Some months earlier.
She screamed in agonizing pain. It was all she had, the only thing she could cling to, the screaming. Her entire body was on fire, every synapse and nerve ending firing at once in an explosive mind blasting pain. She couldn't run, or fight, so she screamed. It was incoherent and animalistic.
Slowly, the pain faded, and the screaming trailed off into uncontrollable weeping. She couldn't cry, only weep. She was too weak to do anything else. The agony had drained her. The tears were her only comfort. They reminded her that she was still alive, still feeling. There was hope.
"You're doing so well, Mother." The pretty blonde's face came back into view. Her cool, delicate hands stroked over Claire's forehead soothingly. "I know it hurts, but just look at you. No discoloration. No deterioration. And your mind is still fully intact. You're adaptability is more than impressive. "
"Alexia...please..."
"Shh, hush now. Save your strength." Soft lips pressed to her forehead almost reverently. "We have a little time to let you rest and catch up. We've missed out on so much over these last ten years."
The lovely teenager, with her father's eyes left Claire's field of vision for only a moment. Then with a muted sound of well oiled wheels, Alexia slid back into view. Her mouth slid into a warm, almost loving smile as she looked down at Claire. Those cool hands came up and stroked away the tears.
"Do you have any idea how special you are, Mother? In all my years, I've never once come across a DNA strand as perfect as yours. It is like you were designed by the divine for just this purpose. Such a thing can't just be chance." Alexia flicked the tail of her hair back over her shoulder, settling in to the discussion. "You know, I've never been much on religion, being a scientist and all. What use have I for make believe people in the clouds? But after having known you so intimately, it's almost enough to make one want to believe in a Higher Power. After all, coincidence just isn't enough to explain how we met, the three of us. We are, in ourselves, a rather Divine Trinity. Mother, Father, and Child."
"You're crazy..."
Alexia tsched softly, and patted Claire's hand gently, as if correcting a small child. "Of course, it seems that way. You didn't come from the same world as Father and I. You are akin to the spirit of Creation. You're focus is life and that is just so. Father is Chaos, the undeniable unfathomable force that inflicts change. And together, you both make me, Order. And I shall shape things." Alexia nodded, as if Claire had made some kind of statement. "Yes, I know neither of you are truly accepting of Order, but that is only natural. It took all these years to make Father just right. It was a challenge, because he is so very watchful. But I managed. I did cut it close here at the end, I will admit. I had to push his drive for you very hard, and of course, Uncle Chris managed to lend a hand there. Bless his interfere heart. I can hardly wait until we see him again. As a sibling his DNA won't be a very far variant of yours. So don't fret, you won't feel so alone for long."
Claire tried to shake her head but it didn't work. The straps that held her down kept her from making even the smallest of movements. Instead, she licked her dry lips and forced her abused voice to work. "What are you talking about?"
"Family, Mother. Family. Father will stop trying to kill your brother and vice versa, when you're all the same. Well, nearly the same. All of us have our very specific uniqueness. But anyway, once Uncle Chris is fully one of us, the feud will be over. There won't be a point anymore. We will have won. And even if bad blood still remains, well they can bash heads all they like until the end of time." The girl beamed down at her with such pride and happiness, like she had done something truly wonderful. "There won't be a need to choose a side anymore. I know, I know you're thinking that there was never a need to choose, but your riding to Father's rescue just proves that you haven't thought it through just yet. There would be hard choices if you ascend and your brother diminishes, it's just best to take those choices off the table. That is what Order does, Mother. It creates harmony."
"Is that what Uroboros was supposed to achieve?"
"Oh god no," Alexia waved off that idea with mild contempt. "It was pure chaos, pure Father. The problem with Uroboros was that no one had ever survived it. Jill's lovely contribution of her anti-bodies only slowed down the process. It didn't do anything more to ensure a survival rate. Unleashing it on the world would have done one thing only: sent the world back to the stone age with only three of us remaining."
"Three?" She couldn't have meant Claire. She'd still been herself when Wesker had attempted to launch the virus into the atmosphere.
"Oh, you didn't know? The Birkin girl would make number three." Alexia rolled her eyes and scoffed. "She holds the most perfect specimen of her father's precious G-virus within her cells. It's her only redeeming quality, I assure you. It's why her dear daddy sought her out so doggedly. She could have stabilized his mutation. But we see how that ended up. If genius really did run through her family you'd think that maybe he'd have thought of a better failsafe." The girl grinned widely, and patted Claire's cheek affectionately. "Like mine."
"I was just an accident. You can't take credit." Despite her sore throat, her words had her full confidence behind them. Why not after all? It wasn't like she could make her situation an worse.
"Point taken." Alexia conceded with surprising grace. "Hence why I feel the need to credit some unknown force. Only divinity has such a perfect hand. It gave me a much better perspective on things. It's why my plans evolved, while Father stayed buried in his rut. We can't blame him, of course. Change can be daunting unless it is forced upon you. Which is why I know he'll forgive me in time. He'll see things my way. Especially, when you're finished."
The girl bounced up almost giddily. She gave her hair a toss and forced a composure upon herself. "Now, we really need to get back to work. I'm sure they'll be closing in on us at some point in the near future, an I want you to be all ready to present. He'll be so surprised!"
Claire steeled herself, squeezing her eyes shut as the sharpness of the needle slid into her arm again. The fluid that was pumped into her veins was thick enough to feel as it traveled down her arm to the tip of her fingers and then up the inside of her palm, before the sensation faded.
In the calm before the storm, Alexia brushed the hair back from Claire's damp face and neck and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. It did nothing to sooth Claire as she felt the burn begin again, starting at the tips of her fingers.
The scream was all she ever had.
A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out, but I did warn you. This is going to be a slow one in coming. If you guys need any updates on writing status, don't hesitate to peek at my profile. I try to update my progress at least once a month.
But if you want me to push things out faster, reviews fuel the muse. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
Eve