Disclaimer: I do not own the Resident Evil series or the characters, I am just a huge fan who likes to write the kind of stories I like to read. Okay – I went on a long holiday and then had quite a few busy weekends so I couldn't get on with this story (which was really frustrating because it's so close to being finished now!). Still, I have to thank you for coming back and I hope I've made it worth your while. I promise you this story will be finished soon!

Chapter 18 The Downward Spiral

"General?" Claire's smiled faded quickly, and was replaced by a quizzical frown. "What are you doing here?"

General Keller walked slowly in Claire's direction, each step echoing loudly in the darkness. As he moved, his eyes remained fixed on Chris's body that was still lying motionless on the floor. The few spotlights that lit the rig surface exacerbated the crags and crevices of his aging face. He was extremely pale; his eyes appeared black and almost disappeared into their sockets. His cheeks were sunken and his cracked lips, slightly parted, revealed a row of crooked, yellowing teeth.

"Why did you come here? This is exactly what he wanted you to do." Keller whispered. His voice sounded pained, like every spoken word took an extreme effort. Claire noted that he winced with every intake of breath.

"I don't under…"

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming here?" Keller scolded her. His body creaked as he slowly knelt beside Chris and removed a small screw top tube from the breast pocket of his black canvas suit. He unscrewed the lid which fell to the floor, and he held it in front of Chris's nose. A moment later, Chris's head jerked to the side and his eyes opened, a look of disgust on his face. He looked first at Keller and then at Claire.

Chris sat up and Claire quickly moved behind him in order to help support his weight. "Did you shoot me?" he moaned, feeling a twinge of pain in his shoulder.

Claire didn't respond, she just wrapped her arms around him and squeezed hard while resting her head on his shoulders.

Chris smiled and patted her on the head with his left hand. "Hey, it's okay."

Claire squeezed harder, choking back a tear.

"Claire…" Chris whispered. "That hurts."

She quickly loosened her grasp, realising just how hard she was squeezing him. "I'm sorry Chris, there wasn't another way, and she was going to kill you. The bullet must have gone straight through her and…and…"

"It's okay." he smiled. "You did what you had to… Thank you." His voice was sincere.

Chris then reached into his utility belt and pulled out a small plastic vial which he handed to Claire. She nodded and cracked the seal while attaching a fine needle to one end. She held the vial up and flicked it in an attempt to remove the bubbles visible within the clear fluid contained within. Meanwhile, Chris rolled up his sleeve, baring his forearm. He winced as he disturbed the open wound on his shoulder. He was beginning to realise that as he got older, every injury seemed to hurt more and take longer to heal.

Claire tapped his forearm in attempt to find a vein.

"So, General…" Chris began as he switched his focus from the needle that Claire was pressing into his flesh to General Oscar Keller who was now standing upright in front of him. "How long have you been working for Wesker?"

Keller looked to the ground. "I wondered how long it would take you."

"You're a son of a bitch Keller. I trusted you. We all trusted you. And you were just using us."

"It's a little bit more complicated than that Chris."

"No, I don't think it is. You resurrected the S.T.A.R.S to destroy his rivals. To clear the playing field for him. So what did he promise you? Money? Power? What are we worth to you? I'd like to know the dollar value of my life…"

"That's not what this is about."

"Bullshit!" Chris spat. "You have a lot of blood on your hands…"

Keller turned his back to Chris, his shoulders hunched, his head bowed. "I have made terrible…mistakes. If I could go back and change what I did, I would. You have to understand that I got into all of this with the best of intentions. We had developed something so special, something that really could change the world for the better."

Chris snorted. "Yeah, and I'm sure that everything Wesker…and Ephraim Carter, have done has been for the good of mankind."

Keller clenched his eyes shut, realising that Chris also knew about his past friendship with Ephraim Carter. There were no more secrets. His career was over, for Chris would surely see to it that his actions would be made public. He had every right to do so. Even though he had the best of intentions, what he had done was wrong and he knew that one day there would be a price to pay. Well, that day had arrived.

"I misjudged Ephraim. I let our friendship cloud my judgement."

"Save it for the jury General. I don't want to hear your excuses."

"Just hear me out Chris. Please."

Claire plunged the needle into Chris's vein, dispensing the clear fluid into his bloodstream. Almost instantly, the pain in his shoulder was gone.

"You've got one minute." Chris sneered.

Keller nodded. "Years ago, not long after the Raccoon City incident, Wesker had tried to forge an alliance with Carter, but he wasn't interested. He's an arrogant man; he doesn't like to share power."

"So Wesker decided to take over by force?"

"He had already planted an insider in Carter's organisation."

"Elisabeth." Chris and Claire spoke in unison.

"Yes. She had been simultaneously working on the Lazarus virus for Carter while extracting information for Wesker for nearly a decade before she was caught."

"So what went wrong?"

"Carter found out about her involvement in his son's death. He had a strained relationship with his son, but..."

"So you two were responsible for Mexico." Chris said. "You were testing Lazarus."

Claire's eyes opened wide with the revelation. Her superior officer – General Oscar Keller – was a traitor. He was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of men, women and children. She suddenly felt nauseous as she realised that the S.T.A.R.S had been working with the people they were supposed to be fighting against.

"Yes Chris." he murmured. "And I'm ashamed of what happened. There's not a day goes by that…"

"I don't want to hear it." Chris interrupted, his voice getting louder with every word."Any of it! There's no way you can justify anything that you've done. I want to know what went wrong between Wesker and Elisabeth. Why does he want her dead now, after all this time?"

"He was sure that she was holding something back from him."

"About Lazarus?"

Keller nodded.

"So Wesker fed the information to Ephraim Carter." Chris said.

"Yes. She knew they were on to her. So I suggested she go to you."

Chris rolled his sleeve back down and nodded appreciatively at Claire before standing upright with renewed vigour. He retrieved his handgun from the floor and checked the magazine.

"And did you tell her to take Jill?" he said, narrowing his eyes.

Keller swallowed hard before he turned back to face Chris and Claire.

"I asked you a question. Did you tell her to take Jill?" Chris's tone of voice was low and menacing, deliberately pronouncing every syllable.

"I…I told her that she would need something to gain your trust, that you wouldn't just help her if she appeared on your doorstep."

Chris shook his head in disbelief. He raised his weapon and pointed it at Keller's head. The older man didn't flinch.

Chris's finger twitched on the trigger. "You had better give me a reason not to kill you right now."

"I'm telling you everything Chris, because you deserve that. And yes, maybe I deserve to die after everything I've done, but I'm trying to put things right before I die. I don't have long now." He coughed heavily, almost doubling over. "I have…tumours in my lungs." he wheezed.

Chris wasn't moved. He had heard this before and wondered why it was that people suddenly developed a need to 'put things right' only when they had been caught out and forced to face their sins.

"You're damn right you deserve to die." Chris said through gritted teeth.

"Wesker threatened to expose my link to the Mexico incident unless I helped him. My reputation… means nothing to me now. But my family…"

"I said give me a reason not to kill you!"

"He took my wife Chris."

"What?" Chris flinched.

"Wesker took my wife." he said sadly. "He said he would kill her – and my children – unless I used you to destroy Carter's organisation."

Chris lowered his weapon and sighed. "You know she's probably dead already."

Keller nodded slowly. He opened his mouth to speak, but there were no words. Chris could see the pain blatantly exposed in the old man's eyes.

"And what about her?" Chris gestured towards Elisabeth's body that was twitching involuntarily on the floor as is slowly healed itself.

Keller shifted his focus to Elisabeth. "I'm surprised she managed to fight it off this long. She must have incredible mental strength. Most Lazarus recipients suffered negative effects within days, sometimes hours, when not treated with the antivirus."

"How long? For her?" Claire demanded.

"Ten years." Keller responded, his tone of voice completely devoid of emotion.

"How is that possible?" Claire interjected, thinking instantly of Leon. "She hasn't been taking the antivirus. At least, not while she's been with us."

"I don't know how it's possible Claire, she used an early form of the virus, but her mind is irreversibly fractured as a consequence. It's almost like she's two different people now, each one a polar opposite, fighting for control."

"This is just getting ridiculous." Claire laughed sarcastically while shaking her head. "Are you telling me she has a split personality? Because I have no qualms killing both of them…"

"A side effect of the Lazarus virus is a heightened emotional state. The infected become erratic, aggressive, doing things out of character. They know what they're doing, but they're unable to stop themselves." Keller replied. "That's why both Wesker and Ephraim Carter were so interested in Elisabeth's work."

"Either way, she was going to kill you Chris. She's just too dangerous now."

"If you kill her, you'll kill the last chance you have of getting Leon back." Keller replied.

"What are you talking about?" Claire snapped.

"I know Claire. Since you brought him back, Leon hasn't been himself has he?"

Claire stared at Keller, her eyes narrowed. How did he know? How could he know?

"It's because Elisabeth didn't give him a full dose of the antivirus. He had just enough to slow it down."

"What?" Claire shouted. She launched herself towards Keller and grabbed him roughly by the collar of his black shirt. He offered no resistance. "What do you mean she didn't give him the antivirus? We saw her do it! It was the antivirus she used on Jill, and that worked fine!"

"No, Jill was practically cured before you rescued her."

"But why? Why would she want to hurt Leon? He virtually sacrificed himself for her for God's sake!" Claire wailed.

"It's her life insurance Claire." Keller replied sadly. "She knows that you won't be able to kill her while you still need her. Unless he gets the antivirus proper, Leon will turn, and you will have to kill him. At least, before he tries to kill you."

Claire let go of Keller's shirt and released a quiet sob. She was beginning to understand just how Chris had felt all these years, knowing that someone was manipulating her every move.

"It's a good sign that he's lasted this long. But for now, we have to leave this place. In case you haven't realised already, this is a trap."

"No." Chris said firmly. "We've come here to finish this, and we're not leaving until it's done."

"Not today Chris. If you go down into the lab, you're a dead man."

Chris smirked. "Yeah? So what's down there that I haven't seen already?"

Keller took a deep breath. "Hell on Earth."

--

Jill Valentine was crouched beside one of the huge concrete supports in the centre of the laboratory situated in the bedrock beneath the oil rig. She attached a block of plastic explosive to the column but then looked up, briefly glancing at the fluid-filled tanks arranged all around her. Jill re-affirmed the location of the elevator – seemingly the only exit – on the far side of the room. The heavy metal doors were still open. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable, almost like she was being watched by a hundred pair of eyes. Each one of the figures floating within the chambers was inert, but they still seemed threatening.

"Jill?" a voice called out from the distance. "How are things going over there?"

Without realising, Jill was staring intently into one of the chambers situated immediately to her left. She was sure that she had seen movement. There was a gentle hum created by fans that circulated the fluid within the chamber, and the numerous tubes inside moved rhythmically with the resultant current. The masculine figure floating in the chamber looked relatively young – thirty years old at most. Although dressed in what appeared to be a tight-fitting black jumpsuit, Jill could see the man had excellent muscle definition. His facial features were smooth and relaxed, almost like he was in a deep sleep.

"Jill?" the voice repeated.

"Err, yeah. I just need two more minutes to attach the timers and then we're all set Carlos." Jill replied as she re-focussed on her task.

Carlos was standing with Rebecca in front of a computer terminal at the end of the room furthest from the elevator. Rebecca was skim-reading through pages of text and images displayed on a large monitor attached to the wall.

"This confirms that they're all clones. They have identical genetic make-up." Rebecca said to Carlos without taking her eyes off the screen.

"Why would they be interested in human cloning?" Carlos sounded perplexed. "I thought bio-organic weapons were more their thing."

"They're all being treated with a super-concentrated form of the Lazarus virus." Rebecca said while tracing the lines of digital text with her right index finger. "I remember Elisabeth saying that in a small number of cases, it irreversibly binds to the host's D.N.A and the antivirus has no effect. It's my guess that they cloned someone who was genetically susceptible to it, exaggerating its effect."

"So these are more like enhanced supersoldiers." Carlos said quietly. He glanced back over his shoulder to see the rows of tanks that filled the laboratory behind them. "Jesus Christ."

"They're more dangerous than anything we've seen before. They're stronger, faster, and harder to kill. But even worse, they can walk among us undetected until they make their move." She pulled her eyes away from the screen and looked straight at Carlos. "We can't let them out of here. No matter what happens."

Carlos nodded emphatically. He then turned his body in order to get a better view of Jill who was attaching the final timing device to one of the concrete columns. She was completely engrossed in her task. Carlos knew she was more than capable of looking after herself, but for the first time on a mission, he felt protective of her. Worried about her almost. She was physically fine, but he realised that no one knew for the sure the long term effects of being exposed to the Lazarus virus. Not even Rebecca.

"Three hundred and forty two."

Carlos snapped his head to the right to see Leon standing next to him. He stepped back, slightly startled, as he hadn't heard the other man approach.

"What?"

"There are three hundred and forty two tanks here."

"Did you count them all?" Carlos joked, although there was a slightly nervous tone to his laugh.

Leon nodded, but his face remained blank. "Rebecca, can you find out if this is all of them?"

"You think there are more of these things?" Carlos replied.

"Three hundred and forty two just seems like a strange number to me. Why not a hundred? Or two hundred and fifty? Or five hundred even? Don't scientists like to work with simple numbers?"

"There were…fatalities." Rebecca replied as she opened another digital folder of data on the screen. "Some of the clones didn't develop into maturity; some seemed unable to handle to the high Lazarus dosage and…oh my God."

"What is it?"

Leon and Carlos simultaneously turned towards Rebecca who suddenly went extremely pale.

"They…they…this is just…" she shook her head.

"Rebecca. What is it?" Carlos pushed.

"They…tested them."

"Tested them?"

"They wanted to find just how much they could take...to see just how far their bodies could be pushed before they wouldn't be able to regenerate."

Rebecca clicked a button on the keyboard and a number of windows appeared on the large monitor. One of the windows was a video. She enlarged the window so that it filled the screen and then pressed the small 'play' icon. They were suddenly bombarded by the sound of screaming. Rebecca stared, open-mouthed, at the moving image of a man strapped to a stainless steel gurney. He was naked from the waist up, writhing furiously, trying to pull his arms and legs free from their bonds. His chest was criss-crossed by a number of scars. Some looked bright red and were probably inflicted recently, while others had faded to a soft pink. Standing next to the gurney was a tall man in a white lab coat with numerous dark red stains. Rebecca's eye was caught by a glint of reflected light from an elongate metallic object he was brandishing in his right hand. It looked like a large scalpel.

Rebecca covered her mouth with her right hand and swallowed hard. She desperately wanted to look away because she knew what was about to happen, but she couldn't.

"Shut him up. It's distracting." The man wearing the lab coat ordered callously.

A second figure in a white lab coat stepped into the camera view and crammed what appeared to be a bundle of rags into the captive man's mouth. The screaming and pleading was immediately replaced by a muffled groan.

With his left hand, the tall man traced a line along the length of the captive man's torso while seeming to look to his companion for approval. He then rested the scalpel on the small indentation at the base of the exposed neck. His grip on the sharp, stainless steel tool tightened. Rebecca felt her whole body tense as the scalpel slid into the man's flesh with virtually no resistance. Torrents of bright red fluid traced the path of the scalpel as it progressed along the length of the exposed torso. Although the image was somewhat grainy, she could see the terror in the bound man's eyes.

Leon stepped forward and pressed a button on the keyboard, closing the window. "This doesn't change anything." he said coldly. "We have to finish what we came here to do."

"How could they be so cruel?" Rebecca said quietly as she wiped away a single tear that was sitting on her left cheek.

Leon shrugged. "Well, it's not like we came here to make friends with them. Gut them, blow them up…what's the difference?"

Rebecca turned sharply to face Leon, her eyes wide with shock at Leon's comment. She opened her mouth to speak but she didn't know what to say.

Carlos stepped forward quickly to put himself closer to Rebecca. "I think what Leon meant to say was that…"

"I meant exactly what I said. I don't need you to speak for me Carlos." Leon said with a sneer.

Carlos was surprised by Leon's attacking tone. "And what the hell does that mean?"

"You know what it means. You're barely able to speak for yourself, never mind anyone else." Leon snorted.

Carlos stepped toward Leon. "If you have something to say Leon, maybe you should just say it instead of hitting me with cryptic clues."

Leon leaned forward towards Carlos and grinned. This seemed to aggravate Carlos whose shoulders tensed visibly as he clenched his fists.

"Enough!" a stern voice spoke behind them. "We have enough to deal with right now."

It was Jill. She gave both men a stony glance as she approached Rebecca.

"Rebecca, have you got everything you need from here?"

Rebecca nodded in response to Jill's question while brandishing a small black digital storage device in her left hand that she had used to upload data from the laboratory's computer. Meanwhile, Leon slowly backed away from Carlos. He was still grinning; seeming to enjoy the fact that he had annoyed his friend.

"It's time to go." Jill said. She tapped the small communication device in her ear. "Chris, come in."

There was no response.

"That won't work. The walls are thick. We're too deep underground." Leon said matter-of-factly.

Jill brushed off Leon's comment. "Chris, we're all set down here. We're on our way…"

The large monitor on the wall flickered and the image of a man appeared. Jill, Rebecca, Carlos and Leon slowly turned to face the screen. Jill felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck and a terrible sinking feeling developed in her stomach.

The man on the screen was old, certainly in his sixties or seventies. He looked distinguished, with carefully styled white-grey hair and a neatly clipped white beard that covered his chin that jutted arrogantly forwards. He spoke with a deep slightly rasping voice.

"I suppose congratulations are in order. You've successfully followed the trail Albert Wesker and General Keller set for you."

"Who the hell are you?" Carlos demanded.

"That's Ephraim Carter." Jill whispered in response.

"After everything I've heard about you all, I wouldn't have thought you would follow so blindly."

"What do you want?" Carlos demanded.

"But surely you didn't expect me to let you destroy everything I have been working for all these years?" On the screen, Ephraim Carter clasped his hands together and a broad smile appeared on his face. "Well, you see, irrespective of what Wesker may have believed, every facility of mine you have compromised has been expendable. I've been saving the best for last. I have a very special surprise for you. A test if you like."

"It's just a recording." Rebecca said to Carlos.

"You're supposed to be the best, so you'll be the ultimate test for my new soldiers." Carter seemed close to laughter. There was an undeniable look of glee on his face.

Jill shot Carlos a worried look. Her lip quivered.

"Let's get out of here!" Carlos shouted.

They all turned in unison and ran for the elevator at the opposite end of the laboratory. Just before they could get into the small metal compartment, the doors slammed shut. Rebecca pressed the call button on the wall to the side, but nothing happened. She pressed the button repeatedly, harder. Her hand began to shake.

"The door won't open." she shouted.

"Don't panic yet." Carlos said as he began to remove the control panel casing from the wall, exposing the wires. "I can get this." He said through gritted teeth as he struggled to remove the wires' plastic coating.

The room was suddenly filled with a loud, high pressured hiss followed by the sound of running water. Jill turned from the elevator and took a few steps towards the first of the chambers. The tubes inside were no longer filled with coloured fluid and the noise of the fans had ceased. Her attention was then caught by the clear fluid that filled the chamber – its level was decreasing rapidly. Within a few moments, it was below the head of the man inside who was beginning to stir. She glanced at the next chamber. The same was happening there. And the next chamber. And the next one.

Jill's heart began to race.

"Carlos…"

"I know!." he muttered.

"Hurry!"

"I know!" he repeated, his voice getting louder.

"I mean it! They're waking up!"

There was a short ring followed by the sound of a humming motor and grinding metal. The heavy steel elevator doors crawled open slowly, but there was no compartment, just exposed cables in the elevator shaft.

"Mierde!" Carlos cursed

"What?" Rebecca asked, her voice slightly shaky.

Leon leaned forward into the shaft and looked up. He could just discern the underside of the elevator as it progressed upwards. He stepped back into the laboratory, shaking his head.

"It's gone up to the surface. It's going to take a while to come back down." Leon said as he gripped the semi-automatic weapon that had been swung idly over his shoulder. "Looks like we're stuck here."

Jill moved closer to the tank that was immediately in front of her. The only sound she could hear now was her breath that quickened with each passing moment. She saw that all of the fluid had drained away and the man inside was slumped forwards; his face was pressed against the glass grossly distorting it. His eyes were closed but his fingers began to twitch. There was another sudden hissing sound and the tubes that were attached to his arms fell away and rhythmically swung backwards and forwards, hitting the tank walls repeatedly before coming to a rest.

"Jill – stay back!" Carlos ordered as he stepped away from the elevator console and checked the magazine in his weapon.

Jill glanced over her shoulder to see Carlos's worried expression when she was stunned by the sound of breaking glass. The next instant, she felt fingers grab her collar as she was dragged forwards. Her arms flailed as she tried to find something to her resist the incredible fprce that was dragging her.

Carlos began to run in Jill's direction as the sound of breaking glass came from all corners of the laboratory.

--

Elisabeth sat bolt upright. For a moment, she wasn't sure where she was, although her body felt sore all over. There was an uncomfortable buzzing sound in her head. She glanced from side to side as her eyes struggled to focus in the dark. She suddenly saw Chris and his sister Claire standing a few metres away from her, in deep discussion. Claire was binding a field dressing to a wound on her brother's shoulder.

She then saw a third person. It was Oscar Keller. What was he doing here?

Elisabeth was gripped by panic as the realisation of events that had transpired on the rig surface then hit her. She had killed Albert Wesker, and she was going to kill Chris.

She looked up into the indigo night sky and saw large grey clouds had covered the moon. The air hung heavy with a fine mist of rain, and the moisture had settled on her clothes and hair, making it curl.

"Welcome back." Chris said over Claire's shoulder.

Claire turned around quickly and scowled.

"Claire…" Elisabeth stammered.

Claire took a step towards the other woman who was now struggling to her feet. "Tell me how to help Leon." she spat.

Elisabeth looked at her with a blank expression.

"I said tell me how to help Leon!" Claire repeated with venom in her tone.

Claire withdrew her handgun from the holster by her hip and pointed it at Elisabeth's head.

"That won't kill me Claire. You know that now." Elisabeth said quietly, her voice barely audible over the sound of the waves that crashed against the rig's metal legs.

"If you don't tell me how to help him, I swear to God I'll make you wish for death."

Chris stepped forward and gently put his hand on Claire's shoulder. The vicious, menacing tone of her voice surprised him. "Calm down Claire." he soothed. "This isn't going to help."

"There's no need to threaten me. I'll do everything I can to help Leon when we get back to the S.T.A.R.S lab. But there's nothing I can do right now." Elisabeth said.

Claire shook her head. "I can't trust you. You're no better than him." She glanced across to the body of Albert Wesker that was still lying inert on the concrete floor.

This comment made Elisabeth flinch. "I promise I'll help him." she replied sincerely, looking directly into Claire's eyes.

Claire put her handgun back in the holster and sighed. She was almost certain that Elisabeth was lying, but if there was just the smallest chance that she could help Leon… she had to take it.

"We have to get down to the others." Chris said.

"I've told you Chris, it's a trap. If you go down there…" Keller said.

"If it is a trap, then Jill and the others are going to need our help."

"Jill and the others are probably dead already. If you all die here, then it's over. The S.T.A.R.S will be finished. And there'll be no one left to fight."

"So what's down there?"

Oscar Keller took a deep breath before answering Chris's question. "It's an advanced… cloning facility."

Chris raised his eyebrows and smiled. "You're kidding me right? Clones?"

"It's true Chris." Claire interjected. "There are hundreds of them. I've seen them."

"And they're all infected with a very potent form of Lazarus." Keller added. "You've found his army Chris. And Ephraim Carter wants to use it to destroy you."

"Let's go down there and finish this." Chris said positively as he rolled his injured shoulder in order to loosen it.

"Didn't you hear what I've just said? There are hundreds of them down there. You can't win this fight Chris. It's better to take a small loss here today and come back fighting later."

"And by taking a small loss, you mean leaving Jill and the rest to die?" Chris snorted. "You really don't know me at all do you General?"

Chris spotted his weapon on the floor and moved over to pick it up. He checked the magazine and loading mechanism before turning back to face his superior officer.

"You can come with us Keller and finally do something good with what's left of your life, or you can run away like the coward you've shown us you really are."

"Chris…"

"It's your choice." Chris interrupted Keller.

Chris turned away and began to walk toward the bridge structure that led to the accommodation building and the elevator to the underground laboratory. Elisabeth and Claire followed suit.

As they reached the bridge, Chris stopped suddenly and turned back to see Oscar Keller. He hadn't moved.

"I though as much." Chris muttered under his breath, unable to hide his disappointment. He had given this man a final chance for redemption but he didn't want it. There was nothing he could for him anymore.

A few moments later, Chris, Claire and Elisabeth entered the accommodation building. They began to walk along the length of the room towards the elevator at the far side.

"All these years…" Claire began. "…he was working for them. I feel so stupid."

"We all fell for his lies Claire. Not any more though." Chris replied.

"But what about us? What's going to happen to the S.T.A.R.S? We can't carry on with him in charge." Claire's steps faltered. "Can we carry on?"

"We'll deal with that when we get back." Chris replied. "Let's just make sure we get back, alright?"

He smiled weakly at his sister, trying to reassure her, even though inside he was just as worried. Oscar Keller had been the S.T.A.R.S' strongest advocate. It was likely that without his support, the S.T.A.R.S wouldn't exist at all. Certainly not in the way they had this past few years. Could they return to the way things were before? All of them working alone or as part of renegade organisations, without the support of the military?

They arrived at the heavy steel elevator doors and Chris pressed the call button. He turned his head to see Elisabeth. She was staring at the ground, and seemed to be muttering something under her breath. Every instinct told him to kill her right there, but he wasn't sure he was physically able to anymore. She had recovered from serious knife and gunshot wounds in minutes, and he was certain that her mental state was deteriorating rapidly. She was more dangerous than ever, but there was a chance that she could help Leon. Leon had come on this mission expecting it to be his last, but if there was the smallest chance to save his friend, Chris was willing to take it. If Elisabeth had managed to fight off the effects of Lazarus for ten years, he was sure that Leon could hold out just a little bit longer.

The doors opened and Chris strode into the elevator compartment, closely followed by his sister. Elisabeth paused at the entrance. She looked at Chris, and then Claire who responded with a look of pure hatred.

"I'm sorry." she began. "For everything. I'm really sorry."

"We don't have time to waste." Chris said firmly.

Elisabeth nodded and stepped into the compartment. Chris pressed a button on the control panel and the doors closed. The elevator began to descend.