The gangs of Insane City are planning to overthrow Red in a coup de grace that'll leave this city in ruins. Innocent people will starve, be murdered and tortured, all to remove one tyrant from power and replace him with another. I can't let that happen, but the CIA refuses to help. I've been told to focus on my previous task, killing Chris Redfield, but doing so would instigate the destruction of Insane City faster. I've got to destroy this conspiracy before taking out Red, which is why I've done the unthinkable and let him have his way with me.

Status Report 10: Dead Silence

Every muscle in my body is sore, but even worse is the crawling that my skin is doing. The dog tags are heavy in my hand, my eyes roaming over the name a million more times before I can finally register exactly what I'm seeing.

Jill Valentine.

There's no way these are real. Not that I can justify why he'd have fake dog tags with the name of the CIA's best agent stamped into them. Maybe it's a coincidence? The chances of that are probably incredibly low.

I entered the CIA after being in the army. The only reason for that was one, my incredible skills, and two, Jill Valentine was at that recruitment. A tall brunette with a brilliant smile and eyes so cold they'd probably kill you if you looked into them too long. She's striking in every sense of the word and, when she walked onto that base, she grabbed everyone's attention without saying a word. But it isn't her looks or her ability to silence the room with a well-placed glare that got me interested in taking the CIA's entrance exam. It was her impressive resume.

In the army, sure, I helped people. I'd fought back insurgents, evacuated buildings during bombing campaigns. I've done it all, but she's done more. She was the mastermind behind taking down Osama Bin Landen. She's been the head agent on several anti-terrorism campaigns and has been recognized by several prominent politicians and national leaders because of it. I'd thought to myself while sitting at her recruitment meeting, 'now there's someone who's helped people'. There's someone who has changed the course of history. I wanted to be like her so I immediately signed up for the examination.

God, that test was the worst thing I've ever gone through. Well, except maybe having to bend over for Red. But it was the worst up until just a few minutes ago. But, to my credit, I passed with flying colors and at the top of the list. From there, I trained onward and worked myself to this position, even one time getting a personal congratulations from Jill Valentine for my efforts in an anti-terrorism campaign. Ok, me and several other guys, but it still felt pretty damn personal.

It was about a year ago that Jill Valentine up and disappeared, though.

Her files had been closed and classified, which means that she had gone deep undercover. But then, one day, they were up and gone. When I asked about it, the brass dismissed me from their offices quick as a flash. No one was allowed to talk about what happened and apparently, no one was allowed to ask either. She's been disappeared by the CIA, which means she's either dead or would be.

Finding her dog tags in Red's desk drawer? I know that can't be a coincidence and the implications continue to press down on my mind. "Damn," I finally mutter, my voice shattering the crystal silence that's surrounded me for so long. I quickly tuck the jewelry away, stuffing it into the back of the drawer where it came from. Closing it quietly, I lean against his desk heavily, closing my eyes in a vain attempt to organize my scattered thoughts.

The last operation that was run in Insane City was Operation: Cohort. The botched attempt at an overthrow ended so horridly that all other operations to go into Insane City were put on hold. Vice was furious with our failures, since he was the one who'd had to put his neck on the line to attempt the overthrow. The brass of the CIA were pissed because Red maintained his power despite the failure. Nothing was done after that, though. No resurgence, no reconnaissance to figure out what went wrong. Nothing. Dead Silence.

At least, we'd been told nothing was being done after Operation: Cohort. Was Jill Valentine sent in to independently take down Red just like I'm supposed to do now? Had she failed to do this mission? Is that why her tags are here?

Sucking in a deep breath-and feeling the rawness of my throat settling in-I push myself off the desk and straighten my back. I can't just stand around here forever. I've got to get moving. I can puzzle it out in my own head while I walk. Moving away from the desk, the soreness of every single fucking muscle in my body reminding me of what I just went through, I run a hand through my hair in a sad attempt to fix it before pushing through his office door. In my mind, it goes into movie slow-mo, with Red standing there smirking that sexy smirk at me. I just give him this cool, icy stare and he realizes I've been the one in control all along. Of course, I step into the hall and nothing happens. It's empty.

Making my way through the maze of passages, I get myself back to the massive concrete area where the shops would have been. Several men are there, some talking, some standing guard. Without drawing attention to myself, I walk forward, passing several of my 'fellow' gang members before making my way outside. There are even more men here-and they've got guns that are way too big for them to carry.

My next course of action is to figure out where Red is and brief him on the information inside that folder before he has a chance to read it and go haywire. I'm still not sure how I'm going to calmly lay it down to him-the whole, hey, these gangs are trying to overthrow your tyrannical reign bit-but it'd be better if I was there to do some crowd control for him. Talk him out of any rampage he plans to go on. Where he went, though, is the mystery. He just up and walked away after our little affair-still, not that I care he just left after it. I totally would have done the same thing, so it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Anyway, he just walked off with those sticky, sweaty files in hand. I certainly don't take him as the reading type so where did he go?

I take the time to ask around, but nobody's seen him. Then someone did see him. With Claire.

Trailing around and asking about her, I finally pick up her scent and locate her walking through a decently empty hall.

Walking up behind her, I gently tap her shoulder and she spins on me, anger in her eyes before she realizes I'm not who she thinks I am. A calm comes over her. "Sorry." She says with very little sympathy.

"It's fine." I reply with very little care. "Hey, I'm looking for Red, have you-" Before I can even finish my sentence she's going off.

"Chris? Why the hell does anyone want to find my stupid brother!" She crosses her arms, glaring at me, "You want to know where Red is? He's off playing God with more people's lives. Last I saw him, he was breaking up Leon and my conversation because apparently I am, quote, 'too young to know what's good for me'. Can you believe him?"

I'm not sure how to react to this explosion of emotion. Sure, I've got a younger sister so I know they can be overdramatic, but I've never walked into this kind of situation. If my sister was pissed, I could tell just by looking at her and I'd wisely walk away. My mom would usually go comfort her I think. Girl time, usually talking about how much of a dick guys can be.

There's this expectation in her eye, like I'm supposed to say something. I avert my eyes a little, her gaze almost more intimidating than Chris', "Men. Huh. Yah, they sure suck sometimes."

"Sometimes? God," she throws her arms down, releasing a pent up sigh of anger, "It's like Chris isn't aware that I'm not 16 anymore. I'm not going to make stupid decisions. Sure, I dated Leon some and we had sex," yah, that's way too much information, "but I'm older and more mature now. It's not like I was ever whispering secrets to him or something. Passing love notes with encryption codes and passwords on it to him. God, you'd think he'd realize I can take care of myself!" She's stomping around the hall, venting her frustration with men-or more specifically, her brother-to me and I'm 100% sure I'm not equipped to handle her tantrum.

Whenever she looks at me for confirmation, I shake my head slowly and hopefully sympathetically. I'm not sure how long I'm standing here listening to the 'worst brother ever' speech before she finally sucks in a deep, deep breath and blows it through her bangs. "Sorry." This time her apology is actually legitimate. "I'm sure you're a good guy, Cole. Not every man sucks, right?"

How the hell do I respond to this question? She just got done insulting every human male on the face of this earth. "There are plenty of bad ones, but yah, there are good ones too. Just because you're brother is a dick doesn't mean we all are."

I think I gave an appropriate response because she gives a small smile. "Thanks for listening. You know, it's just that Red's so serious about this gang stuff. There was a point in his life where he actually looked like he was going to walk away from it all, you know?"

"Something stopped him?" I ask.

"More like a someone."

I give a small oh and she nods her head. "Anyway," she blows another sigh through the red locks that hang in her face, "He's with Leon. Hell if I know what they're talking about, but that's who he's with. I think they're in the meeting room."

"Right. Thanks." I'm about to leave but stop myself. "Claire. Can I ask you something about your brother?"

"I guess. So long as it isn't one of his many 'secrets'."

"Was he ever a nice guy?"

There's a silence that follows that's extremely uncomfortable. She's got this look on her face that tells me I've stepped right across the line and onto her feelings. Despite all the smack she throws at her brother, despite the immense amount of complaining she does about him, she still cares about him. That's siblings for you, I guess.

"Look, I'm sorry. That was insensitive."

"No," Claire says, shaking her head as she wraps her arms around herself, "To be honest, I can't remember if he was ever nice or not. This has always been his life-and mine. This city corrupted him, the power corrupted him, but I don't know when. Too long ago to remember, I guess."

Maybe this entire time I've had my head in the sand. Or maybe, I've been being too much of a dick myself to consider everyone who's a victim of Chris' reign here. My resolve hardens more than it ever has before. "No one's pure evil," I speak softly, "He's got his reasons for being ruthless, I know it."

She nods her head, but doesn't say anything about it. Instead, she sighs again, a tired sigh, and gestures for me to go, "You don't want him disappearing before you can find him. This place is pretty big. And despite his size, he isn't easy to find."

"Right." I head to the meeting room then, not looking forward to going into where I blew the brains out of a fellow CIA operative to prove myself to the worst dictator in the states.

The doors are closed when I get there but I can hear the two talking within. It's not like Chris', I mean Red's-I really shouldn't be getting casual with him-voice is soft. Same with Vice's, he sounds like a dying seagull. Knocking before entering, I push open the door at the immediate hush of voices. Both sets of eyes are on me when I step through, closing it tightly behind me. "Red." I nod towards him. "Vice." I don't even hide my distain for him. It makes him smile though. Bastard.

The blonde speaks through a crooked smile. "Cole Jaden. A pleasure seeing you again."

Chris' voice is absolute, "Don't talk to my man."

"It's not like you didn't know what was coming, Chris. So please, stop standing up for him like you actually cared about his safety."

"I did."

Vice smirks like a snake, "Only until he got you those files. Of course, I saw though that little plan of yours. Hence why I kidnapped him before he could go spilling anything to you." The pissing contest Leon has started looks like it is about to continue. I don't want to waste my time listening to them try and one up each other.

"You wanted me to explain what was in the files?" I state a little louder than necessary just to make sure they hear me. "You want me to brief you on how that little mission went down?"

Red turns his gaze towards me, something between passive disinterest and mild concern there. What the hell is that look for? "Yes." He finally states. He goes and sits in his throne, the one I'm still disappointed isn't made with skulls. "You can go, Vice."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you lost this round, dumbass. I'm not sharing anything with you now."

It almost looks like Kennedy is pissed about this declaration, but then he shrugs, "Fine. But let me know if you think he's keeping something from you. I'm sure I'd be able to fill in those blanks." He throws this god-awful-horribly-confident-I-know-something-you-don't look my way as he walks toward the door. He stops beside me, patting my shoulder, before continuing out the door. There's a saunter to his step. He's not lying. He's got something. And I bet I know what.

Did Viper read those files? Did she see what they held?

As the door closes and it's just Chris and I, I swallow hard.

"Well," he states, "Go ahead."

Taking a few steps forward, I take a deep breath, "The mission, first off, was crappy. Thank you very much." He doesn't look amused. "But, other than that, I figured out that Viper had obtained the Intel long before Vice came and asked for your help. She made him a deal; he gives over one of Red's men, she'd hand over the files. I guess Vice figured the easiest way to get someone from your ranks was to ask for your assistance, knowing you couldn't turn down the chance. I don't know what Viper wanted with a member from your gang, she never said."

"Do you know if she ever read the files?"

"I mean, I don't see why she wouldn't have."

Red sighs, "So Leon wasn't lying. He knows this information already." He sits up straighter, "I suppose that means you need to tell me everything. I even get the remote sense you're hiding something, I'll be forced to crawl to Kennedy's turf and beg for him to tell me. And believe me when I say this," he looks me straight in the eye, a dead stare of cold resolve, "you will not like me when I get back from that."

I have to force myself not to quake at the heavy implication. "I wouldn't dream of hiding something from you, sir. I proved my loyalty to you, didn't I?"

A sick smirk plays on his lips, "You certainly did. In more ways than one." He chuckles darkly, sending a shiver up my spine. I'm not entirely sure why he can send a shiver through me with such limited effort. I'm almost more scared of that then the threat he made earlier. "But loyalty can be bought. So why don't you prove it to me one more time and tell me everything that was in those files."

Nodding, I speak with as much confidence as I can muster. I cannot appear to be deceiving him. My life depends on it. "Patrick was gathering Intel on a conspiracy he uncovered while involved in your and Vice's gangs." I seem to have gotten his attention. "It involves a Coup de Grace to take over your position of power."

He leans forward some more, resting his elbows on his knees with his fingers tented. It's a sign for me to go on. "It's called Anaconda. Someone who wasn't identified is bringing together the outer rim gangs in the common goal of taking you down. They're going to close the perimeter around you, trapping you inside and preventing you from shipping goods or receiving goods."

"A classic," he states.

"They're planning on turning your men against you because whoever this mastermind is, they know you won't back down from this. You'll stay in charge as long as you can, until you're men rebel against you and overpower you, killing you and making way for the new tyrant."

There's this moment of silence before Red leans back in his throne. "So Patrick really was loyal to me, huh."

"Excuse me?"

"I told him he wasn't loyal to me, that he was playing sides and possibly working with the CIA like he used to. It appears I was wrong."

A little too late to be realizing that, isn't it? I don't voice any thoughts or concerns, though. I just watch him shrug it off, unconcerned that he ended an innocent man's life because he was deceived into believing said man didn't care about him. "There's something else."

"What?"

"He mentioned 3. I heard you and Vice talk about this 3 before. It's what ratted Patrick out, right?"

Shifting in his seat, Red nods, "That's right. Patrick must have figured out that 3 was onto him, which is why he hid the files away before he was killed."

"What I didn't understand was how 3 figured out about him. All of the gang leaders involved in this little crusade against you are highlighted in those files and their CIA level Intel is inside there as well. But there's nothing on this 3 thing. Is it something the CIA doesn't even know about? Is that why it got the jump on Patrick, an ex-CIA agent?"

Giving another noncommittal shrug, Red pushes himself to his feet. "Let's find out, shall we?"

Butterflies flutter inside my stomach, "How do you plan on doing that?"

He cracks his neck to both sides, the vertebrae popping loudly in the empty room. He follows by cracking his knuckles, several consecutive pops followed by silence.

Has Leon already told him everything that was in those files? Does he know about me now? I urge myself to stay calm, knowing blabbering on the in uncomfortable silence is what guilty people do. Finally, Chris walks over to me, "We ask a CIA agent."

It's this brief moment, one that lasts only a second in real time but an eternity in my mind. He takes another step towards me and it's that moment I know I have two options. Wait it out and see if he's figured me out, or take this chance to get the upper hand. Throw a punch, knee him in the stomach, something, anything to get myself the advantage before everything goes south. I make up my mind before I can second guess myself. I stand perfectly still and Red steps past me, right by my shoulder.

"Come on."

I follow, legs shaking.

We move quickly from the meeting hall, down several narrow corridors, back to where I had been imprisoned previously. We pass the door that leads down to my cell of despair and move to another door beyond it. He pushes it open, revealing a set of stairs that matches the set I walked up on my first day free. Darkness swallows the world at the third step, but he goes down anyway with practiced vigilance.

Keeping close behind, we finally reach the bottom, where he clicks on a dim red light bulb. Its warm hue trickled through the air, casting deep, harsh shadows into the multitude of cells that sit down here. Each bar looks longer and taller, casting black, parallel lines on the floor and walls, as well as the woman sitting in the cell. She gives an empty look up toward the intruding light before letting her gaze fall back onto Red.

She gives a grim smile, hollow and empty, "Hello Chris." She says.

"Hello Jill."

A/N: Alright, so college is kicking my ass this semester but I finally found some time to type this chapter up. I didn't get as much time to proof read it as I would have liked, but I did get one read through done, so I'm hoping that's enough. I'll be trying to work on Under Fire and other fics on Saturdays, as they are usually free for me and allow me time to actually get something done. I can't garentee I'll update every week, but I'll be aiming for every two weeks like I was doing at the end of summer (before college came and kicked my ass, as stated).

I want to thank those who reivewed! You guys are the reason I keep kicking myself to write even when I don't feel like it. I also want to thank those who faved/followed me and/or the story! It's good to see RE fans are enjoying this fanfic. And, of course, thanks to my readers! I do also want to thank you all, every last one of you wonderful people, for your patience in me and in this story!

Also, it's come to my attention that, because of how long it's been between chapters, that some of the story elements aren't near as fresh in my mind as they should be. I had to go back and look through the chapters and some of my own personal notes to recall some information. You all might be having some similar issues, so I'll be including here some terms and events to help jog your memory. Or, if you'd like, you can go through and reread the other chapters. But for convience and for those who are busy like me and don't have time to reread, here you go! It goes right up to the start of this chapter!

Piers is a CIA agent going under the alias Cole Jaden.

He was badly beaten and abused by Red (aka Chris) and was forced to kill a turncoat in Red's ranks named Patrick to prove his loyalty to Chris.

Patrick's actually a CIA agent named Henry Pretz who was part of Operation: Cohort, a CIA sanctioned operation where guns, money and agents were funneled into Vice's (aka Leon) gang in order to aide him in an overthrow of Red. It failed miserably.

After Patrick dies, Leon comfronts Chris and asks him to help him locate the missing Intel files that Patrick had been hiding away. Piers is signed on as the man who will secretly look for the files. During this meeting, Piers learns of an entity called 3 that ratted out Patrick.

Piers is knocked out while investigating by Leon and finds out that he was only brought in to settle a proposal Vice has made with Viper (aka Ada, though this has only been revealed to the reader and not to Piers). Viper wanted Leon to trade one of Red's men for the Intel that Patrick had.

Piers escapes with the Intel, making back to Chris' turf before he can be killed. He learns that the Intel fingers him as a CIA agent so he hides the information away inside a phonebooth. The rest of the info tells about a conspiracy to take over Insane City, funded and constructed by an unknown player.

Piers attempts to contact the CIA but his boss tells him to ignore the conspiracy and focus on taking down Red.

In order to gain Red's trust and to aide in his saving Insane City and taking the tyrant down, Piers sleeps with Chris.

After their sesson is over, Piers digs around in Chris' desk and finds a pair of dog tags that read Jill Valentine.