Chapter 4: Tirades of Truth

Claire and Sebastian made their way back toward the frontside of the castle without too much interference. At Claire's request, they had stopped by once more to the merchant and grabbed some more bullets. Their payment had been in the form of Spinels that Claire had found in a few different areas. Sebastian had glared at the merchant the entire time, but Claire found she was having fun with the English-speaking Ganado and Sebastian's obvious aversion to him.

When they were done shopping, Sebastian took them through a different door which led them into a foyer with large statues hanging upside down.

"Figura Femenina De Josep Llimona." Sebastian spoke, naming the statue as he came slowing to a stop.

Claire walked up beside him, staring in wonder at the statues. "Why are they upside down? Is it supposed to mean something?"

Sebastian shrugged and shook his head before he began walking around the statue and paused as he seemed to realize that not only was there a second statue, but this one had a large puddle of blood beneath it.

"Claire," Sebastian called, putting up a hand. "Hang back and cover me."

Claire stepped around the first statue and lifted her Magnum slightly. Apprehension was filling her stomach, but she listened and paused her steps.

"Okay." She answered hesitantly.

Sebastian rounded the second statue and Claire heard as something wet from above dripped down to splash against the floor. He was lifting his eyes and lowered his gun at the sight above.

"What is it?" Claire asked, slowly walking up and glancing around to make sure they weren't being ambushed. Joining his side, her eyes slid up before she let out a gasp.

A woman in a once-beautiful red dress was suspended from the ceiling by a rope. Her arms had been tied tightly behind her back and used as the main point of her suspension from the pulley. Her shoes were missing as was the bottom portion of the front of her dress from her waist down. The dead woman's sex was on full display.

With a lurch of Claire's stomach, the redhead realized from the blood and bruising that the woman had been brutalized and raped before she had been hung up.

As Claire took in the sight, she also realized the woman's shoulders were at the wrong angle.

"Strappado." Sebastian uttered into the quiet room. He met Claire's eyes and further explained, "Very old form of torture for the Spanish."

As if it wasn't gruesome enough, someone had taken the time to fire arrows at her as she had hung there. There were at least seven or eight arrows lodged into her body in several different areas. One had gone through her forehead, causing the trail of blood to run like tears down her beautiful face.

"Ada Wong." Sebastian named her quietly.

"What? Ada Wong?" Claire asked as she turned toward Sebastian. "But she died in Raccoon, Sebastian."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "We've had reports about her being in several different areas after the incident in 1998. The spy very much survived."

"Spy? What—Did Leon know?" Claire felt breathless and her mind began racing.

"I'm more than certain he did. Many of us were updated about her movements. We had been given the task to bring her in if we could ever capture her."

Claire felt her stomach drop at the news. She had never met Ada in Raccoon.

She and Leon had traversed the police station together until the tyrant had forced them to separate. She hadn't seen him again until she found him wounded down in the sewers. He had briefly explained a third survivor who had been looking for her boyfriend in Raccoon. When Claire and Leon had split for the second time, he had to set off to find Ada while she had charged toward finding Sherry.

At last, when they had finished the last fight with Birkin detaching from the train, Claire had found Leon sitting on the floor of the moving train, staring down at his lap as the first rays of sunshine had hit their faces from the windows.

Ada had not made it onto the train.

Claire let out a sighing breath. She had suspected that the loss of Ada had been more than just Leon failing to rescue someone, but she never dared to ask further. If Ada had been alive this whole time…

Claire began to see every haunted look from Leon differently. The hesitance, the looks of interest, but with a distanced state.

"Oh, Leon, I hope you didn't see this." Claire whispered to herself.

Despite the swirling feelings of what could only be described as jealousy, Claire couldn't help but feel real pity if her friend had watched her die for what was technically a second time.

No one deserved to die like this.

Claire felt rage for Ada overcome her and she found her arms raising to lift the Magnum. She took careful aim and fired off five quick shots at the pulley. The muscle strain from the repetitive recoil felt like a cool balm on her ire.

"What are you—" Sebastian began, but the crash of Ada's body to the floor made him flinch.

Claire turned and walked over toward one of the balustrades that held a long blue banner and ripped it down after a few attempts. She turned to find Sebastian standing before her. He carefully took the banner from her hands and was watching her eyes.

"I got it, Claire."

Claire realized she was breathing heavily and she gave a sharp nod as she watched him approach Ada and put the banner over her broken body. The makeshift grave served her death in modesty; the last act strangers like them could perform.

Claire's mind was adrift with several different emotions, but she sent out one prayer for the fallen woman.

Claire blinked and Sebastian was standing in front of her again, his hand touching her shoulder.

"Hey," he said, catching her eyes. "We got to keep moving, alright?"

"I-" Claire tried, breathless and angry.

Sebastian touched her face, grasping her jaw carefully as he studied her eyes. "We've done the best we can for her. Someone will answer for what happened here. I promise you that."

Claire squeezed her eyes shut as she leaned into his hand for a moment before she took a calming breath and let her shoulders drop from the tensed position she'd been holding them in. She met Sebastian's stare again and found that his searching look brought forth a comfort that almost felt foreign to her.

As Sebastian took her hand again, she was absently rubbing her thumb against his skin and found herself grateful to not be alone through this.

The last leg of the journey out of the castle became more eventful as the pair reached the drawbridge once more. Sebastian and Claire jogged side by side as they took out enemies running toward them. Sebastian moved forward and led as he fired off shot after shot through the heads of the Ganados. Claire had switched back over to her bow gun, and only stopped briefly to yank her arrows out.

The sky above was starting to lighten with dawn only a few hours off. Claire could feel her body starting to grow weary, but she said nothing as Sebastian turned on his hip-light and led her up the path back to the crest. They were to return to the area that the helicopter had dropped them off at and so they continued to run. Mile after mile.

When they neared the tree where Sebastian had stashed his bag, Claire took the moment to catch her breath. She had been running five miles daily in the mornings, but after 24 hours of pure adrenaline, her muscles felt like she was going to collapse soon.

"ETA five minutes." A crackled voice said behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see Sebastian holding his communication device.

"Copy." He said before he snapped it closed. His eyes connected with hers, and he pulled out the flask to hold out to her.

"Thanks." She murmured as she took a dreg.

"When we get in the 'copter, we're going to take a tactical nap." Sebastian said with exhaustion lining his voice.

"Feeling your age, grandpa?" Claire asked, trying to feel more than the empty pit that had settled in her stomach.

Sebastian's eyes were starting to look as tired as hers, but they held a warmth at her teasing. "Grandpa could do this all day."

"What does a life like this look like in the long run?" Claire suddenly asked. "How do you do this day in and day out?"

Sebastian blew out a breath as he walked over to the tree and leaned back against it. "Don't know much else at this point. I don't know if retirement looks the same for us. Most of us in this division die before we can plan for our 'golden years'."

"Don't you miss your family, wife, or husband?" Claire couldn't resist the temptation to tease him. When he gave her a side-eyed look, the laugh that spilled from her lips was genuine and it seemed to shift something in her chest.

"If me staring at your ass all night hasn't clued you into a preference, I can give you a hint." He teased right back and shook his head. "No family, no wife, no husband, and no time to build anything else. I do have a dog though."

Claire smiled at the admission. As she began to picture her gruff partner playing fetch, a low whine of machinery echoed across the valley.

Sebastian was up and running past the tree to peer up into the sky. In the distance, a black speck could be seen flying closer, but something was wrong. Sebastian flipped open his communicator and began a series of taps on the screen.

Claire watched in horror as the speck grew closer, revealing it to be their transport. The helicopter jerked hard to one side before it began to spin to the right. She could hear the faint pops of what sounded like machine gun fire. The helicopter spun once more before it barreled into the ground. Flames erupted and a large cloud of black smoke began to rise into the early hours of the morning.

"Damn." Claire whispered in shock.

"Hunnigan, what's going on? Our transport just went down." Claire heard Sebastian say behind her. She turned and quickly moved to his side to see what looked like a very disheveled Hunnigan typing at her station.

"Situation has moved to a full-scale declaration of war." Hunnigan stated. Claire could see people running back and forth behind her, the sounds of other harried voices came through their screen.

"Saddler has contacted us to negotiate terms. To punctuate a point, he flayed Ms. Ashley Graham's arms on open airwaves. The president is beside himself and has been removed temporarily from command." Hunnigan was looking into their screen now. "I'm arranging alternate ground transport for you both. As it stands right now, they'll be able to reach your location in five hours. There's a small, abandoned village near you both. I want you to head there and wait for them. The military transport will be coming from Fantassin Miniaturas."

"Hunnigan," Sebastian said, glancing at Claire and then back to the screen. "I think it's time we got Claire out of here. This is no longer a simple rescue attempt. This is war."

Claire opened her mouth to protest but stopped as the situation was truly dawning on her.

"I'm afraid that's not something we can do at this point, I'm sorry. We're not going to be able to set up transportation out of there for a while. I've sent the coordinates. I'll contact you shortly." Hunnigan responded in a clipped tone before the screen went dark.

Sebastian was slapping the device closed without a word, but Claire could feel his anger in the action. His hard eyes were turning to her, and she was lowering her gaze as her guilt began to build anew.

She flicked her gaze back up to him after a moment and squared her shoulders.

Sebastian opened his mouth to say something before he stopped, let out an angry huff and moved then to strap his duffle bag across his shoulders wordlessly. Picking up his rifle, he looked over at her again and held out his hand for her to take. Claire took his hand without breaking his stare.

Gripping her hand in his, Sebastian began pulling her into a run as he led them both toward the village Hunnigan had directed them to.

As they jogged, Claire kept stealing glances over at the tired agent. The situation had changed so drastically in the last few hours, and she couldn't help but feel real guilt for her companion.

What had the agency been thinking when they sent her here? She could hold her own when it came to staying out of reach of monsters; however, war was an entirely different story.

"We'll lay low here for now." Sebastian announced as he slid an old bookshelf in front of the main door to the small shanty house that was located in the abandoned village.

The village itself was desolate, broken, and filled with no more than thirty small homes in a circular area. A large well had been at the center of the village and looked like it had been smashed apart by something recently. Some of the homes had holes through the roofs while others had collapsed entirely. Sebastian had chosen a house on the far west end as that was the direction that their transport would be coming from.

Sebastian was moving around the house and began piling furniture that had been left behind against the door that led to the bedroom, effectively barricading them inside the main room for the next few hours.

The house itself held no window in the main room and was almost pitch-black inside. Sebastian had taken his hip flashlight off and placed it on the ground before he sat against the main room wall, letting his head fall back with a dull thump of exhaustion that Claire knew she shared.

Instead of following suit, Claire was pacing back and forth, her hands rubbing her arms as anxiety piled on her in waves.

Fighting their way through a castle of half-witted enemies was something she planned for but walking into a violent city with a population of infected or violent, parasite-free citizens began to weigh in on her. She couldn't shoot normal people whose city was being taken over. She could not fathom having to murder her way through a siege.

Claire's breathing began to pick up and her delicate shaking fingers were reaching up to grip her temple. She needed to sleep, she needed—

"Hey," Sebastian's voice cut through her thoughts. "Come here."

Claire looked over at Sebastian and wrung her hands at the tired look on his features. She was going to become nothing but a burden to this man; a barely held together bundle of hysteria and uncertainty.

"Claire, come here, now." His voice deepened.

Claire moved over to Sebastian and without a word, he reached up and pulled her down to sit between his legs. Her back was pulled up against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her, lowering his chin onto her shoulder.

"Breathe." He said softly, turning his face toward hers.

"I'm sorry, I'm just scared and tired." Claire whispered, squeezing his arms tighter around her with her hands folding over his.

"I know, Red. It's alright."

"It's not. I'm just someone you're going to have to worry about in an active warzone. I shouldn't be here, Sebastian. Leon isn't going to respond to me, I'm just a…" Claire trailed off with a sad laugh as she leaned her head back against his chest.

"We're going to make it out of here. You could say I have a knack for that sort of thing, and if the reports are to be believed, so do you." He murmured next to her ear.

Claire found a small smile pulling at her lips and she nodded quietly.

Sebastian let his head fall back against the wall again and he squeezed her middle once more. "Close your eyes and try to get some sleep. We need to rest."

Claire shifted in his arms and turned to the side. Resting her head against his chest, she was struck with the gratitude she had for his warmth and the strength he was lending her. As her body began to wind down, she listened to the steady thumps of Sebastian's heart and let her mind drift. Before she could think too much further, sleep took her swiftly, pulling her down into the darkness of the last 24 hours.

Claire opened her eyes as she heard something shuffling around her. She blinked as she realized she was on her side with Sebastian's jacket under her head. Sitting up fully she cracked her neck and looked toward the sound of movement.

Sebastian stood with his back to her as he ruffled through the bag he'd brought. Several items were laid out on a small table as he began to repack a few of them. His communicator was open and glowing on the table.

Claire's eyes caught on a basket shaped helmet and what looked to be a black gas mask with red eyepieces glowing from the cast of his flashlight. A memory itched at the back of her skull as she stared at the red lenses of the mask. She shook it off as she gathered her bearings.

"Are they almost here?" She asked in the quiet of the house.

Sunlight had begun to seep through the crack in the front door and was casting a small line of light in her eyes from her position on the floor.

Sebastian turned and looked at her from over his shoulder. He nodded and pulled up the communications device that had been laying on the table. He studied it for a moment and said, "Should be any minute."

"Thank you, Sebastian." Claire said as she pulled her lopsided hair out of the ponytail. "You've put yourself between danger and me several times tonight and I don't think I've thanked you properly for that."

Sebastian was looking over at her with a smile pulling at his mouth. He set something down on the table and turned toward her fully.

"I also appreciate your compassion and understanding when I—" Claire gestured toward her position on the ground. "—almost lost my head."

Sebastian was staring at her as she ran her hands through her hair. She had forgotten to take her hair down last night and she always hated the pressure that sleeping with a ponytail created.

While she was trying to relieve the tension in her scalp, she paused as Sebastian began walking over to her. He knelt in front of her and reached up to run his own hand through her hair, tucking a portion behind her right ear.

Claire froze and looked up at him in uncertainty. She assumed he had been messing with her the few times he had made a flirtatious remark; a way to keep her fired up and engaged.

As she looked into his hazel eyes now, she wasn't quite sure anymore.

Claire watched as his eyes glanced down at her lips, before looking back up into her eyes.

"I can probably count the times someone has ever thanked me for comforting them before on one hand, Claire." His voice had taken on a rasp and Claire found herself leaning forward slightly at the tone.

"Actually, I wouldn't even need hands for that number. It's not often that I give a shit if someone lives or dies, but when I look at you... I begin to think differently. About a lot of things." Sebastian finished softly.

Claire was struck again with the itching memory of the mask that she couldn't quite pin down. She could feel her breathing start to pick up as she considered his words further.

Her guilty mind had immediately gone to Leon, but some part of her, some lonely, wanting, part of her began to remind herself of the possible truth. Leon had more than likely figured out that Ada was alive. Whether or not it was a relationship he sought after with the spy, he had done his absolute best to keep Claire at arm's length. He was a steady friend and a fearsome protector, but Leon had never once looked at her the way that Sebastian was looking at her now.

Without thinking of the consequences, Claire found herself lifting her hands to cup Sebastian's face softly, her thumbs ran back and forth to feel the stubble that was beginning to come in. She watched as his eyes shuddered closed for a moment before he swallowed harshly. Her right hand pushed into the hair at his temple, and she watched as he leaned forward into her touch.

He reacted like a man that had never been touched gently before and when he reopened his eyes, Claire felt like she was drowning in the yearning look he gave her openly.

Entranced by the gold in his hazel irises, Claire was moving slowly onto her knees before him, and she felt herself lean in and press her lips to his. When he didn't immediately respond, Claire began to pull back from her impulsive actions.

"I'm sorry—"

A ragged sound slipped from Sebastian's lips, and he was reaching forward to make a fist in her hair, pulling her closer. His mouth was warm against hers as he continued the kiss she had offered.

With a shift, Sebastian had settled on his knees in front of her and she took advantage of that by slowly moving forward to climb into his lap, causing him to settle into a cross-legged position. Her arms were encircling his neck as she seated herself fully on top of his thighs, her pulse singing with a need that had been slowly building from their flirtatious exchanges.

Sebastian was biting at her lower lip when she said his name, her voice came out in a whimper she had never heard from herself before. In response, Sebastian reached back into her hair to pull her head back with a firm grip and further tilted her mouth open to his.

Claire could feel the heat pooling in her lower region as she shivered in his hold. The small act of his grip in her hair had her grounding her hips down into his and moaning loudly into his mouth, her thighs had begun to quake around his hips. Soft sighs were spilling from her throat as a strong and commanding hand roved the skin of her side while the other hand remained in her hair.

The communications device began to tone on the table and Sebastian let out a loud groan as he pulled back slightly, leaving Claire to pant and stare up at him with heavy-lidded eyes.

"This," Sebastian said breathlessly, "Is something you and I are going to come back to when this is all over."

Bright hazel eyes were staring into hers, and Claire let out a ragged sound of her own at how hungry the look seemed.

Claire was trying to get her breathing under control as well as her heart. She bit the inside of her cheek and briefly considered how bad it would be to make their transportation team wait another few minutes.

Sebastian chuckled darkly at her look and moved to pull gently at her lips with his own once more. "Stop looking at me like that, or we aren't leaving."

Claire felt her face heat up as she realized he was waiting for her to get off his lap. She untangled herself from him slowly and gave him a shy smile as she began to put her hair back up.

Sebastian stood to his full height and moved to grab his jacket along with his bag. He turned to then move the bookshelf out of the way of their exit.

Claire checked her equipment before pausing to take a few steadying breaths. That had come out of nowhere and yet it was the most alive she had felt in years. She couldn't remember the last time someone had ever put her into such a state. As she hadn't dated much in the last six years, her mind could only go to the fumbling touches she had experienced in the back of a car when she was seventeen.

It didn't compare. Not by a longshot.

"Ready, Claire?" Sebastian's voice cut into her inner thoughts. He was smirking at her dazed look from his position next to the door.

Claire gave one last glance to the main room before she walked forward to meet him by the door.

Feeling bold and wanting a slight upper hand, she gave him a slow once over from head to toe.

"Not bad for a grandpa." She taunted softly as she brushed her fingertips along his. She gave a slow smile of her own and turned to walk out first.

She could hear Sebastian's husky laughter in her head for hours after.