Ryan Redfield could barely hear himself think as he began sprinting down the hallway. The alarm began to blast out alerting anything that was still moving that he and his brother were still alive. Quickly he threw a glance over in his brother's direction; he had been doing this job for a long time now but whenever he and Chris were out in the field together he always found himself subconsciously looking towards his brother for guidance and even after all these years he still couldn't help but be in awe.

His muscles were tense and aching so much that he wasn't sure how much longer they could support him, as if his entire body might just collapse at any moment but he knew that wasn't an option. This is why they were here, for months they had searched exhausting every single contact that the BSAA had in order to track him down. Command had insisted that they take in a team but they had voted against it, he had taken something very precious to them and they knew what had to be done, they weren't there to interrogate him or find out what he knew, one way or another it was all going to end tonight.

Suddenly his concentration broke as the song of the infected began echoing throughout the cavernous metallic hallway.

"Shit. It looks as though they've began to filter through from the main complex"

"Just keep going we're running out of time, he must have unlocked the facility to slow us down"

The door at the end of the hallway was the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, if what they had learned about this place so far was true than what they were looking for should be straight ahead, once they were in they could shut the door behind them and the howling horde of Las-Plagas would be of little consequence. Ryan felt his heart jump into his throat as he could hear the mechanical shutters for the door in front engage, little by little it began inching it's way towards the ground; once again the two brothers threw each other a look and without speaking a word threw their bodies towards the door managing to slide under with mere inches to spare.

"Well at least that's one less problem we have to deal with"

"Yeah for now anyway"

Ryan knew that Chris's scepticism was well deserved given the situation. Hell he himself had been in enough of these situations to know that when things became quiet was when you should worry. If you can hear or see something you can shoot it but he'd learned a long time ago that there was truly no defence for the unknown.

Chris quickly changed his attention towards the high tech monitoring station that was set up just feet from them. On the other end of the room Ryan began to search for any information that might light to an evacuation out of this hell hole; under normal circumstances an evac would have been one of the first things that the pair would have conjured up but their rash decision to disobey command and pursue their quarry had left the little time for that.

Ryan began to flick and press some of the switches that were located near what seemed to be a communications array.

"Some of the machinery over here is still warm, I think we can still get a message out from here, some of it is a little banged up but it seems to be in working order".

"Alright then Ryan, you stay here and see if you can initiate contact with the BSAA, tell them to send a sterilisation crew and whatever spare men we have over to these co-ordinates ASAP, I'm going to go and scout out ahead".

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me Ryan!"

His brothers words were stern and Ryan knew full well why. The last time they found themselves in this situation they had lost one of their own and in recent weeks Chris had made it quite clear that he had no intentions of repeating that mistake.

"What so you can go on and face him alone? You know that you're not strong enough".

"I'll think of something".

Chris averted his eyes away from those of his brothers because he knew exactly what had to be done. This wasn't a mission that he had ever intended on walking away from, he was going to end this nightmare once and for all no matter what he had to do and he wasn't willing to ask his brother to make the same sacrifice.

"That's bull and you know it".

"DAMN IT RYAN I'M STILL YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER, THIS IS NOT A REQUEST AND I'M NOT DEBATING IT WITH YOU; THIS IS MY FIGHT"

There it was, with those four simple words Ryan realised exactly what his brother had planned. Not willing to stick around and continue the heated discussion Chris promptly turned his back on his younger brother and began making his way towards the small elevator shaft that would lead down to the landing strip. His mind was made up and nothing was going to change it, or so he thought…

"I cared about her to you know"

Those words stopped Chris dead in his tracks.

"I'm not going to stand here and give you some half baked speech about how I know what you're going through or how you just have to give it time because I know that's not how you feel but this isn't what she'd want and you know it".

Chris began to clench his fists, since they had touched down he had kept himself busy refusing to allow himself to think about the true reason that he was here. He had always been a man that had believed in justice and the iron-willed constitution of the law but he didn't care about any of that anymore now without her. This wasn't about carrying out a mission or retrieving information, hell it wasn't even about saving the world he wanted revenge plain and simple.

"So that's it huh? She dies and you give up on everything else that matters? Everyone else that cares about you?"

"Ryan…."

"What about Claire? Have you even thought about her? Do realise how devastated she'll be if you do what we both know you're planning on doing down there".

"Ryan…I…"

"One person you care about dies and the other people in your life that care about you, that need you, become meaningless. I wonder what Jill would say about that?"

"SHUT UP!"

In a fit of anger Chris Redfield lashed out, not even truly aware of whom it was he was striking. Since it had happened he had tried so damn hard to push these feelings out of his mind, it was the only way he could continue to function and do what needed to be done. Then as he stood there, looking at his brother trying to pick himself up off of the floor he was overcome with guilt. As he collapsed to his knees Ryan wiped the blood from his nose and walked over towards his brother. It was an unseen sight to see his brother before him in this fashion but Ryan knew that no words needed to be spoken. In a gesture of faith and friendship he reached out his hand to his brother. As Chris lifted his head from the ground that he had been staring at so intensely it was a gesture he welcomed. Ryan pulled Chris to his feet and said no words to each other, Chris nodded towards Ryan acknowledging, in his own way, that Ryan had been right and that they would do this together.

With that the two mounted the lift and readied themselves for whatever it was that waited for them below. With any luck things would go smoothly and in ten minutes this would all be over but they both knew there was very little chance of that. As the lift began it's steady descent into the unknown Chris looked towards his younger brother, Claire had always been in the compassionate one in the family as for Chris and Ryan they were soldiers and exchange of emotion had never come easy to either of them. Still knowing what might very well happen within the next few minutes Chris desperately wanted his little brother to know how proud of him he was for making it through the things that he had and for being willing to stand beside him till the end.

"Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a real pain in the ass you know that?"

"Yeah Chris, I know"

Ryan couldn't help but smile, he knew that his brother was trying to reach out to him and that was fine, he had never been the hugging type.

As the lift disengaged from it's long trip down the walk towards the large blast doors in front of the two men seemed to take an eternity. They took position at a side of the door each and Chris began to gesture.

"1...2...3"

With that Ryan disengaged the locking mechanism that held the massive doors in place. Slowly they began to open revealing behind them what was a massive air craft hangar. The two men had little time to take the sight in however as standing directly in front with his back turned towards them defiantly was the man whom they had fought so hard to find, Albert Wesker.

"You're persistence is becoming quite the inconvenience"

"CAN IT WESKER! THERE'S TWO OF US AND ONE OF YOU IT'S OVER"

The fact that they two men who had been known to possess deadly accuracy with firearms had their weapons so intently trained on Albert Wesker seemed to do little to derail his confidence.

"Why yes, it does appear that I'm outnumbered, but then again it didn't work the last time and there were three of you then".

Those words said with such callous and arrogance were more than Chris could bare he was going to end this now. Both men simultaneously began firing towards Albert Wesker only to be left speechless as he began to weave effortlessly in and out of the oncoming projectiles. Ryan Redfield looked on as Wesker stood unscathed lifting the palm of his hand into the air and opening it to reveal the bullets that he had caught with such ease.

"Is that the best you can do?"

The Redfield brothers didn't answer instead Ryan reached to his back, clutching for a combat knife that his brother had presented to him on his first day with the BSAA and hurtled it towards Wesker. In the blink of an eye Wesker twisted his body once again catching the oncoming object in his grasp and sending it flying back towards it's owner. Acting quickly Ryan lifted up his hand stopping the knife from piercing through is chest but having it through is hand in the meantime.

His brother on the floor Chris made his move towards his long time nemesis. Unflinching, Wesker grabbed the hand of his opponent.

"Don't you ever get tired of this Chris?"

Chris didn't know what he had just said, nor did he care. He began to throw blow after blow towards Wesker and was left standing still as his blows were blocked with minimum effort each time. His attempt at offensive was equally insulting as with one mighty strike of his palm to the chest of Chris Redfield he was sent hurtling backwards and crashing into the iron wall.

As Wesker would begin to triumphantly (and slowly) make his way towards his breathless adversary Ryan Redfield would quickly re-enter the fray. Attempting to take the ground away from Wesker Ryan would come in with a flawless sweep and follow it up with a succession of roundhouse kicks each more futile than the last. Chris began to raise his head from the ground and watch as his brother valiantly fought against an enemy that seemed to possess endless reflexes and skills but he knew this brief offensive wouldn't last. He began to reach into a pouch that contained some of his smaller weaponry and waited for his moment. As Ryan fought on Wesker seemed to become bored with theatrics for every moment that passed opting to lunge directly for the throat of the youngster and lifting him off of the ground slowly driving the air from his lungs. There it was. Chris Redfield leapt into action removing the pin from the flash grenade he had grabbed just mere moments before, seeing this Ryan closed his eyes tight and was partially shielded from the oncoming explosion of light. Wesker dropped Ryan and began to swing wildly as it became abundantly clear that his eyes were certainly not as invincible as the rest of him seemed to be. The two brothers looked towards each other, both of them knowing what the other was going to do and the threw themselves towards their blinded foe all three of them going over the support rail and crashing with a monstrous thud onto the floor some 12 feet below.

As Ryan struggled to regain his footing from the long fall Chris knew that this was there moment, he threw himself towards Wesker and began beating on him with blow after blow. Each one containing every ounce of strength that he could muster. In that moment, all the hatred and anger that Chris Redfield had for so long carried on his shoulders began to pour out. Wesker, still blinded from the grenade was noticeably unsteady. Chris continuing on the offensive grabbed a nearby pipe and began to swing it towards Wesker's head. The strike of the pole ran through the almost empty hangar like a clap of thunder and the trademarked shades of Albert Wesker that had times had seemed to be permanently mounted on his face were sent flying off. As Wesker looked up from the ground a small trickle of blood began to fall from his forehead. At that moment his eyes locked with those of Chris, Chris put every last drop of energy he had into one last mighty swing; which was easily caught by the weakened villain. Slowly Wesker with the pipe still in his clutches began to make his way back to his feet as Chris struggled to wrestle it from his grasp, it became clear that Wesker could stomach no more has he used his incredible strength to send Chris hurtling through the air and to the other side of the hangar. With that one shot Chris felt like every bone in his body had been broken, how could one man be so strong?

His vision began to blur and he felt as though he would pass out, he only closed his eyes for a second but it was enough, in that instant Albert Wesker stood right before him his gun trained keenly on his forehead.

"You don't seem to understand Chris, my victory is assured and you my friend are little more to me that a loose end that's about to be tied up"

"HEY WESKER"

Wesker's premature gloat was interrupted as he turned to find Ryan Redfield sitting in the cockpit of one of the fighter jets that occupied the massive hanger and he knew what was next. A small grin made it's way onto Ryan's face as his 'trigger finger' began to lightly squeeze on the handle that would operate the jets weaponry and saw Albert Wesker in half.

"SUCK ON THIS!!!"

The fighter jet began to send bullets flying towards Albert Wesker and curiously missed him with tremendous ease. Perhaps Ryan Redfield was not as good a shot as he had presumed? Wrong. His attention was drawn to the creaking of the hangar roof that had been weakened by the plane's shots, but that would be the least of Wesker's problems as he turned to be swiftly greeted from an iron fist of Chris Redfield who swiftly dove out the way of the oncoming steel debris. Ryan triumphantly made his way out of the plane and towards his weary brother.

"Thank god you were aiming at the roof, I thought you were just a lousy shot"

"Everyone's a critic, I would've let you take it but you looked as though you were a little busy"

"Yeah stopping him from kicking you all over this place".

The two brother's shared a brief chuckle with one another before turning their attention towards the heap of metal that lay before them.

"What now?"

"Well the Comm room up top is still working we'll contact the BSAA and feed them our co-ordinates hopefully they can bring in a containment unit to put this freak in"

"So…"

"I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it but it's not what she would have wanted let's just leave it at that"

The two leaned on each other briefly one holding the other up more than either would admit as they began to make their way towards the stair well when their attention was caught with a horrifying sound

"DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT WOULD GET THE JOB DONE CHRIS, HOW DISAPPOINTING"

"No way…"

"It can't be"

"YOU TWO HAVE BEEN A THORN IN MY SIDE FOR LONG ENOUGH, ONCE YOUR GONE THE BSAA WILL BE LEFT CLUELESS AS TO MY OPERATION AND WHO WILL SAVE THE WORLD ONCE CHRIS AND RYAN REDFIELD ARE GONE?"

The two began to reach once again for their firearms but it wasn't nearly quick enough as Wesker seemed to be everywhere at once. Each time he hit Ryan he swore it was the hardest he had ever been hit in his life but it was nothing compared to the beating that he seemed intent on giving to Chris. Ryan tried with all his might to make his way to his feet but his body was broken and wouldn't work for him anymore

"WESKER…STOP!"

At that moment with the bloody body of Chris Redfield in his grasp Albert Wesker turned straight to Ryan and looked him dead in the eyes.

"What's the matter Ryan? How did you think this would end?"

SNAP!!! The sound of Chris's neck breaking in Wesker's hand rung through Ryan's head.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Ryan looked around, he could hear the faint sound of traffic outside. He turned his attention to the alarm clock on the table next to him, it read 0230. He sat forward, clutching his head in his hands, the sweat dripping from his forehead onto the sofa he had been sleeping on since Jill had moved into the apartment. This was the forth night in a row since Chris's funeral that he had been awakened by the same dream. He got up and slowly made his way to the bathroom.

As he looked into the mirror his face began to blur and distort until all that remained was the form of Albert Wesker staring right back at him. He felt a hand fall on his shoulder.

"Ryan are you okay?"

Ryan turned to see the concerned face of his sister standing before him. He wasn't entirely sure why but looking at her made him what to cry, made him want to break down and bare his soul but he knew that was no longer an option.

"Yeah Claire…I'm fine".

"Were you having another bad dream, you haven't slept for days"

"No it was nothing".

He brushed his sisters hand away from his shoulder brusquely and began to make his way towards the bathroom door. As she looked at him to tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Ryan will you just stop for one second and talk to me?"

"There's nothing to talk about Claire"

"Don't lie to me Ryan you've barely spoken to me since the funeral, look I know how you feel okay? I feel it to but you can't do this on your own, you have to let it out…please"

His sisters pleading words were began to cut through his head. He could see the tears in her eyes and he knew that he was the cause. But he couldn't tell her, she would never understand. He had been Chris's partner and he wasn't by his side when he needed him the most. He should have gone to Africa with him, he could have helped but he didn't and his eyes that made him guilty. It was his fault his brother was dead.

"LOOK CLAIRE I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT. NOT TO YOU, NOT TO ANYBODY NOT NOW NOT EVER NOW BACK OFF AND GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME".

He turned his back, those words were so cold and callous and he had directed them towards someone he cared so much for and who cared for him and he didn't want to stick around to find out what would happen. He walked towards the door, quickly exiting and slamming it shut behind him.

At that point Claire broke down, making her way towards an old photo with her, Chris and Ryan in it. The tears fell from her eyes onto the picture as she crumbled to the ground and cradled it in her arms.