Hello, dear readers!

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52. Chris

The BSAA building was not the epitome of the holiday spirit. Except for the Christmas tree at the reception desk and the festive decoration within the Alpha Elite Team's office, courtesy of Claire, the building was undecorated and Chris had to accept it, a little depressing.

Christmas wasn't Chris's favorite season. He tolerated it, mostly because Claire had inherited their mother's love for it, but Christmas usually made Chris remember his parents' death. certain

Chris was sitting in front of his desk, looking through a pile of files. He was distracting himself from unrelated thoughts regarding his sister and a particular agent when Jill came in and deposited a cup of coffee beside him.

"Fresh from that café across the street," Jill smiled. " Toasted and grounded in the place, and definitely not that mudwater that boils in the coffee maker."

"Amen," Chris snorted, taking the cup. "Thanks."

" You're welcome. I guess you'll need it. Aren't you going home tonight?" Jill asked, sitting at her desk. "Christmas is in two days. I imagined you would try to get ready for that Christmas party with the Kennedy's."

Chris rolled his eyes.

"Precisely, that's why I am staying some extra hours," Chris said, sipping his coffee, "I just wanted to finish checking these documents from Wales. Did they call back?"

"Yeah, they found nothing in those coordinates," Jill sighed, "Not even a rock."

"Shit," Chris sighed, rubbing his eyes. " I am running out of ideas. I was hoping to find something there. What's up with these bastards? It's as if they didn't exist."

"They are good at hiding," Jill agreed, "but we will find them."

"You bet we will," Chris said, "and we do; I am going to beat them into a pulp."

"You might want to share with Barry and Leon. Those two seem to be as excited about it as you."

"I'm sure we can take turns punching."

"Talking about Leon, today is the infamous DSO Christmas party, and I heard that Leon was stunned by Claire's look."

"What?" Chris said, looking at Jill in confusion.

Jill picked up her mobile, and after scrolling through her gallery, she passed the phone to Chris.

"Look at yourself," Jill smirked.

Chris took the mobile and stared at the screen. To his shock, what he saw was a photo of Claire- better said, Clara- in a beautiful blue dress, with Leon. Claire never wore dresses. She hated how impractical they were. Even as a kid, Claire had always found wearing dresses a nuisance. She did so, only to please their mom. It had been ages since he saw his sister in a dress and even less, wearing heels.

The image made him choke with his coffee and sent Jill into a fit of laughter.

"You have to admit it, they look nice together," Jill smiled. "And she looks happy."

Chris hated to admit it, but Claire did. She was radiant and, as torturous as it was, Claire and Leon did look like a happily married couple. It was lucky that Barry had gone home early, or Chris would never hear the end of it.

"They look fancy," Chris said, "Who sent it?"

"Saya," Jill answered, picking the phone. "She lent her the dress and helped her with the make-up. You know, she is beautiful, isn't she? If only she hadn't grown among a bunch of soldiers..."

"I always knew she was gorgeous. Why do you think I had to keep scaring off all those bad fellas trying to hook her?"

"Between you and Barry," Jill laughed, "I pity her."

"To be fair, Claire did her share as well. She helped out sometimes."

"That's what happens when you live surrounded by men," Jill sighed, "You usually end up losing all hope in the male sex."

"Hey," Chris snorted, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Chris, I spent most of my years in the force listening to you and the guys talk," Jill smirked, "Until Rebecca arrived, I was probably drowning in all the testosterone in that room."

"Sorry about that," Chris laughed. "I am surprised Claire decided to go. She's not a party girl."

"Neither are you," Jill snorted, "Or Leon. He only went to this one because of her."

"It's a stupid party with a lot of people that she doesn't know. Honestly, I don't know why she went."

"Maybe because she needs to relax, for a change?" Jill suggested, "She is enjoying herself for the first time. Leon is taking good care of her. Like a proper husband."

Chris groaned. He didn't want to think of Claire and Leon acting like a lovey-dovey couple in front of all those government workers. Luckily for him, his thoughts got interrupted by the emergency radio ringing. Jill and Chris exchanged looks as the woman picked it up.

"Valentine here," Jill said on the radio. "What? Okay, yes. Chris and I are here. We can take it. Yes, we will leave immediately."

Chris couldn't hear the conversation, but looking at Jill's alarmed expression, he knew it was bad news.

"What happened?" Chris asked when Jill put down the radio.

"Bad news," Jill answered, "Hopkins called. There was an attack on the place where the party was taking place. By the modus operandi, Adams suspects it was Mobius's doing."

"Mobius?" Chris said, standing up in a jump. "Shit, they must be after Claire."

"Yeah. Leon and Claire seem to be in the middle of it. Hopkins is requesting BSAA help."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

BSAA forces arrived at the site 10 minutes after the emergency call. All the guests were in a panic, and Chris scowled at the sight. People in their best outfits, covered in blood, bodies were on the floor, people crying and panicking. It was a familiar scene that Chris would never get used to, no matter how many times he saw it.

"Chris, thank god, you're here," Hopkins said.

"We came as fast as we could," Chris replied, "How's the situation?"

"A mess. None of our agents came prepared for an attack of this scale, so we haven't been able to do much," Hopkins replied, "some survivors made it back to the main hall, but the blackout made things difficult. Besides, my only two agents qualified for this situation are out of commission. Harper is still hurt, and Leon is already in the eye of the storm."

"Clara?

"It is confirmed that they are together."

"How are you sure?"

"Helena and one of our intel agents hacked into the security cameras and found them."

"We should take a look," Jill suggested, "Could we look? We can make up a plan based on what we see."

"Yes, of course," Hopkins nodded, "Please follow me. Mercer has already evacuated the president and the rest of the higher political figures. Some of my agents, including Harper, are doing what they can to help Leon and Clara."

Chris and Jill followed Hopkins to a corner of the hall. Helena seemed hunched over a man -that Chris didn't recognize- holding a tablet.

"Oh, great...you guys arrived," Helena said.

"Yeah, how are things looking?" Jill asked.

"Unfortunately, we lost feed two minutes ago," the man with the tablet replied.

"Let me introduce you; this is David Fabiani, one of the cybersecurity experts in FOS."

"Hello, nice to meet you," David said.

"Chris Redfield and my partner, Jill Valentine."

"Of course, I know you. You two are legends," David said, "anyway, as I was saying, we lost the feed from the outside cameras. The B. must have destroyed them."

"So we don't know what Leon and Clara's current status is," Jill asked.

"Nope, last confirmed position, they were moving through the western side of the courtyard, and judging by the noise we heard, they had dropped the stealth plan," Helena said.

"Have you tried contacting Leon?" Jill asked.

"The signal is jammed within the courtyard," Hunnigan said, "any communication systems seem to be out of function."

"We were trying to restore the light source in the courtyard, in hopes that that might slow down the B.O.W.s," Hunnigan said.

"That might help," Chris nodded, "we've got the UV ammo. We will go in first."

"Be careful," Helena said, "we saw someone suspicious in the footage, too."

"We'll be alright, "Chris said, "Jill..."

"On it, let's go."

Chris turned on his heel and faced the accompanying team. After giving several indications, the troops entered the courtyard. The place was much worse than Chris had anticipated. The B.O.W.s were everywhere. However, to the surprise of the entire BSAA team, the confrontation lasted only a few minutes.

The creatures let out a groan, and suddenly they all fell to the ground, gave a spasm, and stopped moving. The monsters didn't even react when Jill and Chris poked them with the tip of their assault rifle.

"Sir, they seem to be..." one of the soldiers, Trevor, said.

"Dead..." Jill and Chris said, looking at each other.

"Why?" Ronald, another of the soldiers, asked, "It just dropped dead."

"That's a good question," Chris said, "for the time being, I won't complain. Our priority is to extract any survivor, so the less fighting we do, the better."

"We will divide here. Try to find as many survivors as possible, and remember, neutralize any threat," Jill instructed.

The soldiers nodded, and the group separated. Chris and Jill headed to the western area of the courtyard. They walked slowly and alert, but there was no need to use their weapons. All the B.O.W.s they encountered were already dead. Suddenly, the lights in the courtyard lit up, and the sudden brightness revealed the gruesome scene.

Blood and corpses covered the white paths. Each of the victims was a member of the DSO. It took them about 15 minutes, but Chris and Jill finally found Claire and Leon.

The blonde agent was crouched in front of Claire. His hands rested on Claire's shoulders, and he seemed to be whispering something to her.

"Leon!" Chris called with relief. The blonde turned around and seemed pleased to see the older Redfield.

"Are you two okay?"

"Chris," Leon answered.

Chris saw him turn to Claire. The duo stared at each other for a moment, and Chris shuddered. Something about the silent exchange bothered him.

Leon looked beat. He had taken off his jacket and given it to Claire to cover her shredded dress. Without the black coat, the bloodstains in his white shirt were more evident, and with a good look, Chris noticed the small injuries on the agent.

"We are alright, more or less, just a little shaken," Leon answered.

"Yeah, I am not surprised," Chris said, looking at Claire. The woman gave him a surprised expression before turning her look away.

Now Chris knew that she was up to something. Whenever Claire was hiding something from Chris, she would never stare at her brother's eyes.

"I am glad you two made it. The scene didn't look that good when we arrived, and I was starting to fear the worst."

With all the corpses and mutilated bodies they had stumbled with on the way, Chris couldn't help but fear that his sister and her friend would be the same.

Leon scoffed and shook his head.

"The B.O.W.s..." the blond began.

"Dead," Chris said.

"Dead?" Leon asked, looking at Chris in shock.

Chris looked around and pointed at something nearby with his gun.

"The area was clear when we came through," Jill said, "both human and non-human. All we found were those things dead."

"How?"

"Don't ask me, "Chris sighed, "but we'll find out. My men are scouting the whole area for clues and survivors if there are any."

Chris saw Leon let out a sad sigh, and he couldn't help but feel sympathetic with him. He knew how it felt to lose his comrades better than nothing.

"The medical team is here. You and Clara should go and get checked. You are bleeding, Leon."

Chris tilted his head at Leon, pointing at his wounds, but Leon shook his head.

"It is nothing serious."

"Yeah, you might be used to hits, but I'll prefer it if you don't die," Chris said teasingly. Between him and Leon, who knew who had the longest list of injuries. "Don't worry. We'll take it from here. You take care of Clara. "

Chris placed his hand on Leon's shoulder, and the agent nodded. The older Redfield looked at Claire, and the woman gave him a faint smile.

"Okay," Leon replied, surrounding Claire with his arm, and Chris had to ignore the impulse of growling at the action.

"I'll call you later," Chris said.

"Sure, there is a lot to discuss."

That was an understatement. Chris needed a full witness recount of the events, and looking at the scene, Leon and Claire were probably the only witnesses left. They looked shaken and needed a break before they dug into that, however.

Chris watched Claire and Leon walk away, escorted by one of his men. The older Redfield noticed how Leon seemed very attentive to Claire. He kept his arm around his sister, giving support and comfort as she walked. There was nothing wrong with that, but Chris's big brother sensor was on full alarm. Unreasonably, Chris knew, but he was an overprotective sibling.

"Chris, come look at this," Jill called him, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Chris shook his head and turned to Jill. The woman was crouched over the dead body of a girl.

"She doesn't look like one of the guests," Jill said, looking down. "That isn't a party gown..."

"No, that's actually an odd outfit," Chris said. He wasn't a fashion expert, even less if it came to female attire, but he wasn't a fool. He could tell that the girl wore a dress that looked too informal, compared to the clothes from the rest of the guests.

"It looks like a nightgown," Jill concluded, "that's even weirder. Why would a girl in pajamas be out here, in the middle of the cold?"

"Don't ask me about the fashion sense from today's people," Chris said, "her clothes are not important. It seems she died pretty fast. Whatever killed her tore her heart out. Instant death."

"Chris..." Jill called, "I think I found the heart..."

Jill pulled out a pair of tweezers from her utility belt and picked up something from the ground. Chri grimaced. It was a heart, but something was off about it.

The tissue was blackened, and several bulbous looking things covered the surface.

re"Something is odd about it," Jill said, "I am no Rebecca, but even I can tell that a heart shouldn't look like this."

"Well, let's send it to Rebecca. She might find something about it."

"Okay," Jill nodded, putting the organ in one of the biohazard bags. "I wonder who did it."

"A B.O.W," Chris answered, "I don't think a human would be able to do such a thing."

"She has no other injuries aside from that one," Jill said, examining the body, "surprisingly. There is not even a scratch. Don't you find that odd? With all those B.O.W.s roaming around, you would have expected her to have more injuries."

"Yeah, that is suspicious. Let's send it to Rebecca, and let's see what she has to say about it."

Jill nodded. She picked her radio and proceeded to give some instructions to the rest of the team. Chris let her do that and began looking around the place.

More monster corpses were lying around them. The creatures were all from different sizes but more or less from the same type of B.O.W. Some of the monsters looked more human than others, but there was no doubt that they were from the same source.

"Weird, none of these have any sign of injuries," Jill said, stepping to Chris's side.

"No, but they are dead," Chris said, "The last time we found one dead, it had a gunshot, so we could more or less explain it, but what about these? They just dropped dead?"

"If there is something I've learned about these new B.O.W.s is that I just don't understand how they work," Jill shrugged, "At least Leon and Clara are safe."

"Yeah, but what about the rest? Who knows how many DSO agents died today."

"Yeah, that's a hard hit for Hopkins, I bet," Jill sighed.

It was nothing to be proud of, but the BSAA was used to having losses in battle. The organization's operatives were always in the frontline, which meant they were closer to the danger. DSO agents weren't like that. Usually, their tasks were a little less dangerous, and except for Leon and perhaps Sherry, Chris was sure that few to none of them were familiar with a B.O.W crisis.

"Do you think they know?" Jill said, watching a group of soldiers put the girl's corpse in a bag. "That's the only explanation I have for this."

"All the attacks had been to the BSAA," Chris said, crossing his arms. "Today, they attacked the DSO. Either this was a coincidence, or the attack was premeditated. I am hoping for a coincidence, but that's wishful thinking."

"So, now what?"

"Now?" Chris asked, "What else? I'll have to talk to Leon. We might have to raise the security around her."

"She's not going to like that."

"I've done a lot of things she dislikes during my life. As long as it keeps her safe, I'll keep doing them."

"She looked fine," Jill observed, "Leon did a good job."

"Yeah, I'll thank him for that later."

Chris might have his disagreements with Leon, but he wasn't blind. However, anything he had to say regarding that could wait until tomorrow.