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Chapter Dedication: To Emerald and Mr. Death, for setting up PM, without whom I wouldn't have so much fun on the net. Thanks guys, from everyone at PM! Thanks to Ryan for helping me so much with this chapter, ILU! And theres a little shout out to a person on DA on here, see if you can guess who…
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"This is someone who's about to make you an offer…you can't refuse."
Carlos frowns, and pulls the phone away from his ear. He glares at it as if it just threatened to blow up in his face. Slowly, he returns it to his ear, the frown deepening as he listens.
"As I'm sure you are aware, there is someone who plans on reviving a certain Bio-weapon's giant under their command -"
"Wesker." Carlos spits out the word like a cops spits out masticated donut when chasing speeding cars.
"Yes. However, the company I represent does not wish this to happen." There's a pause, and Carlos waits for her to continue. "It's come to our attention that there are now several human BOW's in existence. We believe that upon capture and dissection, we would be able to find a way to stop them once and for all."
"Dissection?"
"I presume you understand the word Mr. Oliveira? We plan to put an end to Umbrella's experiments, but we can't do that without the specimens…"
There's another pause.
"God, you're slow." the woman's voice sounds annoyed. "We want you to go to their HQ and get the specimens to us. This way, we all win."
"I'm sorry." Carlos gives a nervous chuckle. "I think I misheard you. You want us to steal live Umbrella experiments and deliver them to you? I think you're on the crazy pills."
"Oh really? Finding out what makes the BOW's tick could be the key to taking down Wesker, and we all know that's really all your group want. Take down Wesker, take down the last remnants of Umbrella."
Carlos's breath hitches in his throat. "So it's possible then? By why contact me? Why not Jill?"
"You were the only one we could be sure would see sense. The other's are too intent upon helping only themselves."
"That's not true…they want to help everyone by bringing down Umbrella."
"You believe what you want to, handsome. Now, do we have a deal or do I have to contact a different group?"
Carlos stays silent as he think s about it for a moment. Finally, he gives his answer. "I'll do it."
"Perfect. Within the next few months, you'll receive a series of envelopes. You'll be given a place to collect the envelope, and you, and only you, must collect it from the messenger there. You mustn't show the others the information until you have it all. Understood?"
"Yes."
"Good. Inside the envelopes will be several floor plans, an address, information on various aspects of the building you'll be infiltrating. Pass codes, the works. Even a fake ID if your lucky."
He can hear the laughter in her voice.
"How do I know -"
"That the messenger won't kill you? You don't."
"I was going to say how do I know you won't just take control of the BOWs."
"Do you really believe that human BOWs would listen to anyone other than themselves? The best place for them is on a morgue slab."
"I couldn't agree more." Carlos grins.
"Good. Now, this conversation never happened. You'll receive information on the first envelope in the next week. Until then Mr. Oliveira." A small laugh and then the line goes dead.
Carlos hangs up his end and slips the phone into his breast pocket, wondering what the hell he'd just got them all into, and if there was going to be another potential Umbrella because of him.
--
Jill curls into her pillow, fisting the covers, moaning weakly in her sleep. "Chris…"
The STARS office was deliciously warm, the sun coming in through the half shuttered windows, a breeze slightly disturbing the paperwork littered all over the desks. At one, Enrico muttered down a phone, ordering new uniforms apparently. Wesker was absent, unusual, but then he'd taken a few of the unruly members of both teams with him for some assault course training in the RPD's gym. Brad typed away on his computer, smiling happily for once.
At another desk, Chris was sitting on top of some of Jill's paperwork, and she didn't dare pull at it, else it would rip and she's have to start all over again. He was joking about haven eaten the cafeteria's bean casserole only an hour before, and everyone knew where the gas form that came out. Brad turned in his seat. "Hey Chris, I have some matches here if you wanna light it."
Chris burst out laughing. "That's the funniest ting I've heard you say Brad." he grinned, wiping away a fake tear. Brad just beamed at him, delightfully happy about not being called ChickenHeart or ChickenShit.
"Hey Jill, why do you always wear this thing?" Chris chuckled as he grabbed the light blue beret off Jill's head, fluffing the hair slightly in the process.
"Hey! Chris!" She shot him a glare as he slipped it onto his own messy brown locks. "Give it back!"
"But I like it!" he whined, pouting, knowing she couldn't resist ' The Pout'. "But seriously. A STARS hat? I didn't know you loved the job that much."
"I love my job Chris, but that's not why I wear it…the beret was a gift from my dad. I just had the logo put on it so I can wear it at work. It's my lucky beret." she smiled. Chris did look rather dashing with it, maybe she should add a black marker curling moustache to him for the full effect.
"That's…that real sweet Jill." Chris smiled, eyes twinkling. His smile had a hint of sadness to it as he reached into his shirt's breast pocket and pulled out a heavy gold lighter. "This was my dad's…pretty much all I have left of my parents. Claire has this necklace that was mom's."
"Speaking of this sister, you said she was going to be paying a visit, when is that? I'm the only person in the office who hasn't met her yet." Jill frowned.
"Oh, soon. Think she said this week or something."
Suddenly, the door burst open and standing at the entrance way to the office was a hulking grey beast, its massive herniated heart protruding from its chest, the clawed hand raised and ready to swipe at her-
"Jill, NO!" Suddenly, she was sent flying, hitting the side of a wall, as the dream changed from the office she knew and loved to the hated heliport of the Spencer Mansion. She turned her face back to see the Tyrant - and Chris, impaled upon the deformed hand, blood spilling form his mouth, pouring from the wound, covering the spiked appendage and the heliport platform.
"CHRIS!" she screamed, scrambling to her feet, reaching for her gun.
"Jill…" he gasped, blood leaking from his mouth with every word. "Run…"
Suddenly she was running through the Raccoon forest, no memory of how she got there, only the image of Chris being impaled replayed in her mind over and over again.
She could hear the Tyrant thundering along behind her, gaining on her, its feet pounding at the damp soil, kicking up the rotting leaves, and at it's heels, the hound monsters, the Cerberus dogs, the guards of hell, intent of feasting on whatever the Tyrant left behind.
She came to a sudden stop when she runs into solid muscle. Her first thought was that the Tyrant had somehow cut across her path, but when she lifted her eyes to meet her doom head on, she found her eyes locked onto a pair of black sunglasses. Before she could identify the wearer, they had moved, picking her up, setting her down at the side, and taking on the mutant dogs and Tyrant in hand to hand combat. With in seconds, the dogs were dead and the Tyrant lying in shredded pieces on the floor of the forest, left to rot with the browning leaves.
Her hero turned to face her, and she gasped, heart swelling with relief and joy and other delightful emotions. It was Chris! He was alive! He opened his arms wide and she fell into them, beaming, laughing with joy. She tilted her face up to his and lifted a hand to remove the glasses, but it was caught before they could.
"Jill…" he stopped, then let go of her hand. She touched the glasses, then removed them. They hit the floor with a muffled sound, as Jill stepped back, out of the embrace, hands going up to her mouth in horror an disbelief.
"No…"
His left pupil was a black slit in an explosion of red and gold, while his right was a calming combination of silver and green.
"Chris…no…"
He reached for her. "Jill please…"
Her back hit against something, and she spun around. It was Chris, he'd moved so fast she hadn't had time to see -
"What's wrong, Jilly?" he hissed, stepping forwards, his voice changing, the green and silver eye changing to match the other, his brown hair lightening to a light blonde- "Something wrong?"
"Wesker!" she gasped and stumbled backwards, terrified as her ex-Captain laughed, stalking towards her as a tiger would it's fallen prey. She cried out for someone, anyone, someone to save her, but it was too late, too late as the blow came, heading straight for her-
Jill jumps, awake and alive. She stares at the concerned face beside hers, a hand gently touching her face. It's Carlos.
"Hey, you okay chica?" he asks softly, "You called out my name, then you screamed so quietly, it was…unnatural. Nightmare?"
She nods slowly. I called for Carlos? Is it really so surprising? He's always there for me…
"Want to talk about it?"
"Sure…It started out nice…me and Chris in the STARS office back in Raccoon…" Jill tells him of the dream, pausing occasionally, most hesitantly where Chris had become Wesker. It had been one thing that Chris had feared above all else, so why had she dreamed it? She questions Carlos about Wesker.
"Wait…Chris's eyes…why would you dream up something like that? And the sunglasses?" he shudders. "Maybe you just had something bad to eat?"
"I dunno Carlos…this whole thing has me worried. What if Wesker's planning something? Without Chris, we might just fall apart, and then we're just easy pickings…"
Carlos pulls Jill into a comforting embrace, partly to comfort her, partly to hide his pained expression. "Don't worry about it. He won't lay a finger on you so long as I'm around, I promise."