Rebecca looked over the notes that Chris and Jill had managed to salvage from their latest visit to the lab in Paris. She was thankful that the notes were still in tact for the most part, and even though the Anti-Umbrella leaders weren't familiar with scientific terminology, they had recovered very interesting records. Her large brown eyes scanned over the crumpled up papers she displayed over the coffee table. She reached for her backpack and pulled out a large 3 inch binder full of her research on the T and G viruses.
She heard the others entering the kitchen. The scraping of plates and forks told her that they were hungry for the eggs and sausages she had made earlier. "Anything?" Chris asked, taking a seat behind her.
Rebecca raised her arms and stretched. Sitting on the carpet was taking a toll on her back, but everything she had taken in so far was well worth her trip. "I've come across some interesting points about this new virus that Wesker had developed. You see this here?" she passed a paper to Chris. On it were simple drawing of cells from the POV of a microscope. Different shaded cells were labeled, and many of the cells were in the midst of joining into one.
"Pretty drawing, but I don't know what it means," Chris said.
"Looks like they're getting along just fine," Leon commented, drinking freshly brewed coffee.
Rebecca snapped her fingers in approval. "Exactly. In many cases, the cells infected with the virus tended to multiply, and it was because of their inability to coexist that there have been results like the reanimation of inanimate beings."
Jill took the paper from Chris' fingers. "So what you're saying is that the virus is actually doing what it's supposed to do?"
Rebecca nodded her head, and opened her binder to a specific page and lifted it so that everyone could see. "It wasn't really until the end of my little field trip that adventure was worth much." She showed them graphs and charts displaying a variety of tests and control groups. "I managed to steal some data from key executives that couldn't be directly tied to Umbrella, but it looks like they were investigating a new strand of the G-virus. However, the samples were stolen from them. Now that Wesker has resurfaced, I'm willing to bet that he is the one to have taken them."
"Or a subordinate of his..." Leon said darkly. "Can you give us anything on Claire?"
Rebecca flipped over to another page. "Don't freak out, but the virus is likely taken over her entire body," she hurried on when she saw Chris biting his lip, "but the good news is that this strand of the virus that has likely invaded Claire's blood is..."
"Well?" Chris persisted.
She pulled the binder back and traced her fingers over the picture of the DNA strand that represented the virus. In a way, it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. "Well, you see, it's perfect. It is capable of enhancing the limitations of the human body and then some. And on top of that it does not promote the said "zombie" effect in its subjects."
Rebecca could visibly see the relief on Chris' face, and she wished that she had returned earlier to deliver the news. She had no idea that so much had happened since her departure a couple months ago. Jill gave her an encouraging pat on the back. "Nice job, Becca," Jill smiled. "How'd you get all this info? I don't doubt your abilities, but I'm sure this stuff was hard to come by."
"I had some unexpected help," Rebecca said in a cheerful tone. She could feel her smiler grow large when her cell phone began to vibrate. She answered it, and put it on speaker phone. "Hey! I want you to meet my group. Why don't you introduce yourself before you get here."
The voice on the other end had a bit of static, but was otherwise clear. "Nice to meet the famed Anti-Umbrella group Rebecca has spoke so highly of," said a light masculine voice.
"And who might you be?" Chris asked curiously.
"Billy Coen reporting for duty, sir."
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Apparently, another perk to her condition was the ability to hold her breath for a period of time that extended six minutes. Claire saw the air bubbles floating to the top of the water surface in her bathtub, and she cursed herself. Drowning herself would take forever. She sat up, and wiped the water from her face and squeezed excess water out of her hair. There wasn't any steam on the mirrors of the bathroom, so the water must have run cold. She couldn't even tell; her body wouldn't register temperature anymore.
She stood and walked across the bathroom floor, dripping wet, not bothering to towel dry herself. On top of the nightmares she experienced at night, she now had to deal with the guilt of letting her friend die in the most horrible way possible. She put on a white robe that Wesker had provided for her, and exited the bathroom. She was beyond pissed off.
He had lost any hold her had on her now that Becca and Billy were gone, so there was no point in staying. She had thought about running away in the forest shortly after her breakdown had ceased, but she wasn't going to run like a coward. No, she was going to tell him exactly how she felt and if she died in the process, then maybe Becca would forgive her in the afterlife.
Claire found him in a large dining hall on the second floor of the mansion. He was reading something, sitting comfortably in one of the end chairs. A stack of folders and binders surrounded him, keeping his attention averted from her. She grabbed the spine of the book and ripped it from his hands. "How dare you!" she hissed, slamming her hand on the table. "You gave me absolutely no chance to save them! I did everything you asked, and for what?" Claire felt the anger returning. Her blood literally felt hot, and her heart began to beat faster.
Wesker took off his sunglasses and stared at her. "And how does that make you feel, dear heart?" he asked her. He was so damn calm about the whole thing that she was on the brink of losing control. One more push, and she was going to snap. "How did it make you feel that regardless of your new abilities that you couldn't save the lives that meant so much to you?"
"Don't you mock me," Claire said, narrowing her eyes at him. She backed up a step when he stood, challenging her presence. This was the only opportunity she had to stand against him, and she wasn't going down without a fight.
"Who did you kill first? The ex-lieutenant? Or did you find it obligatory to murder your friend first to put her out of her misery?"
Claire couldn't take it anymore. She spit on Wesker. "Go to hell!"
In a fraction of a second, Claire could feel the impact of his fist against her cheek. The force of the attack, pushed her back into a wall. She brought her hand up to face, feeling the burning sensation of pain on her cheek. She had been cut, stabbed, shot at, and broken several bones, but no one had ever hit her in such a way. That was all she needed. In two steps, she reached Wesker and returned the gesture, feeling her fist collide with his jaw. He had backed away a couple of steps, but she wouldn't give him the time to recover. She picked up a chair and swung it at his head, but he ducked and kicked her legs from underneath her.
She fell on her back, now seeing nothing but the bare white ceiling. Dear God, the man was fast; she didn't even see him. When she blinked, she saw Wesker's knee coming straight for her face, and she rolled out of the way. She heard the floor break under the powerful blow, and she was thanking God that her reflexes were kicking in. She was now under the table, and much to her joy, she found a Magnum strapped directly above her. Claire ripped it from its holster, and aimed at Wesker's feet. She fired off one round. "Dammit!" she spat when his feet were no longer there. She heard him running on top of the table, and her instincts told her to haul ass.
Rolling once more, she quickly got to her knees and dove out of the way. The table was then smashed to pieces, papers and folders went flying in every direction. She turned and aimed once more, firing off two more shots. The recoil of the Magnum was hardly a consequence for her; it felt like she was shooting a toy gun. Wesker dodged both bullets and came charging at her. He dodged a third bullet before he grabbed her by the neck and forced her into a wall.
Claire's feet were dangling as Wesker hoisted her higher, tightening his grip on her throat. How reminiscent. This was exactly how she remembered the STARS captain. But things were different now. She pressed her feet against the wall and used it as leverage to knee him in his solar plex. He grunted in discomfort, losing his grasp on her. She used the wall for balance and delivered a swift roundhouse to his head, knocking him aside. She was happy to see his body make an indentation in the wall, but her small victory was very short lived. Wesker came back with such force, Claire had no idea what hit her. It was only from her body's reaction that she felt she was struck in her torso. The punch Wesker had landed caused her to feel a sharp pain, and she was thrown backwards. She landed on the wooden debris, unable to gain any balance to push herself up.
Seconds later, Wesker was on top of her, grabbing her wrists, and pinning down her legs with his weight. She thrashed around like a wild animal, trying everything she could think of to throw him off of her, but she failed. His grip was strong, and while she had drained all of her energy, he had hardly broken a sweat. "Most impressive, dear heart," Wesker said in approval. When she stilled, her golden eyes met his fiery red gaze.
Now aware of her position, she felt a blush rise up on her cheeks. She was completely at his mercy, and she wasn't even fighting back anymore. She did what she could, and it hardly made a difference. It was sickening really. But there was something about the whole fight that kept nagging at her. Something in his maneuvers made her doubt that he was trying to kill her. She had a feeling that he could have unleashed more power if he wanted, and she wouldn't be able to walk for a few weeks. Her breathing began to slow and she could feel his breath on her lips. The bastard was breathing normal, and here she was trying her best to regain her depleted energy.
In her late twenties, and she never experienced real life. Before she could even go on a proper date, Raccoon City called and ripped away any means of a normal life she could ever have. It pained her that never could grow up like a normal woman. Deep down in her heart, she envied all of her friends who had married young or eloped for the sake of experiencing the thrills of life. Back then, she would have told them that was the craziest thing they could do, but now she wished she could switch lives with them.
She was an amateur when it came to things like dating and romance, but put a gun in her hand and she was deadly. Not a very even trade off. Her heart fluttered at times when she saw Leon, but she never knew how to handle it. Most girls would probably go off and tell their friends about their new crush, but her outlet was going to the shooting range and taking out a few targets. Just once she wanted to know what it was like. If she ever found something that could grant wishes, all she would ask her for was someone she could give herself freely to. Someone who would accept her for all that was. Every happy ending she could fantasize about was now thrown away before she even had a chance to fully grasp the concept. Her heart felt heavy again, and she was saddened.
Wesker still loomed over her, and he made no move to further harm her, but he wasn't rushing to push himself off of her either. He was so close to her; she could feel his eyes traveling over her face. There was something else that she felt in the back of her mind. There was some type of connection, but every time she reached for it, the connection faded. It was that feeling that kept her from fully hating the man above her. She couldn't place her finger on the feeling, but her heart would always pull her back when she was the verge of hating him.
Her rage had left her, and now she was only a woman who yearned the touch of another, enemy or not. She was out of her mind for asking this, but she wanted to know what it felt like at least once before she died. "Before you kill me," Claire said in a hushed whisper. "I know it means nothing to you, but I..."
"Say no more, dear heart," Wesker said as if he read her mind, he closed his eyes and lowered his lips to hers. It was a very soft kiss; it held no menace, no fury, yet no love either. She knew Leon's kiss would feel different against her lips; it just had to, but that would never happen now. She never thought she'd ever be grateful to Wesker for anything, but this one little gesture meant more to her than she would ever admit. Not wanting to ever forget what a first kiss felt like, she kissed him back, letting her eyes drift close, imagining that there was no virus, no Umbrella, no underground war. There was just two people sharing an intimate moment.
He broke the kiss and began trailing soft nips down her neck, forcing her to look to the side. She couldn't feel cold or hot, but for some reason she could feel everything he offered her. Her eyes rested on an enlarged photo of Becca and Billy strapped to medical tables. It was slightly different than the photo Wesker had showed her days before. This one was more detailed, more clear. She blinked in surprise when she saw the woman's face she believed to be Rebecca. 'What the...' she thought. Her eyes darted over to the man. Rebecca had said that there was a defining feature on Bill's arm. A large tattoo that couldn't go unnoticed unless he was wearing a long sleeve shirt. The man on the table had no tattoo on either arm, and the woman was clearly not Rebecca Chambers.
She felt Wesker pull away after he had nipped her neck several times. He stood to his feet, and offered her his hand. Claire was too shocked to even move. "As much as I am enjoying the view, Miss Redfield, I do believe I should let you know that you passed the third test."
Claire looked down at her body, now aware that the robe was barely covering her from his eyes. She sat up sharply, and retied the robe, ignoring his hand to help her. Her hands fell limply at her sides. "That wasn't Becca..." she said as a statement.
Wesker picked up the photos of the laboratory, and shook the dust off of them. "No, that was not Miss Chambers."
A large burden was suddenly lifted from her. "But why? Why go through all that trouble to make me believe she had died? Or that you even had her to begin with?" Claire asked, still staring at the spot where the photo had been. A new wave of emotion flooded her being. She didn't know if she should try to kill Wesker for tricking her in such a cruel manner or if she should celebrate knowing that Becca was still alive.
"If you have not noticed by now, Miss Redfield, the benefits of the virus are only activated when you are emotional. Despite what you think or feel, you do not possess enough hate for me to trigger the effects of the virus in your body. I did what I had to, for research's sake," Wesker explained.
Everything was a lie. He really didn't have Becca or Billy; she didn't really kill Becca with her own hands. "You said I passed the third test..." Claire said still surprised with the turn of events.
"Ah, yes," Wesker said. "The third test was me."
She finally looked at him. "Come again?"
"I needed to see how you would fare against the virus flowing through my veins, and you have not disappointed."
That manipulative son of a bitch. She was torn between wanting to wring his neck and the desire to call Becca. The latter won. Rebecca's not dead! The thought kept repeating itself over and over in her head. Her guilt had washed away just like that, and she couldn't suppress the happiness she felt. If she ever got out of here, she could see that sweet innocent face again. She could have popcorn nights, and have Becca teach her about biology again. First thing she'd do if she ever saw Becca again was give the young prodigy a massive bear hug. Claire wrapped her arms around herself, hugging her mid-section. Another day and another surprising twist, courtesy of Albert Wesker. If she didn't keep her emotions in check, she would have another breakdown, but this one would be much happier. "Becca..." she said, closing her eyes, feeling a tear slide down her face.
"Miss Redfield..." Wesker said, but Claire cut him off with a powerful kiss.
There was no logic behind the gesture other than that she was so happy he didn't truly have Becca, but he wouldn't get away without consequence. The moment she pulled away, she punched him in the jaw, this time knocking him back a few more steps than last time. "That's for being an asshole," Claire said before leaving the dining room.