Author's Note: Before we begin, I would like to clear some things out first.

First off, this is my attempt at another fanfic (my second one actually) that I've ever made (my last one being discontinued due to a dozen of my pre-written chapters becoming lost due to a hard drive failure). But now I know I should at least do some backup files so hopefully, that won't ever happen again with this one lol.

I have been working on this story for the past six months, starting from the date this chapter was first published, and have at least another 10 chapters done for this story (some needing a bit of thorough proofreading) with an additional 9 under current heavy works due to many paths crossing between various characters. Each chapter is at least 3k-6k+ words long. I would like to see if this chapter gets any interest and/or traction before I begin uploading the rest of the 10 finished chapters, sequentially.

This story will be rated T for its violence, gore, and use of strong language. If at any point you feel the violence or profanity gets too much later down the line, please let me know so I can switch the rating to an M.

Finally, I wanna say deep thanks to James C. Burns (OG Frank Woods' VA) and his community, Sarge's Corner, for helping me improve my understanding of both Woods and Mason's characters and relationships. Part of that inspired me to do this crossover and I'm fully determined to see it through till the end (hopefully without any HDD failures XD). Personally, I've only ever beaten BO1, BO2, and Cold War campaigns at least once or twice so bear with me if I somehow butcher some of the details behind these two characters (I know Cold War butchered Mason and especially Woods so I'm trying to base them off from their BO1 and BO2 appearances).

As for the Resident Evil side of things, I have played most of the games in the series already and have played a good chunk of them multiple times for as long as I can remember so I have little to no issue understanding almost all of the characters in the series.

One more thing, I do not own Resident Evil nor Call of Duty franchises, including all of their characters. They all belong to their respective owners, Capcom (Resident Evil) and Activision (Call of Duty). Credit will also be given to S.D. Perry, the author of the official book of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy, which this fanfic will borrow as a basis for the structure of its narrative. The only things I own are some of the ideas I have come up with for the fanfic in general.

Here are some of the following changes I'll be making for both Resident Evil & Call of Duty (mainly the Black Ops timeline).

Timeline changes for CoD in order to coincide with RE:

1. BO1 and Cold War events still took place, though most of BO2's past and future events never did. However, if you never played either of those games, I'd suggest steering clear of this fanfic as there will be spoilers ahead from those games. Otherwise, you have been warned.

2. Black Ops Declassified events never happened in this instance as not only didn't I like the game very much, but I'm still extremely unfamiliar with the events, regarding the game itself (hopefully there is no crucial information I'll be missing out, mainly for Woods' history and his character development as a whole).

3. Woods was still taken as a POW in 1986 and Mason and Hudson rescued him, although with some unforeseen alterations. The masterminds behind his capture were never truly revealed, other than the ones who carried out the operation of holding Woods hostage. Woods, however, was left somewhat amnesiac about the events with implications being shown later down the plot.

4. Menendez never took part in the operation of '86, hence the inevitable fate of his sister, Josefina, was never met by Woods as the events of the invasion of his cartel's compound never took place at least in the same way it did in the original timeline.

5. David Mason, the son of Alex Mason, grew more distant towards his father, resenting him more than he ever did after having been left alone yet again on multiple occasions with Jason Hudson's wife, Jenny, the last time Alex returned to the CIA after what should've been his retirement in 1986.

6. Woods is never permanently impaired and as a result, Jason Hudson never died at the hands of Raul Menendez and David Mason was never kidnapped.

7. Alex Mason and Frank Woods continued on doing missions across the globe over the next several years, hoping they could do whatever they could to gather any intel about Woods' captors with little to no success whatsoever, infuriating Woods over the years.

8. By 1998, instead of enlisting as a Naval Officer, David Mason moved away from Alaska and into California, in order to pursue a career path differently from his father as he didn't want to end up becoming the man he thought his father was to him and didn't want to continue living in the same state that kept reminding him of his father's abandonment. He was also personally military trained by both his father and Woods throughout his teenage years, though he saw Woods as more of a father figure in him than he ever did with his own father, Alex.

By this point in time, both Alex and Frank have been officially retired from the CIA with very few people knowing their true heroics during their time in the military.

9. During the unexplained disappearances throughout Raccoon City by mid-1998, both Mason and Woods join STARS at some point in the first days of July 1998.

Timeline changes for RE:

1. Since there are no games that take place before 1998, most of RE's timeline leading up to Umbrella's foundation and its early research on the Progenitor Virus will be kept the same, though there are some slight, if not, moderate alterations in its history, beginning in the early '80s, up to 1998. Everything else will be explained or implied later as the story progresses in order to keep most of Umbrella's behind-the-scenes doings a secret and non-spoilery.

2. There will be some borrowed lore involved from S.D. Perry's novels as well, in order to add a little bit of both consistency and extra details not found in the actual video game timeline. So for those who have never read the novels, SPOILERS AHEAD! Otherwise, you're in for a good surprise!

3. For a more fluid consistent story, the events of RE0 never truly happened, hence Rebecca's character will be shown almost exactly as she was in the original RE1 game, though the events of the entire Mansion Incident will be somewhat more closely related to that of the remake's and the Umbrella Chronicles.

4. Spoilers for RE1 (both OG and Remake), as well as Umbrella Chronicles, are ahead. So again, if you never played any of these games and don't like spoilers, skip this fanfic. If you don't care about spoilers or have already played the games mentioned above, then please, read on!

One more thing, I noticed some people love music/soundtrack suggestions around here so for each chapter I will suggest what background music you should give a listen to while reading!

1. Resident Evil (Remake) - Guardhouse I

2. Resident Evil Director's Cut (DualShock Ver.) - More Rooms

3. Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Main Menu Theme

PROLOGUE

Initiating Log 3289539...

Biohazard... worldwide biological warfare has been feared since the first World War. Humanity has always had a knack for developing the most powerful weapons in existence to which they barely ever have any control of, including the Nova 6 gas, nuclear bombs, or even the virus that triggered a new unofficial worldwide arms race after the Cold War, the Tyrant Virus.

It all started in the summer of 1998. First, the t-virus leaked across the Arklay Mountains. Then, it spread into the American Midwestern town of Raccoon City and with it, brought hell to earth. Apart from isolated incidents of the lethal Nova 6 gas, the t-virus has been widely considered to be one of the most dangerous substances man has ever made. Though not quickly being able to efficiently kill their hosts within seconds unlike Nova 6, the t-virus has the ability to metamorphose them into living death - zombies. Mutations after a near-complete shutdown of the transformed body can vary, depending on the variant of the virus the host was infected with.

Umbrella's motto has always been "preserving the health of the people", but beneath this bright motto lurked the shadow of Oswell E. Spencer's ambition. The truth behind the rise and fall of Umbrella is something to which only a select few are privy. The beginning of the end started on the outskirts of Raccoon City in the Arklay Mountains.

End of Log 3289539

Raccoon Times, May 27th, 1998

ANIMAL ATTACK OR

BIZARRE MURDERS?

RACCOON CITY, MO - For the past week, there's been at least a few incidents of mutilated people having been found near the banks of Marble River in the Cider District of Raccoon City, the first being that of a 20-year-old woman's body, found on May 20th at around 10 PM. Raccoon police assume it to be a part of some grizzly or other wild animal attack as teeth marks on her mutilated limbs show considerable power. As evident from the fact that she was wearing a hiking boot on her remaining right foot, it was determined that she must have been attacked in the Arklay Mountains and fell into the river. The identity of the woman remains unknown and police are working hard to find out.

Another body of 35-year-old Don McNeil was found near the same river the following day, thought to have been attacked near the same locale as that of the previous victim. However, his body shows signs of a brutal attack that couldn't have been made by a wild animal, but that of another human, particularly the bite marks across his right shoulder and left arm, which have been proven to be human-sized. Could this have been some kind of cannibalistic murder?

Raccoon Times, June 22nd, 1998

HORROR IN RACCOON

MORE VICTIMS DEAD

RACCOON CITY, MO - The bodies of two young 19 and 21-year-old siblings were found dead early Sunday morning at 2 AM around the west bank of the Mendez River, making Rick and John Nelly the eighth and ninth victims in the reign of violence that has terrorized the city since last month.

Both victims were reported missing by concerned parents the previous night. Although no official statement has been made by the police department, witnesses to the discovery have confirmed that both siblings suffered wounds similar to those that were found on previous victims. It has yet to be determined whether these attacks were committed by wild animals or humans alike.

According to friends of the Nelly brothers, the two had talked of tracking down rumored "wild dogs" recently spotted near the streets that lead directly into the Arklay Forest and have planned to defy the city-wide curfew put in place in order to see one of the alleged nocturnal creatures.

Mayor Warren has made arrangements for a press conference later this afternoon and is expected to make an announcement regarding the city-wide crisis, calling for stricter enforcement of the current curfew.

RACCOON WEEKLY, July 9th, 1998

"S.T.A.R.S."

SPECIAL TACTICS AND RESCUE SERVICE

SENT TO SAVE RACCOON CITY

RACCOON CITY, MO - With the reported disappearance of three hikers and the rising disasters in the Arklay Mountains, city officials finally decided to implement a roadblock leading to the foothills. Immediately following this procedure, the police department plans to begin the search for missing individuals with the involvement of S.T.A.R.S. team members.

The Special Tactics and Rescue Service squad, also known as "S.T.A.R.S.", was founded in 1996 as a form to combat terrorism and increasingly-potent urban crime scenarios that the Raccoon Police Department is unable to handle on its own. It employs retired military personnel, academic experts, and ex-field operatives that can range from both the CIA and FBI for appropriate positions within the police department itself.

When asked why the S.T.A.R.S. team hadn't been assigned to these cases until now, Chief Irons would only say that S.T.A.R.S. have been assisting the RPD since the beginning and that they would be a "welcome addition" to the task force currently working on murders full-time.

They expect great difficulty due to the vast expanse of the Arklay Mountains and the primeval forest that covers most of the area. Even during all this occurrence, people around the city limits are still reporting sightings of "grotesque monsters" around the mountains.

Chapter 1

"MASON! Get the fuck up! We're gonna be late!"

"Give me a damn minute for once, Frank!" He yelled back, feeling extremely exhausted as he has not slept any more than a few hours at most. "I'm not as young as I used to be, remember?!" Alex Mason wasn't about to jump out and get his butt off of his bed just yet. He checked his watch and it was only an hour before their first meeting since they first joined S.T.A.R.S. and were assigned to the missing persons case inside Raccoon City. He then remembered both Captain Marini of Bravo team and Captain Wesker of Alpha team mentioning the fact that they wanted both teams to meet up with them in the S.T.A.R.S. office at 2000 sharp.

"Quit your whinin' and get your ass ready as quickly as you can! We're leaving soon!"

Frank Woods knew that this might be the best opportunity they'll ever get at finding out whether or not these types of disappearances are related to what happened to him and his team back in '86. It's been exactly 12 years since then and has been having trouble remembering exactly what happened back then when he was captured in Africa. Ever since they arrived in Raccoon City, he couldn't sleep for the most part. Nightmares about that fateful year kept recurring after learning about the constant disappearances and "monster sightings" near the city. Only glimpses of figures in white coats and his men screaming in both agony and terror are all he can ever remember about his time as a POW that year, alongside grotesque roars of what he might've believed to have been "monsters". It kept sounding a lot crazier in his head every time he thought about it. After having read those old Raccoon newspaper articles three times over, he knew that he may not have been crazy to think about "monsters" existing after all.

Or maybe I'm just fuckin' losing it...

Alex did find him in a horrible condition, slumped to a corner alongside most of his dead comrades, who were either killed or possibly been experimented on as there were signs of various deformities on some of their limbs and faces. Some appeared to have also been partially eaten alive, which gave strong evidence of vicious cannibalism, surprised that not even the CIA have investigated the situation any further than he would've liked, giving him another reason why he was glad they weren't in the CIA any longer.

But that poor kid…

He wasn't exactly fond of kids, but he still couldn't get the gory details out of his head either when he saw whatever happened to the kid next door to them as it quickly made him want to just curse at the world for letting someone like him go out too early in their life like that. He knew Mason quickly became attached to the kid and he feared for his best friend if he was ever going to be the same after having been informed about the boy's death a few days back.

A thump was heard upstairs. It quickly broke Woods out of his own thoughts.

"You okay up there, old-timer?!" He shouted as he was about to get up in order to check up on Mason.

"Just dropped my weapon case! All good here!" Mason replied, seemingly sounding in a hurry.

Woods immediately broke out a burst of small laughter before replying back at him. "Careful with that shit! You don't wanna end up riddling the entire place with bullet holes now do ya?!"

"Hilarious!" He shouted back in sarcasm as he just finished descending downstairs, fully dressed in his S.T.A.R.S. uniform. "Also, who are you calling an old-timer? Aren't you a few years older than I am?"

"'Least I'm more handsome than your ass will ever be," Woods teased him with a slight smirk on his face as he began picking up his things to drop them off in the back of his car.

"Right," he said, calmly. "Is that why you've been single your whole life?"

"Ey!" He exclaimed as he turned back around to face him before opening the front door, with a somewhat fierce look on his face. "Looks don't count for shit in a relationship. This is America, baby!"

Mason couldn't believe he pulled that joke off once again. He couldn't help himself but to put out a small facepalm gesture before rushing his hand inside his brown-greyed hair, telling him to just go and do whatever he needed to do, to which Frank only replied back with a grin as he finished off tying up his signature bandana and left for his car.

Alex quickly grabbed a cup to serve himself whatever coffee Woods had left for him. As he began to collect his coffee and grab some of the files of the missing person cases in Raccoon City, a small glossy-colored photo fell onto the floor, staring down at it in both disgust and disbelief, almost shedding a tear in his eyes.

"Oh Harry…" he expressed in slight despair.

He picked it up slowly, knowing he didn't have any more time to waste as Woods was already most likely waiting for him in the car and yet was unable to look away from the blood-splattered face of the lifeless little boy. All he could feel was the punching knots of tension that started building up like gas in a soda can, burning inside of him. Imagining this to have been his son, David Mason, laying there with an expression of agony on his face, he couldn't stand it any longer… knowing this could've potentially happened to him at any given time during his extended time in the CIA after what should've been his retirement over a decade ago and was not there to be with him or to protect him at all times.

He then began to think about his very first encounter with the little boy next door, Harry Daniels, who reminded him a lot of his 19-year-old son, David Mason, when he was about Harry's age.

"Is it true that you and the other old man are a policeman?" He remembered the 7-year-old Harry asking innocently and curiously. He also recollected that this was at a time when he and Woods were washing their car in their newly obtained S.T.A.R.S. outfits a few weeks back after they both came from work.

"Yes," he calmly replied with warm hospitality behind his voice. He then remembered noticing that the little boy had a teary look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked, concerned. He remembered little Harry wearing a red-striped t-shirt with blue jeans and black shoes, very similar to what his son used to wear on a normal, sunny day inside their home in Alaska.

"My mom isn't home yet and I lost my puppy somewhere… I can't find him! Can you help me, mister police officer man?" The boy was sniffling, though easily shy as he couldn't keep eye contact with Alex at all.

"Sure thing, buddy!" He said, confidently, as he tried calming him down, kneeling before the teary-eyed boy. "Show me where you last saw him and we can start looking from there."

The boy then began drying up his eyes with his left hand as he pointed in the direction across the street to their right where he last saw his dog. Woods, however, was pretty dismissive about it and whispered to Mason that the kid might be just doing it for attention, but Mason felt it was not only his job as a police officer to help the kid out, but as a father, he felt that the kid was really genuine about what he was saying. Deep down, he knew the kid needed help.

The pup had been wandering in someone's front yard, not even two blocks away from their place, and ever since then, he made friends with the little boy after that. For the next two weeks, the boy would occasionally visit them and play in their yard during the evening, sing endless songs about the movies and cartoons he'd watch in the mornings and afternoons, much to Frank's annoyance, and even talk about some of his favorite video games he played after lunchtime. For the first time in years, Alex felt like he was the father he never was able to be for David. That is, however, when it hit him hard a few days ago…

He was informed by his grieving mother that Harry wandered away from the family picnic in Raccoon Park and for the next few days, nothing was ever heard about the boy, until he then became another official victim of the vicious attacks that have been sighted around the city limits.

The photo was still in his trembling hand, sparing him nothing of the gory details about the mutilations he's received, similar to past cases he's reviewed many times with Frank.

But he had to accept reality-he wasn't there to protect the boy. He was never the father he always wanted to be. Life itself has always been his harsh punishment, whether his actions inside and outside the CIA were for the better good of others or not.

"Enough!" He exclaimed to himself as he finally stopped himself from staring at the photo that has been mentally torturing him for the past few days. "He may be gone, but I can still do something about it! For Harry… for Woods… for David..."

Alex began fumbling the picture back into its place, then stepped outside under the mercy of the early evening sky, taking a deep breath as he closed the door behind him. The scent of freshly made BBQ stakes filled the air as one of their neighbors across the street was celebrating someone's birthday, possibly of a well-known relative as multiple cars filled the parking space on just about half of the entire block. Somewhere around the street, there were children's voices being heard, shouting as they were playing outdoors in someone's backyard, faintly reminding him of the child he befriended not too long ago, which made him hurry inside the car, sparing himself the pain of seeing the quiet and empty house of the Daniels next door.

As Alex settled in, Frank noticed the infamous look on his face; the same one he sees every time something has him either worried or extremely unsettled.

"Hey," he murmured almost silently. Mason looked at him hesitantly. "You gonna be okay or do you wanna take a few minutes here before-"

"Just take us to the RPD," he quickly interrupted Woods as he turned to the window right next to him.

Woods quickly knew it was about the same kid he thought about earlier, to which he decided not to dig in any deeper than necessary. Though he also had his suspicion that those brainwashing numbers have never really gone away as he still says them on rare occasions during his sleep, even though Alex has told him that he hasn't seen or heard about those numbers in ages. Not wanting to bother him any longer, Frank began taking out a smoke, lit it up, prepped the car, and pulled away from the curb as he rolled down the windows beside them.

Author's Note: I know the story in itself is short for now and didn't necessarily go anywhere except starting off the setting and plotline from where it will actually begin, but it will only get better as it progresses. Also, the newspaper articles themselves were taken from both the games and the novelization itself, with some slight changes to them.

My grammar is not the best and it may become more apparent later on as well so please forgive me in advance.

Any reviews, including criticisms, are always welcomed!