why I like coming to places like this. Even though it's bare, it's still more beautiful than the cities because it's natural"
He grinned back at her, and grabbed the hilt of the Master sword, his right hand on the scabbard, and slowly drew it out of the protective sheath.
Claire felt her eyebrows rise as he slid the sword out, because the sparse moonlight that was casting such faint light on the land, had caught the edge of the sword, and was highlighting the razor edge. Whilst the edge of the sword at the moment was completely silvery, the rest of the blade that had only just caught the light had a blue tint in the silver ness and she realised, somewhat sappily she thought, that it perfectly matched the colour of her husband's eyes. Silver-grey with the barest hint of blue, but enough so that it was a mixture of subtle colours, as opposed to a completely dominant one, like it was with hers.
Link smiled at Claire's reaction and slid the sword back into it's scabbard, before flinging the leather straps that were wrapped around the scabbard, over his shoulder and around his waist. Grabbing the straps, he pulled them taught before buckling the baldric up so that the scabbard rested comfortably against his back. Reaching down Link picked up his shield and slid the rungs that surrounded his arms when in use, over the scabbard to hold it in place.
"Alright guys," Chris called from somewhere around the back of Billy's car "We should get a move on and start heading for the compound, it's already ten past"
The group came together and converged at the back of Chris's jeep.
"Right, if everyone's got their weapons secured, let's go. Stick together and follow the person in front of you, if I give any orders, follow them and let's try to keep quiet. Billy, take up the rear so no-one gets left behind"
Billy rolled his eyes but nodded as the mass thinned out into pairs, Chris in the front, as they started to move across the open plain. For the most part, the group walked in silence, occasionally coughing or making a comment or observation.
Sheik walked near the back of the group, as silent as ever, uncomfortable with both the situation and company. He also didn't care for the setting that they were walking in. The plain was open, completely, with no trees surrounding it, just an expanse of flat land, with maybe a tree here or there. There was no cover, and it unnerved him of how easily they could be spotted, the group could see for miles, but that also meant that they could be seen for miles. There was very little vegetation around them too, just some sparse, wispy grass that looked so dry and brittle that it would snap and shatter when they brushed against it. The whole area reminded Sheik of the haunted wasteland by the Gerudo Valley. Even the chill in the air and the stillness seemed reminiscent of it. Although, it was very rarely still in the wasteland because of the sandstorms, but…that was in the day. For some reason they seemed to die down at night, as if to spook anyone who walked there, which wasn't all that hard to achieve given the rumours that circulated Hyrule about that place.
He shook off the urge to shudder at the thought of all those lost souls, mainly Gerudos, that drifted over that bare wilderness. As a Sheikah, he shouldn't be as sensitive to those thoughts as he actually was. After all, his mother, Impa, was the sage of Shadow and communicated on a regular basis with the spirits, and he was often asked to join her, which he did without complaint. But…that was in the safety of a familiar place, and he knew his mother to be strong enough to hold back the evilest of spirits, now that she had found her power.
With his mind so deep in his thoughts, and his guard unusually lowered, despite the surroundings, it was for this reason that he really didn't notice that the group had stopped walking and consequently, bumped into the back of Siegfried, starting as he did so.
Siegfried turned and glared at him "Watch it" he hissed
"What have we stopped for?" Sheik asked
"We've been walking for half an hour, look," Billy pointed to an obscure shape in the distance, just on the horizon. "That's the compound we've…" he stopped suddenly when he heard his name being called. Shrugging at the two blondes, he trotted forward, to find out who had called his name and why.
Sheik could only just make out the sound of whispering voices for a moment and then Billy stalked back over, looking directly at Sheik.
"Go to the front. Chris wants you and Jill to go ahead of everyone else and check out of there are any guards…go on" he urged, gently grabbing Sheik by the arm and nudging him in the right direction. Sheik rolled his eyes, but slinked to the front, where Jill was waiting by Chris's side.
She looked him over, noticing that he was a little less calm than usual, but still inherently calm nevertheless.
"All you have to do is go over and see if there are any guards around. If not, Jill will give us the signal to wait until it's clear.
Jill looked to Sheik and nodded, checked her guns were in place, and moved off slowly towards the compound. She kept half crouched to the ground as she went, fearful of her movements being spotted. She wasn't worried about Sheik. Glancing behind herself at him, she could see that he was better at this then she was. He moved with the fluidity of water, his form crouched, but somehow, not lurching. She also realised that, while she herself was so stealthy because she was a woman, he was better than her because he was smaller. He was probably only the same height as her five foot, six inches, but he was slimmer, more streamlined, and he moved like a cat, with boneless, sinuous movements.
She motioned at him to go in front of her, and he did, moving quickly, ducking into any shadow available, red eyes searching for the slightest flicker of movement. He moved so quickly that, within about three minutes, he had reached the overbearing shadow cast by the office block that they were heading for, and he disappeared into it completely, his dark blue clothing seeming to deepen in it's colour to black.
She slipped in behind him and could just make out where he was from the slight sliver of moonlight that was reflecting off his hair. She sidled up to him, and noticed that the shadows seemed to be darker where he had chosen to stand, than anywhere else.
"Do you see any guards?" she whispered, and he shook his head in response
"I'll check though, give me a second."
He turned so that he was facing the fence they were pressed against, and he crawled up it, like a spider. Once at the top, he glanced around, eager to not linger there to long, so he dropped down, slid behind a stack of crates next to the building.
She watched, wondering what he was doing, and saw a slight flash behind the crates, a slight cracking sound, like a nut hitting the floor and then...he was gone.
Jill glanced around frantically, wondering where he had gone and Sheik couldn't help but be slightly amused by the fact that people reacted like that, even Link.
As for his current position, he was on the slightly slanted roof of the office block, pressed flat against it. He hissed slightly, letting air slip between his teeth, and was glad to see that she had heard, and had her head cocked towards the noise.
"Call the others, it's clear" he called, as quietly as possible.
She nodded and turned her back to him, rummaging slightly for something. A lighter, he noticed, probably Chris's. She opened the flip lid and flicked the flame on, holding it for about ten seconds before letting the flame go and snapping the lid shut.
From his perch, Sheik saw the group begin to move off, in small groups of three or four, scurrying to the shadows, with an interval of about a minute between each group.
In five minutes the group was all assembled by the wire fence.
"Alright," Chris started "Split into our teams"
There was a slight scuffling sound as they made themselves into their units, and Sheik nervously glanced to where he could see the guards by the front gate. They seemed not to have noticed anything, more interested in grabbing their cups of coffee of a guard who had just arrived, or lighting their cigarettes by the lighter that had been presented in the centre of the circle of five guards.
"Right, team one advance" Chris commanded…then stopped "Where the hell's Sheik?"
Deciding to have a little fun, even if it was advised against, Sheik dropped soundlessly from his perch and crept up behind Chris, tapping him on the shoulder.
The STARS marksman did a full 360º turn, bringing out a gun in the process, and aiming it straight at Sheik's forehead.
Chris stared at the Sheikah for a moment, before glaring and putting his gun away.
"Don't ever fucking do that again" he reprimanded "I'm already on edge enough as it is" he gave Sheik a final glare, before mounting the wire fence and crawling up it, Claire and then Yunsung following after.
They dropped down quietly on the other side, dashing across to the light grey building that housed the offices.
"Sheik," Chris called "You go first, …can you get up there on your own?" he pointed to a small window that was broken, jagged pieces of glass sticking out from the frame.
Sheik nodded, walking to the window and jumping grabbing the frame and hoisting himself up. He planted his feet on the wall, then reached out with one hand to move it inside the building, then repeated the motion with his other hand. Tensing his arms so that they could hold his weight, he lifted his feet from the wall, and bunched himself up, letting them come to rest on the small frame so that he was crouched in the window. He glanced around quickly, checking if anyone was around and then dropped into the corridor, crouching just out of the way of the window.
Chris watched as the blonde slowly pulled himself up onto the window, then dropped inside. He turned to look at Yunsung and flinched his head to the window, motioning for him to go.
The red head walked over and looked up. The window was about eight foot up the ten foot high or so building. The window itself was only about a foot high, meaning that you had to be fairly small to fit inside, and he wondered just how he was going to reach it and crawl in. Finally, he turned back to Chris.
"Give me a boost up" he demanded quietly
Rolling his eyes, Chris walked over to him and crouched down , lacing his fingers whilst watching Yunsung draw his sword. Yunsung stepped onto Chris hand, and as soon as the man stood up, thrust his sword inside the window, turning it horizontally so that it could hold his weight. With White Storm in place, Yunsung used it to pull himself up and propel himself inside, knocking a piece of glass out of the frame as he did.
He crouched, following Sheik's example and suddenly felt vulnerable in the long bare corridor. It was plain white, the floor tiled, the walls painted, trying to give the impression the blank, cramped corridor was more spacious than it seemed. It wasn't working and Yunsung felt almost claustrophobic in the hallway, despite its seemingly never ending length. Glancing up, Yunsung noticed that the lights were long strips, brighter than was natural. The light was harsh, unyielding and the Korean realised that this was probably what the whole building was like. From what he had heard from Chris, Wesker's office would be far different, almost comfortable and homey compared to this, even it was the office of a man who had committed sin's that the devil himself wouldn't want to.
A shadow suddenly draped itself over him and he turned to see the lithe figure of Claire, fitting neatly inside the small window. She dropped down, the only sound being a light tap as her knee high black boots hit the floor. She offered him a small smile to try and ease his nervous, seeing the tenseness in his back and shoulders, and moved back, giving Chris room to drop down.
A few minutes later, he did so, landing a bit more heavily than his sister, dropping to his knees so that his combat boots didn't make too loud a noise. He winced slightly as knees struck the floor, but made no noise and he straightened, walking to in front of Sheik to take the lead, making sure Claire was in front of Yunsung so that she was near him and safe.
Chris walked quickly and quietly down the hall, his gun in his hand, scanning everything in the corridor to make sure that there was nothing that could surprise them. When he reached the corner just before Wesker's office, he slowly edged out glancing around the corner, and then quickly strode to the dark wooden door that had his old enemies name etched into it.
Claire watched from behind Sheik as her brother pressed his ear to the door, his face set in a look of concentration. Finally he pulled back a little to glance through the gap between the door and its frame, and a look of anxiousness passed over his handsome features, his eyes darting up and down the narrow gap. To her surprise, he drew his magnum, putting the berretta away, and held the new gun tightly in his right hand, his left moving to the brass door handle. Glancing back he gave her a look that told her what was wrong and then he turned his head away, pressed down on the door handle, shoving his shoulder against it, so that the door burst inwards. Claire sat still, fully aware of what was wrong. Chris was actually scanning the room, looking it over for an occupant and after a moment or two he lowered his gun, his shoulders slumping.
She quickly moved past Sheik and into the office to stand next to her brother. Taking in the room, much in the same way that he had done. It was devoid of human life. Chris breathed out quietly and summed up the situation in one word as the last two of the team moved in and closed the door.
"Shit."
YAY! BAD LANGUAGE! I'm a naughty girl...anyway...keep those reviews coming!