A/N- I was so glad to have gotten such positive feedback on the first chapter. I was a bit nervous about the whole silent PM thingy, but I'm glad that you guys still liked the story. Sorry the update took so long...my personal life is always busy, but I had to replay the game to kinda get Jin's storyline and I DIED. It sucked because I was going for the survivor achievement and when I died, I got so mad I shut off my system and didn't play for a long time...
And thanks to Ramius the Watcher and HeroOfDarkness2005 for their suggestions and for pointing out my lack of research. I went back and changed all of the "Leo"'s to "Spen"'s, give me a head's up if I missed one. I have Tyler as a noob on the field, but actually Delta squads are the elites, so he should be very experienced, but this is my story, so he's not. I'm getting lazy on the wording, so this probably doesn't make much sense…oh well, on with the story…
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"Dammit Spen, where are you?" asked Jin.
Just then, Rowdy's voice entered the comlink. "Oh shit! I just lost Jankowski's signal!"
"Maybe his gear got damaged," Jin suggested. "Any idea where he is?"
"McDowell still hasn't met up with him...keep retracing his steps. Wait for the fire to get put out of warehouse 13 and search there for Jankowski," ordered Rowdy.
"Will do," said Jin.
Jin and Tyler watched the fire crew fight the flames. It seemed to have lost its fight when a huge gust of wind came out of the dead air and the flames resurged. Jin winced as the static entered her ear piece. She was able to make out, "They...all... deserved...to...die...don't...interfear..."
She shuddered, the creepy voice sounded menacing and yet had the innocence of a little child. Glancing at Tyler, she saw him wide-eyed, crouching on the ground. "It's her."
Jin followed his gaze. The sky darkened as the flames rose higher and higher. Engulfing the group of firefighters, the flames seemed to have melted the skin from their bones. Jin stared as a little girl with jet black hair seemed to appear in the flames, approaching her. She stopped a couple feet away from Jin. Her neck cracked in various places as she looked Jin in the eye. Lips pulling back into a sadistic grin, she warned, "He's mine."
Despite the inferno in front of her, Jin was freezing. Her breath was coming in quick puffs. Jin blinked. Her breathing had become rapid and she willed it to slow down. "The flames were just playing tricks with my eyes, I didn't see anybody..." But why am I cold?
"You've seen her now. I saw you talk to her. Feel grateful that she didn't kill you, too," stated Tyler, rubbing his hands together and blowing on them as he walked towards the warehouse. The flames had disappeared, having left their mark on both the buildings and the people.
Jin forced her feet to follow him. In all her years of work as a F.E.A.R. member, she had never actually witnessed a supernatural event. She actually thought it was all a bunch of crap, but now, this changed everything. Walking to the warehouse, Jin looked gravely at the few people across her path. If she hadn't just witnessed their death, she doubted that she would have been able to identify them as people. Their clothing and skin had melted together, dripping off of the sides of the bones. Personal traits were burnt off, leaving all the bodies the same heap of bones and melted skin.
She met Tyler at the warehouse door, his eyes empty. Kicking open the door, they entered the warehouse.
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Once inside, the pair was very tense. Their heads jerked every which way trying to follow every sound. The tension broke when Tyler turned the knob to an office. "Oh shit! Hot! Hot!" he cried as he jerked his hand back and jumped up and down in pain.
Jin cracked a smile. "Smooth. Real smooth. The knob is metal you know."
Tyler glared at her as he rubbed his sore hand. "Minor lapse in judgment," he mumbled as he kicked open the door with more force than necessary and stepped into the office.
"It smells like my mom's cooking in here," Tyler stated. Picking up a chard...something, he announced, "Hey, it's her meatloaf."
Jin laughed. "Hey, don't make fun of bad cooking. Be happy she isn't me. I almost burnt my apartment down- twice- and I consider it a success if I'm still able to stomach my meals. Take out is my best friend."
Picking through the debris, Jin found a couple of bodies. Two were AMC guards, according to their bullet and apparently fire-proof vests, long dead, and the rest were from the clone army. They had a metal coating over their bones, giving them an advantage over their enemies.
Examining a dead replica soldier, Tyler stated, "The bullet is melted, obviously from the fire, but they all have one, right between their eyes."
Seeing for herself, Jin replied, "Oh, that's Alec's doing. By far the best shot in the division. The guy's a freak with a gun."
"Alec? Your boyfriend? He doesn't seem the type. In fact, I'm surprised he's in this business. He seems so normal and hey, I'm a guy and I'll admit it, he's good looking. Why isn't he making millions of dollars and fucking some blonde bombshell? No offense to you." He noticed Jin's glare. "I-I- I mean, you are attractive too, but with your hair up, you look...I dunno...up tight..."
Jin gritted out her reply. "Ok, one, Alec's not my boyfriend. Two, I am at work, where I do a lot of moving around. If my hair is down, it may block my sight and I might shoot you. Do you want to get shot?" Tyler shook his head no." And three..."
Jin searched for some other thing to support her side of the argument, drawing a blank. "...and three, shut up."
Jin was mad that that was all that she could think off, but it was already said. Tyler seemed to have gotten the hint and was silently waiting for Jin to take the lead. Accepting this, she exited the office and continued to search the rest of the warehouse, finding nothing.
Radioing in, Jin stated, "Jin here. Still no sign of Jankowski."
"Fuck," Rowdy swore. "No one has seen or heard from him either. It's so strange. I've been getting various weak signals from him, but it is just static..." Jin's eyes widened. "Meet up with McDowell in the AMC offices. Be careful. AMC has turned on us and the SFOD-D squad we sent with McDowell had already been eliminated."
"We're on our way," replied Jin as she and Tyler headed for their pick up site.
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Jumping out of the helicopter and settling her stomach, Jin saw a worried look on Tyler's face. "I really hate flying," she said after the nausea passed.
Tyler gave her a small smile before checking his ammo and gesturing to the door. "Should we?"
Nodding, Jin contacted Rowdy. "This is Jin. We're on the roof. Heading in."
"Ok, the way should be clear. Alec seems to have taken care of all threats, but even still, stay alert. Betters out."
The office building had an eerie feel after dark. The power system was apparently down and the back up lights were dim, playing with the shadows on the wall. It was so silent; Jin realized she was holding her breath, afraid to make a sound.
Her over-reactive imagination was driving her mad. She kept hearing sounds and seeing figures. Tyler seemed to be having the same problem. When a box fell over, he unloaded a clip into the poor thing before he was able to control his nerves again and take his finger off of the trigger.
The main lights flickered before going on. Jin heard an audible sigh come from Tyler before Rowdy radioed, "Hey, McDowell returned power to the place. Hop in an elevator and make your way to the lobby. He should be waiting for you."
"Oh goodie," Jin said sarcastically.
Finding the elevators, Jin and Tyler entered it and hit the "L" for lobby. "23...22...21," Tyler counted off. "14...13...1-"
The elevator's lights flickered as the buttons all lit up and faded out. Jin's stomached dropped, they were falling.
"Oh shit. Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit," repeated Tyler as he backed into a corner in the fetal position; his breath leaving white puffs in the air. "Shit shit shit..."
Jin braced herself against the wall, forcing her numbing hand around the cold metal of the railing. She watched the numbers reduce as the fell. 7. 6. 5. She nearly screamed when she saw the little girl she saw before. Her hair still covered her face, but her one exposed eye stared at her, her grin even bigger, sharp fangs reflecting the dim light. 3. The girl was gone, but the danger wasn't over.2.1.
Eyes scrunched shut, Jin cautiously opened her eyes. The voice was in her ear. "Scared you..." Jin cringed as the girl laughed her cruel laugh. The doors opened with a "bing" and Jin and Tyler bolted from it. Right into a room full of blood.
"Oh...my...god," Jin whispered. The room was covered in enough blood to fill a swimming pool. It was everywhere, from the ceiling to the floor and surrounding walls.
Alec appeared from around the corner. He looked around the room before exchanging a glance with Jin. "Jin, you meet up with McDowell yet?" asked Rowdy.
"Yeah, but this room..."
"What do you think Jin?" Rowdy asked.
"There was a lot of anger in this room."
Rowdy scoffed. "Got anything useful to add?"
Jin frowned. She walked the length of the room. "Well, I don't see any bullets or brass lying around. These guys didn't fire a single shot."
"What killed them?"
"It was her," Tyler muttered.
Jin thought so too, but didn't know how to explain a murderous little girl who appeared and disappeared. "I don't know, "She answered.
"Well find out!" snapped Rowdy. "Go on buddy," he was referring to Alec. "Fettel is ahead."
Alec hung around, watching Jin. "I don't even know where to start. Complete liquidifcation. A new chemical agent?" she wondered out loud.
Alec looked at her. Jin sighed. "This is going to be awhile...watch out. If Fettel did this-"
"You know it was the girl," Tyler cut in. "This is just how my friends died." Turning to Alec he warned, "Be careful. She can blow you up with her brain..."
Jin thought that Alec would give Tyler a skeptic look, but was amazed that he looked serious and seemed to actually be taking in what Tyler said. Nodding to Tyler and Jin, he headed towards the elevators, game-face on as the doors closed.
Jin took samples and pictures, just like in Auburn. While she was doing this, a thought kept bugging her. "Tyler, do you think-"
"Yeah, he's seen her."
Jin was shocked that he knew just what she was thinking. "How?"
"When I first told you my story, I saw the doubt cross your face. With him, it seemed like a familiar theory...this girl has been bothering him too..." Tyler stated.
"Poor Alec...at least we have each other, but him...he's all alone..." said Jin sadly.
"What? So we can die together? Yippee!" said Tyler sarcastically. "It just means that he will die alone..."
"Don't say that!" Jin snapped. "Let's stay positive. Come on, I have all that we need. Let's go back to the lab."