Author's Note: Yups, early updates, lucky you guys! xD There's a reason behind this, and that reason is a three-day long trip. Tomorrow I'm leaving really early for Madrid and, unless I can use my dad's laptop to write a bit or to actually be on MSN (for those who have me on MSN), I won't be able to get in contact with you. And although I'm not replying to reviews (I will, trust me), I have to thank everyone for the support. 31 reviews in just 5 chapters? My God, that's unexpected and really appreciated. Now, enjoy this one! We are nearing the moment you are all waiting for!

Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs

VI

Reason II: Resent

'Everyone is more or less mad on one point.' Rudyard Kipling.

July 24th, 2009

Granada, Spain

Jill Valentine had never felt such resent towards someone, not even towards Wesker. Nah, that was an exaggeration but still, that hate and loathing Jill felt towards Vasily Ivanov was on par with the one towards Wesker. She had sworn to herself that she would find Ivanov and kill him, and she'd be the happiest person on the planet. She would do whatever it took to put a bullet through Ivanov's brow; she'd do it, no matter the cost.

Jill's mind thought back a few days ago, exactly three. In those three days she'd done the impossible: friend after friend, she'd told them of Chris' death: Barry, Rebecca, Leon, Carlos...

Claire.

Telling Claire had been the worst part of the whole thing. By the tone of Claire's voice when she had picked up the phone, Jill could've told that she was having a fun day with Leon and, even though she didn't want to ruin the fun, Jill had to pluck out courage not to tell her, but to be able to stand Claire's reaction and avoid her own tears.

XX

It was time to deliver the news to Claire.

At first, Jill had hesitated. Her modesty got a bit in the way, but there was no point in delaying the inevitable: sooner or later, she'd have to tell her. There was nothing she could do to avoid spilling the beans. With resolve, she held up the phone, dialled Claire's number and waited for her to pick up the call. Seconds after, a familiar voice came through.

"Claire Redfield speaking!"

Jill would've liked to smile and chuckle at the mirth in Claire's voice -even wonder what she had been up to, but she was unable to this time. Now, it was all about impassiveness and strength, all which Jill had lacked and currently possessed. She was able to open her mouth to speak, even though her lips wouldn't part, and rely the terrible news to the young Redfield.

"Claire, it's Jill," she said. "Listen, I have bad news." Jill could imagine Claire frowning on the other side of the line and she took her silence as a 'go on'. And so she did.

"Chris is dead."

She heard Claire draw a sharp breath in despair and horror and when she spoke, her voice was quivering. "Don't you-"

"Lie to you, Claire?" Jill interrupted, her tone harsh, "I've been trying to tell myself that these last days and I can tell you that it's not a lie. He's dead. I tried to save him but I couldn't, I couldn't bring him back to you."

"He... no..." Claire couldn't bring herself to speak and Jill closed her eyes, relieved that no lump had formed in her own throat. Between sobs that would've normally broken Jill's heart, Claire asked, "How... how did it happen?"

Jill heaved out a sigh. "Think back a few years in Raccoon City and you'll see the similarities. We were betrayed again, Claire, just like Wesker betrayed us. The doctors that treated your brother told Graves and me that he'd been injected with something but they couldn't identify it, something that was keeping his body alive."

"But... he wasn't conscious... was he?" Claire was clearly struggling to speak without faltering, but Jill wasn't affected by that. She'd sworn to herself that she wouldn't cry again; she would have time after she obtained her revenge.

"No, he wasn't. I'm sorry but he's as good as dead; at least, Chris is to me. I'm sorry, Claire, I really am." When Jill finished talking, Claire burst into silent tears, and Jill only listened to her crying, unmoving and not at all fazed.

"Claire?" Jill called then, her voice hard and blunt.

"What?" the Redfield sobbed, her tone harsh. Jill clenched her fist so hard that her knuckles went white. Even though Claire's tears hadn't brought more of them to Jill's eyes, she was mourning Chris as much as his sister was.

"I swear that Chris will have not died for nothing. I'm going to catch the bastard that betrayed us... and so help me, I will kill him. I'll call you again in two days. I promise the call will be pleasant."

With no farewell to bid, both women hung up. Jill stared at the phone, her mind on Claire. She didn't deserve to lose what little family she had, his friends didn't deserve to lose such a precious person, nobody deserved what had happened. She tried to understand Claire's pain but she had felt her share. Jill Valentine had made her decision.

Revenge is a dish best served cold and now, she was going to get it.

There was only silence, with tension hanging in it. Jill had been waiting for what it seemed hours outside the room where her superior, Graves, had entered a few minutes ago. Had it really been minutes though? Jill couldn't tell; she had lost track of time since the moment the silence had reigned in the hall. Suddenly, as if she'd just begged for it, Graves opened the door and stepped out.

"We know where he is, Valentine," he said, his deep voice snapping Jill out of her thoughts. Despite that, she knew very well what he'd just said: they knew where Ivanov was. She glanced up at him, only to be welcomed by his intense eyes and his sombre expression.

"Where?"

"He's in..."

XX

Spain. Right where Jill was now.

Most concretely, she was on the rooftop of Hotel Victoria with a M24 Sniper Rifle fully mounted and loaded resting by her side. It was almost midnight and the plaza in front of the hotel, Puerta Real -which was one of the most popular meeting places for young people- was surprisingly lacking the usual crowd of people, even though it was Friday. Nevertheless, it was a factor that played in her favour.

Graves had told her where Ivanov would be meeting next: in that same place, Puerta Real. Jill had accepted the mission in a heartbeat, yet it wasn't a mission in itself. It was a question of duty and honour, because the American and the European BSAA -and by extension, the whole Alliance- had stooped too low. They had allowed a spy to infiltrate their ranks and manipulate information just because of one thing: money. Possibly that wasn't the reason, but Jill Valentine and Oliver Graves hadn't listened to what the higher-ups had to say.

It all made sense now. They had pieced two and two together in less than a second: Marco Gionne, Tricell, the BSAA and Ivanov; what else was there to know? The BSAA had allowed Tricell to resurface for some reason -even though the most important one was clear.

Graves had been the most affected by the situation. He, being one of the Original Eleven -even though Jill was, too-, had never seen something like that coming. He had been the one always in charge of import/export operations and business transactions, and never in his six years of operating with the BSAA had he seen a record out of place. It was only half a day ago that, browsing through the BSAA's database, Graves had found the large sums of money the BSAA had accepted and granted to others.

There was no-one you could trust.

Upon knowing this, Jill had contacted Josh and Sheva in Africa and told them about the dire situation the Alliance was in. The matter to which Jill had given the more importance had been Chris' death, something which made Sheva curse in Swahili and question Jill in utter disbelief. Why would Jill be lying though? It wasn't a sick joke, like Sheva had first described the news as, but then there was no room for distrust. It was true.

XX

"I'm sorry for your loss, Jill," Sheva said, her voice having quivered a bit.

"It's our loss, Sheva, not only mine. You also had him as a partner, so there's no reason to say my loss," Jill replied, serene. "Even though they say revenge leads nowhere, I can swear to you I'll find the person responsible and finish him off. Trust me; I made this vow to Chris' sister, Claire, and I make it to you: he won't get away with this."

"Just be careful; we can't lose you either."

"Thanks for the support," Jill spoke with a faint but genuine smile. "You be careful too; remember what I've told you about the Alliance, lest something similar happens around there. Watch your backs, I'll contact with you as soon as I can."

XX

Now there was no reason to think of the Alliance's branches as a whole entity, since the North American and European branches had signed their statute of autonomy right from the very beginning.

The case wasn't and wouldn't be taken to the Consortium since it would be utterly pointless. Tricell was one of the many identities that were part of it and all accusations would be proven false, making the situation worse than it already was. As such, Jill and Graves decided to keep the matter a secret between them and Africa. Through the African branch, they would warn the others... just in case.

Better to be alone that in bad company, right?

"Alpha, Epsilon here. What's the situation?" came Graves' voice over the headset. Jill decided it was the best time to slip on her sniping fingerless gloves: if Graves was speaking, then the mission would start soon.

"Epsilon, this is Alpha. All clear, no sighting of the target yet. Is everything ready?"

"Locked and loaded, Alpha. Remember, your job is to injure the target; we'll take it from there. We don't want a commotion."

"Understood, Epsilon," nodded Jill, getting the rifle ready. It was in that moment when she spotted her target, Vasily Ivanov, standing against the glass wall of a bank. "Epsilon, I have visual," she spoke into the microphone. She took the protection off the sight and took aim.

"Got you, Alpha. Don't leave your position, fire on my mark."

Oh, I sure won't... not before I put a bullet through his skull instead of his leg! Damn it, I'm losing my focus again.

Three seconds.

Five.

Ivanov was moving, leaving his position. Would he really be leaving? Would they fail?

Seven.

He was getting much closer to the groups of people that were there; Jill would lose sight of him, she'd lose her chance of shooting. But Graves hadn't said nothing yet and if he hadn't, it was because it was not yet time to pull the trigger.

Ivanov was going to leave!

Ten seconds.

"Fire!"

It was the first time Jill reacted so quickly; not even if she'd had her dose of P30 she would've been able to repeat the movement. She moved her finger to the trigger, ready to fire, her heart hammering in her ears-

-and she heard a loud gunshot, the screams of the little crowd under her, Graves' voice shouting at her through the headset, all in a rapid and bizarre succession which left her confused.

"What the hell?! That wasn't you, right?"

Jill was as surprised as Graves was and she withdrew her face to look more clearly at the plaza below. Under the lights of the lampposts, she could indeed see that Ivanov had fallen to the ground, unmoving, most certainly dead. But it didn't make any sense: who had shot him? Had someone else been looking for him?

She looked around in all directions, taking cover in case whoever had been looking for Ivanov was now looking for her. Jill examined every rooftop around, finding no-one or nothing... until her gaze stumbled across the rooftop next to her. She widened her eyes, her heart racing in her chest, and she gasped.

"Jill, Jill, what's wrong?!" Graves was asking.

But Jill wasn't listening. Even if the lights on the rooftops were faint, she could perfectly discern who she was looking at.

And never in her life had she felt so afraid.

"Jill, goddamn it, answer me!"

"It's... it's him... it's him, Oliver..."

"Who's 'him'?"

Jill couldn't reply. The words died in her throat and she felt like hyperventilating, unable to calm down. The more she told herself to look away, the less she couldn't: her gaze was fixed upon that person. It was impossible, impossible, impossible...

It's not fair! Does this mean Chris died for nothing?!

"I want to hear you scream it with all the despair and rage you can muster... SAY IT!"

A scream threatened to leave her throat, threatened to reveal her position, but Jill clamped a hand over her mouth, preventing herself from letting it out. Fresh tears formed at her eyes and let them fall, rolling down her cheeks.

And then, he noticed her.

Oh God, oh God, oh GOD!

Jill felt her fear reach inconceivable and inhuman levels. His gaze turned towards her, meeting her own blue hues, and then it all seemed to go silent, as if someone had pushed the 'Mute' button on a stereo.

Then it was all him and her, nothing else: no sound, no light.

But he said nothing.

Not at least loud.

A cold gust of wind against her face, the brush of something cold against her cheek, the cold hands of fear clutching her heart, and Jill was left with only that: terror. Before she wanted to realize, he was gone, and Jill was brought back to the real world again. She was left gulping for air as if she were a fish out of the water, her head throbbed painfully and her body was numb.

"Who's 'him'?" Graves asked.

Dèja vu?

Jill was starting to feel queasy, her throat was parched and she couldn't breathe properly. She tried to speak, but nothing came.

"I..."

"SAY IT!"

Jill whimpered and gripped her head with both hands, painful images flashing through her mind in a rapid succession. They were hazy, triggering a cacophony, and she exclaimed in agony and shock.

"SAY IT!"

It was time to face it, to end the pain and to stop the memories from coming. No, he wouldn't torture her, not again, not now, not ever. Jill put a stop to her racing thoughts.

THAT'S ENOUGH!!

Graves couldn't believe what he was seeing. First, the assignment was going well: everything was prepared, both he and Jill were all set, Ivanov was in sight and ready to be finished off. It had all come out as they had planned and there had been no inconveniences that had put a damper to the operation.

Then, Ivanov was dead, he had been left disconcerted and Jill had just started hyperventilating and exclaiming in pain. By the tone of her voice, she sounded as if she'd seen a ghost or even worse and no matter how much Graves tried to coax her into talking, she couldn't: she was completely unable. Her stammers had made a mix of emotions to flare up and Graves had left his position to try and have a clear sight of Jill's.

Now, he was staring in horror at the sight, the mission had gone to Hell itself, and Jill was literally falling from the roof of the hotel. Graves broke into a sprint towards her, knowing that he wouldn't be able to reach her in time; still, he had to try. He ignored the cars that were going by and the one that screeched to a stop and honked at him, almost running him over.

Goddamn it, what could go worse now?!

Oh, how he suddenly wished he hadn't said that.

In moments, he watched how a person emerged from the shadows of the roof, jumped and caught Jill's unconscious form in mid-air.

Wait, wait, JUMP?! Who the hell can jump so freakin' high?!

Much to his despair, Graves couldn't see where the person had landed and, once he got close enough to see the other side of the road, he saw the place where she should've been was empty.

Jill Valentine was gone.

XX

When Jill woke up, she swore she hadn't felt worse in her whole life.

She shifted uncomfortably, relieving her muscles from the strain, and she blinked a few times before getting fully accustomed the sight around her. Pain seared through her whole body and she couldn't avoid an exclamation when she heard her ribs crack, and loudly. What had happened?

Tackling Wesker out of a window, falling down a cliff, then excruciating pain and the feeling of freezing water enveloping her body. She didn't remember anything else, only that, which was more than enough to make her wonder something.

Shouldn't she be-?

"It's good to see you're awake, Miss Valentine."

Even though the voice gave her the chills and made a killer instinct kick in, she couldn't move as fast as she would've wanted to. Instead, Jill turned her head with a slow movement, getting used to feeling her body again, and the first thing she did was gasp and stare at Wesker, who in spite of his words had a menacing scowl on his face.

"And no, you're not dead," he continued as if nothing, "thanks to me, that is; you would've been if it hadn't been for my... resistance to long falls. I'm quite resilient, as you can see."

"What do you want from me now?" Jill asked, her voice surprisingly strong. "Haven't you had enough?"

Wesker shook his head, calm. "If you want me to be honest, I haven't, certainly. Besides, you will play a very important role in my future plans."

Ignoring the pain, Jill sat up and, after registering she was lying upon an examination table, swung her legs over the table's side and stood up, her knees trembling under her weight. She scowled at him, her jaw tightening, and she watching him stand up, his gaze still fixed on her.

"Screw you! I'm not part of any plan!" she screamed at him, enraged. The sudden surge of rage and adrenaline numbed her body of all kinds of pain and she was left only with courage... pointless courage as she soon found out.

"On the contrary, you are."

"I'm not afraid of you. I can- Ugh!"

The pain came back as soon as it had left, and Jill was forced to lower herself to her knees. It was then when she heard Wesker's steps approaching her at a quick pace and that was all she needed to stand up again, ignore the goddamned pain and break into a run to get away from him. The question was: where would she run?

"Still fight?" He chuckled. "Don't make me laugh; look at your condition. You don't expect to run and get away, do you? Where would you go, if that were the case?"

Jill tried not to listen, but he was dead right. Where would she go? She was as blind as a bat in broad daylight, unable to discern where she was going. She only cared about getting away, as far as humanly possible. Her legs couldn't hold her standing much longer, and she fell down with a thud and a grunt.

No, please...

Then, a hard boot stepped on her back and pressed with unimaginable force, which made a cry escape from Jill's chapped lips. It was the most intense pain she'd ever felt; of course, she'd just been saved from almost a hundred-feet fall or even more, and thank God she hadn't died.

Wait, did 'thank God' involve thanking Wesker? No way in Hell!

"Your attempts are futile, and you know that very well."

Ipso facto, Wesker crouched, turned her around and his hand closed around Jill's neck, so strong he threatened to crush her windpipe, triggering a painful exclamation from her. Jill struggled to free herself from his grasp but the more she did, the more Wesker pressed and the more remarks she got from him.

"You bastard, let me go!" she exclaimed, her voice hoarse. Wesker didn't ease his grip on her, but what was surprising was that he then wasn't strangling her in the least, just keeping her against the floor to make sure she couldn't escape.

"That's not the proper way to say it, Miss Valentine," he chastised, sarcastic, with a smirk. "Besides, it surprises me that I don't get any 'thanks' from you; you were always very polite."

"Go to hell!" she shouted back, still fighting against his iron grip.

"I'm not in the mood to go back, to be sincere; besides, we're already in hell, both you and me," Wesker replied, seemingly finding some amusement in Jill's dire situation. "It's time you experienced what it really means to be there, and then you'll know why do I so desperately want to kill you and Chris. But for now, you'll do just fine... oh yes, you will."

Jill felt a shiver bolt down her spine and she knew she was trembling. She couldn't keep the tears from leaving her eyes, and that is when she could do nothing but cry and wait for whatever fate was about to befall her. Why was she accepting a fate she could fight against? Why was she surrendering? This was Wesker she was facing; she had to be strong!

"Aw... there's no need to shed those tears," he told her, his voice soft, clicking his tongue in mock-compassion.

"Please, just... d-don't..." She remained staring at him, unable to swallow the lump in her throat, her eyes wide and filled with tears. It was the first time Jill had been truly afraid for her life, since she knew Wesker could take it away in a mere blink of an eye. Judging by how his lips curved into a crooked smirk, Jill knew she could start praying right that instant.

"Will I make this end, you mean?" he asked, very possibly having read the question that was going through Jill's mind, reflected on her eyes. He brushed a few locks from her sweaty forehead, a gesture which would've made Jill scream if it wasn't because of her dry throat. "Oh but Jill, dear, we're just getting started!"

"NO!"

XX

"...she...doing... fine?"

"...course... more persistent... you imagine..."

Jill came to herself, the only senses that at first worked being her hearing and sense of smell. Sight she discarded, since she found it impossible to open her eyes; touch, she discarded it too, since it happened the same as with sight and taste, there was no need to use it yet. The voices she had heard were faint and they echoed in her ears, which made it much more difficult to find out whose voices they were.

"Let's go... before...too late...ker."

If she had been fully functional and in a good condition, she would've known who they had mentioned. Still, that last syllable would be burned into her mind and she'd be unable to forget about it.

Darkness came again.

A/N: Making any guesses already (which you are forbidden to leave in a review? xDD)? Yeah, you'd better, because everything will be revealed in the next chapters. Let me say something: the development might seem a bit slow, but that's how I want to take it. As I said in the previous chapter's author's note, it takes its time to write about all this. Don't worry though, I'm already writing chapter 14 and I can tell you... things are starting to get serious: I'm getting to the core of this plot. Stay tuned, next update comes on Saturday!

Reviews are appreciated!^^