Claire was sitting at her desk in her dorm room. Her eyes were glued to her computer screen as she typed up her report. Her mind was only half-focused on her school work. The other half was focused on the loneliness the seemed to shroud her in invisible waves. That plus the loss of Steve as it kept replaying over and over again in her brain. She couldn't go by a day without thinking about him.
Again, probably for the thousandth time, Steve's final moments appeared in her mind, cutting off her focus to her school work.
She could still remember the warmth of his skin as she touched him. Could still remember the weak yet earnest look in his eyes as he uttered his final words and meant them from the bottom of his heart just before it gave out.
"I…..I love you…Claire."
Her memories were cut off when she heard the muffled voices of a young couple chatting and laughing outside her dorm room door. She felt another burning surge of envy and grief sweep over like a tide of boiling water.
"Stop it!" She screamed at herself mentally.
She was finally jerked out of her thoughts when the phone rang beside her, startling her.
Claire curiously stared at the phone for a moment, wondering who would be calling her at this time of day. It was almost 7:00 PM. Regardless, she answered it.
"Hello?"
"Claire, it's me," The caller said.
Claire knew the voice by heart.
"Oh hey, Chris. What's going on?" Claire said, trying to sound more upbeat than she truly felt.
Chris said nothing for a few moments but Claire heard him breathe in deeply, as if he had something important to say.
"Chris, what's wrong?" Claire asked, her voice sounding concerned and yet intrigued somehow.
"Claire…I have some very important news," Chris said, his tone suddenly dead serious. "One of my contacts said he may have found a link to Wesker…..and to Steve."
In an instant, Claire's breath turned to glass in her throat. Her eyes went widened with disbelief at the mention of Steve's name, as if it had been shouted through a loudspeaker. She couldn't believe what her brother was saying to her.
"Wha…..what?" Claire said, nearly dropping the phone in shock.
"Claire. Listen to me," Chris said softly. "I know that you said you didn't want any part of the search, but I'm telling you this because I…"
Claire suddenly felt a rush of anger surge inside her like an electric generator. She could feel her heart and flesh burn but hardly noticed as she unleashed her emotion onto her brother.
"You're damn right I don't want any part of it!" Claire snapped loudly. "I've been through enough, Chris! Umbrella has interfered with my life long enough!"
"Claire calm down!" Chris said in an authoritative tone. "I understand all of that. I just want you to listen to me."
"NO!" Claire cried, nearly breaking down into tears, her heart hammering with anxiety. "You listen to me! All I wanted was to live a normal life and I don't want you dragging me into another nightmare!"
Then Claire finally set her cards down on the table for her brother to see. She didn't care what he would say, she had to tell him how she truly felt. She had to tell him what Steve meant to her.
"Even though………………I loved him."
Chris was dead silent and so was she. For a few moments, neither of them uttered a sound. Chris may have half-expected such an answer but when he heard it from the horses mouth, it actually took him by surprise.
"So that's how it was?" Chris asked softly in a surprised but understanding tone. "You fell in love with him? I though he was just.....a friend."
"Yes…" Claire said, more relaxed but unable to hold back her tears.
Chris could hear Claire sobbing softly and sighed remorsefully, cursing himself for inflicting such grief onto his own sister.
"Claire, please don't cry," Chris said. "Please, I understand how you felt for Steve and I'm sorry. But now you might have a chance to save him."
Claire sniffed and looked puzzled for a moment.
"What do you mean?" She asked in a shaky voice. "You mean…..he's still alive?"
"He may be," Chris said, deciding to tell Claire the full story. "My contact told me there have been reports of a young man with red hair wandering the desert outside Las Vegas not long ago. That plus there have been cases of missing people and reported sightings of strange monsters in the desert."
Claire listened closely to Chris' explanation, nodding slowly as he spoke.
"So…..we can find Steve…and rescue him?" Claire asked, her tone finally expressing hope.
"We don't know for sure yet," Chris said. "But there must be a chance that we can save him and wouldn't you do anything to take it? Besides, this could be a one in a lifetime opportunity to stop Wesker and end Umbrella once and for all."
Claire sighed deeply, unsure how to respond. She knew her brother had a point and he was correct, she would have given anything to see Steve one last time.
"So Claire," Chris said. "I'm going to ask you. Are you in, or are you out?"
Claire paused, knowing Chris had placed a huge decision right into her lap. A decision that could change her life forever. She weighed her options quickly but carefully.
She could either stay at school like a selfish coward where it was safe and sound while her brother and his comrades risked their lives in Nevada.
Or she could try to save the only man she ever fell in love with in her entire life and put an end to the evil plots of a lunatic and the remnants of Umbrella.
She made her choice in just a few moments.
"Yes," She said simply. "I'm in."
"All right" Chris said calmly, preparing his instructions. "Then listen carefully."
In his apartment bedroom in central Los Angeles, Leon S. Kennedy was busy packing his stuff for his trip to Nevada. Though he knew that Chris would have called him eventually with a new report, he didn't expect him to be so hasty. It had only been less than two hours since Chris' long awaited phone call and Leon was already in a hurry to prepare himself. He was actually quite excited to finally have another mission to take part in.
It had been a few months since he escaped Raccoon City with Claire Redfield. Afterwards, he managed to transfer to the LAPD to support himself, though of course he was forced to keep his secret of surviving Raccoon from them. He was lucky enough to establish contact with Chris and he was more than eager to join his team in their fight against Umbrella. Since then, life had been something of a chore: Digging up any information on Umbrella when possible. That plus he had been busy with work and excercising to ready himself for new missions.
He carefully packed his duffel bag with extra clothing and cans of non-perishable food just to be on the safe side, though he half-expected he wouldn't need it anyway. It was dark outside his window but he decided to pack his things before getting going to bed so he would be more ready to catch the morning train to Nevada and meet up with his comrades.
Barry Burton and Rebecca Chambers, both of them stationed in Colorado, had also called Leon for a quick, over the phone discussion of their meeting place in Nevada as instructed by Chris, which he carefully jotted down on a piece of paper that lay on his bedside table. True, it was surprising how quick they had decided when and where to meet but Leon knew they had to be quick to take down Wesker as soon as they found a lead.
He finished stuffing his duffel bag, zipped it shut and set it beside his bed.
"There. I'm all set."
Leon gazed at his alarm clock and saw that it was 8:30 PM. Deciding to go to bed early, he dressed into his night clothes and quickly climbed into bed. He reached over and shut off his lamp as he lay down, hoping his eagerness wouldn't keep him awake for too long.
"This is it Leon. Your first mission. Your first chance to help take down Umbrella......and avenge Ada."
Leon sighed heavily as the young, Asian woman's image entered his mind and felt his heart choke with remorse. It was not the first time either he had thought about her.
He could still remember the night they first met in the ruins of Raccoon City, how they worked together.....and how she risked her life to save his...and how it broke his heart. Her death had haunted him ever since then to no end.
Leon was, quite frankly, too ambitious and hard working to have time for dating nowadays. True, he had girlfriends and relationships in the past before discovering his dream of becoming a cop.....but Ada was something else. Not for a while had he fallen in love with someone.....but now she was gone forever.
As far as he knew, there weren't any other girls out there for him. Claire and Rebecca were quite attractive, he had to admit, but they were a bit young for him and Jill seemed happy with Chris, even though they had yet to form an actual relationship.
"Of all the rotten luck," Leon mumbled angrily to himself.
Sighing again, Leon shut his eyes and cleared his mind of any negative thoughts before he eventually drifted off to sleep, dully wondering what was in store for him and his comrades in Nevada.
Dr. Murphy was in her laboratory doing a final survey of Subject C-2. After checking his vitals one last time, she concluded he was more ready than ever and decided to go to bed, knowing Wesker would be needing her tomorrow for certain.
All around her she had the most advanced research equipment, from test tubes, to microscopes to monitors. But the most impressive of which was a super computer at the far left side of the room called the C.D.S.M (Central Data and System Module). Standing eight feet tall and weiging close to a ton, it contained all of the research records and files of the facilities BOWS, as well as maintaining most of the facilities electric and communication systems for superfast contact inside and outside. Without it, the entire facility would be little more than an unlit mine shaft with unpowered equipment.
Wesker had appointed Dr. Murphy the primary caretaker of the C.D.S.M. and warned her quite vividly not to "dissapoint" him, by which he of course meant screw up.
Trembling slightly at the thought of her boss, she pushed her glasses back to the bridge of her nose and prepared to leave the lab but not before looking back at Subject C-2 as he floated in his green gel filled biotube, unconcious and naked. She felt another surge of pity for the boy and inwardly cursed Wesker for his inhumane methods. True, she was no better for doing as he told her but only because of the given circumstances involving her loved ones.
Still, she couldn't supress her remorse for Steve Burnside and what Wesker had turned him into. But there was something she could do about it.....but knew that she couldn't.
In her spare time and under Wesker's orders, Dr. Murphy had been engineering a special type of serum for some of Wesker's most potent BOWs. The serum acted as a neurological enhancer that, when injected into a T-Virus host, improved the stability of brain cells while under the influence of the T-Virus, allowing the subject to retain his or her memory to a certain degree. The serum was difficult to make but she had enough of it for Wesker's most powerful BOW's.....but not for Subject C-2.
Wesker had already decided the serum would not be given to Subject C-2, knowing only too well his memory would hinder his performance and destroy any allegience towards Wesker himself. Plus Wesker was no idiot. He could tell Claire had feelings for the boy and vice versa. The serum would ruin everything.
But that was just it, Murphy would like nothing more than to free the poor kid from Wesker and reunite him with those he cared about. But unless she wanted her loved ones delivered to her in pieces, she could do no such thing and Wesker knew it. He even warned her subtly about it earlier. His grasp on the haplass doctor was too strong for her to rebel.
"I want to do what is right.....but I can't without sacrificing those whom I love."
Sighing again helplessly, Dr. Murphy turned away from Subject C-2's biotube and left the lab without looking back again.
Authors note- Initially I was going to have a love triangle with Claire, Steve and Leon but I have another idea in store for you guys so don't despair.