Author's Note: Yet another update (took me long enough though). Alright folks, we're nearing the end of the story. This is the last chapter before the epilogue, which kinda offers a bit of insight to what Chris has become from his alter's and the group's point of view. I get a bit technical here, playing with a few quirks of dissociative indentity disorder, also known as split personality (ta-duh!), but adding a few RE science to the mix. I hope I haven't lost my touch, though I think it came out good. Enjoy!^^

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

XXIII

Course of action

'Some are born mad. Some remain so.' Samuel Beckett

"So now you see what kind of, uh, business was still pending?"

Marco leaned back in his seat, taking a deep breath as he carefully scrutinized Chris from over his glasses. Marco kept biting the inside of his cheek to hold back a smirk: it all seemed to be going smoothly. On either side of him sat Vithar and Maria, the latter still cowering slightly at Chris' presence. The three had found a small, tranquil café to take some rest and think, thankfully having been granted a far off corner of the establishment. Also, thanks to the fact Maria Greene was not on a black list, Marco wasn't suspected too much. After being there for more than an hour or so, they were approached by none other than Chris Redfield whose personality, to Marco's surprise, seemed to have given a full three-sixty spin.

"I see it. Looks like persuasion works better on me than him," said Marco's companion. Marco couldn't still get used to the fact there were two identities to Chris now, so the current one by the name of Christopher had explained, and it seemed there wouldn't be a truce between the real Chris and the other one. "He hates being like this, obviously, but I find it quite pleasant."

Marco shrugged. "Quite the contrast. Tell me though, why the sudden proposition?"

"Don't be rhetorical, Gionne, you know why," Christopher snapped, smirking. "I have something you want, you have something that I do, too. It's normal that we seek benefits from this... call it exchange."

Marco cast him a sideways glance. "So you're willing to leave everyone behind?"

"That's not a question I have to answer," Christopher said, disdainful. "These people that Chris calls 'friends' mean nothing to me and they never will. It seems Chris is also willing to leave them behind, so no problems there. However, there is someone who I'm quite interested in, so are you and so is he."

"Wesker," Marco breathed out, rubbing his chin absently. "How do I know there's no other... link between Redfield and the others? Wouldn't he attempt to return and take over?"

"Nah," Christopher replied, leaning back on his seat in a laid-back manner, "he wouldn't dare."

"Oh?" Maria asked, skeptical. "I wouldn't doubt it."

"Save the sarcasm for later," Marco snapped. "This can't be a joke."

"And it isn't," Christopher claimed, locking his fingers. "He rejects himself, you see, and he wants my help. In fact, I'm not here out of some mental fight. He's... easily convinced, considering you have what he wants at all costs." For a moment, he seemed pensive. "He's got a complex mind, yet also simple at the same time. I can pull as many strings as I want and he won't feel a single thing; that is in some scenarios. In others... I can make him suffer to extents he wouldn't have imagined. So you see, he's lenient, and that's what's going to make him fall."

"But what are you exactly?" asked Maria.

"Or... who?" Vithar pointed out, coming out of his timidness and intimidation.

Christopher shook his head, smiling. "I'm him. There's no other way around it; he's me, I'm him. I told him once that I was all that he had held back, and you can take advantage from him this time, too, not just me."

"In what way?" asked Marco, curious. Chris and Christopher, whoever they were, whether one or two, were proving to be quite a pair. Marco wasn't one to manipulate people -his style was with facts and situations-, but if he could make use of Chris and not just his alter, then the others would be up for a good surprise.

As if enthralled, Christopher said, "He's got killer instincts like you couldn't imagine. He's someone still haunted by the past, inevitably clinging to it as if it were something unforgettable despite his friends' ability to leave it as spilled milk. There's some kind of connection between us, one that allows me to feel what he feels, and that, paired with what I feel... He'd be like an enraged animal, finally released from its restraints. Deep down, he's always wanted to kill, he's always wanted to hurt others. I wouldn't like to say he's hidden some... sadistic tendencies. They've all been fueled by the person we both want to kill."

An unconscious shiver ran down Marco's spine and he stared at Christopher with every-so-slightly widened eyes. "I see..." Marco reflected.

"We will be looked for, naturally," Christopher claimed, shrugging, "and we'll be waiting. Though I'll let him take care of the... confrontation. I like to sit back and watch sometimes, and it'd be time for him to take the reins."

"Then we'll lure them in," Marco said. "They're still with their defenses raised high up; they fear I may strike again in some weeks' time. However, I won't: I'll let them strike first. With Redfield's disappearance, things are going to get heated up."

"You can take that for granted," Christopher agreed, "especially when it comes to Valentine. She's headstrong; she's never given up on Chris and I doubt she ever will." Christopher smiled a shark-like grin. "I'm sure the Chris that's still here," he knocked on his head twice, "will be more than happy to see them. Do we make a deal first?"

"Let's say we will not, but consider it as cooperation," said Marco. "I have no conditions set, and you seem quite willing to come to our side."

"More than willing; I'm sick of playing the good part. Oh, his girl's mine, though," Christopher added, raising a finger. "But it'd also be nice to kill Wesker and her at the same time, maybe give each other the chance to see one another again."

"Those are future plans," Marco pointed out. "For now, let's focus on the present. You can trick him into believing I will give him back his humanity? I'm not sure the vaccine may work."

"What is the greatest of advantages of this disorder?" Christopher asked, leaning forward with a shady smile. "Amnesia. I may have to swap some time, so expect episodes of amnesia both from him and me; that has got to be the setback. A bit of stimuli may work for both of us, but I'm sure there won't be any need for it. To be honest, I don't know for sure yet."

"No matter; at least it'll all flow." Marco stood up from his seat, so did the rest of the people. He spread out a hand. "So the 'deal' stands?"

Christopher shook Marco's hand without hesitation. "The deal stands."

"How soon can you meet us behind Independence Hall?"

Once more, the shark-like grin returned to Christopher's features. "As soon as I give them a head start. It wouldn't be fun otherwise."

Marco frowned, then nodded. "Very well. You have an hour starting now."

"Perfect."

xxx

It didn't take Jill any longer than three seconds to jolt out of unconsciousness. She took a moment to register she had been lying down until now, another to shoot quick glances at the people who were with her in the room, then the last one to finally accept Chris wasn't there. Immediately, she turned her gaze away, getting used to the lightning at the same time she hid the shame that was surely living in her eyes. Nobody said anything, not even her when she saw Leon and Rebecca making her not so needed company, though it all left her confused. Since when had they been there? Leon she could understand, but Rebecca? The aforementioned by her mind took a few steps towards Jill, making eye contact.

Jill sighed. At first she didn't know what to say, then decided to go with a simple and rhetorical question. "You know, don't you?"

As a response, both Leon and Rebecca nodded.

"You've been sleeping for the past seven hours," said Leon, his voice as deep as always. When his words came, Jill noticed perfectly the pointed tinge in them, "We've had time to catch up."

Jill would've wanted the reunion to happen another way, with the typical greetings and time to rejoice after seeing her friends nice and well, but there was neither time nor mood to do so. She tightened her jaw and remained firm, not even flinching at the uncomfortable silence that followed Leon's remark, and thought of a way to make her escape out of her current predicament. She remembered her own words: she couldn't lie or everything would go to worse. For another reason, like an instant knock on the back of her mind, she thought of Wesker and his take on the situation; it wouldn't differ from hers in many ways.

"I just came here two hours ago," said Rebecca. She sighed, then asked, "Do you have any idea where he could be?" Rebecca's demeanor changed suddenly, concerned etched across her young features. Jill was somehow relieved that there was no resent or disdain in her gaze; there was none in Leon's either, though, but his eyes seemed a lot more severe and cold than Rebecca's. As a response, Jill shook her head.

"Neither do we, but we know what he might be up to."

Jill, as everyone else did, turned her gaze to the door, where he found Wesker with Claire and Sherry standing behind him. As the three walked in, Jill felt a pinch of awe when Wesker merely went past her as if ignoring her, but asking for a simple glance would be asking for pears out of a lemon tree. In silence, he took a seat not very near her resting spot. Sherry didn't look too troubled in spite of her creased brow, but it was Claire who mostly caught Jill's attention. Her face had hardened, her eyes were fiercer and narrowed ever so slightly, and she was tense. The tension spiked to incredible levels. Ignoring her own desire to ask, Jill stayed quiet.

"The footage recorded by the cameras shows he really did leave, as we could expect," Sherry began, propping herself against a table, "since he had his clearance. At the same time, we found something..." she pursed her lips, "abnormal in his behavior."

Leon gazed at Sherry. "Abnormal? Knowing Chris came back to life is already abnormal in itself; what else can there be?"

Sherry's lips twitched into a sad smile. "Unfortunately, a lot more, and especially knowing... how 'damaged' his mind is."

Jill shut her eyes tight and bit on her lip, listening intently, then she opened them and looked at Sherry.

"Can... anything be related to monologuing?" she inquired, standing with as much balance as she could. Whatever had happened to her, it hadn't left her with good reflexes. When she glanced at every member of the group, her attention was drawn to Wesker, who was staring at her for the first time and with the slightest hint of a frown.

"When did you first notice?" His question came quick, urgent, suspicious. Jill lifted her chin, not losing her composure, and said,

"I went to talk to him when... whenever I went. I knocked a few times on his door and after that, even maybe before that, I don't know why but I think he was talking to himself... and perhaps not just himself. I couldn't hear much but during... our conversation, after which he left, there were mood swing I had never seen in him," she explained, recalling the details as best as she could. She caught glimpse of Claire's cold gaze.

"So you had something to do with it?" came Claire's furious question.

"Claire," Leon called, but she rejected his warning with a scathing glance.

"No, Leon!" she snapped. "I want to set things straight now, whether it takes us hours or minutes, and I don't care how we might have to do it. I've already seen Chris freaking out many others in the past, but none of them were of the magnitude like the one in the footage. If she's responsible for what's happening to him, then she's taking care of it. I'm not saying I won't help, because I will and I want him back, but she gets the short end of the stick."

"I never said I wouldn't get it, neither did I say that I wouldn't take care of what's happened," Jill said, the calmness in her voice contrasting with the frustration in Claire's. "You know better than anyone of us that he keeps things to himself and has a lot bottled up."

"I'd like to think he might've acted some other way with you," said Sherry, shrugging slightly. "After all, you're pretty close."

Jill grimaced.

"Whatever the case, he's not as... 'readable' as we'd all like him to be," she replied, running a hand through her hair. "I don't know what's going on with him either, but I can tell you he hasn't been the same. It's not only because of irony, I'm sure you all know that by now, but of something he hasn't told me about."

"It wouldn't surprise me if it was something related to his... outburst back in Africa," Wesker piped up, surreptitiously looking at Jill over his shades. "Am I going in the right direction?" he then asked. Jill couldn't make a list of the reasons that were making him seem so enthralled, so amused by the situation. Perhaps his everlasting enmity with Chris, but that was a different song this time.

"...Yeah," Jill spoke with a nod, "something like that."

Wesker's next reaction surely puzzled everyone. He tilted his head once more, slight disbelief across his face, and said, "Oh, come now... This will seem far-fetched, despite it isn't, but this anomaly we saw is a split personality disorder."

The news struck Jill hard, and like so Leon and Rebecca showed themselves to be. The only one out of the group that seemed the less distraught was Claire, who was standing right next to Leon with her arms folded across her chest and a deep frown. Rebecca also stared at Sherry, though her face was mostly of deep concern.

"My God... How?" she asked in disbelief. Sherry shook her head, to which Claire scoffed and threw her hands up in the air.

"And why do I have the feeling it all has to do with that damned virus of yours!" she exclaimed at Wesker, clenching her fists tightly in a defiant way. Jill frowned, somehow moved by how desperately Claire was trying to control herself. "Looks like there's really NO rest for the wicked, right?"

A small amount of tension disappeared from Wesker's features, so did impassiveness, which then showed him to be contemptuous and amused as a smirk appeared. "Perhaps there isn't, but your accusation is wrong. Sure, it might've been my creation in the first place, but if he refused to follow the steps to keep everything under control, then it's his fault and no-one else's." He stood up. "I tried to... help him since it'd play in all our advantages, but he wouldn't do his share. Don't expect me to feel responsible for him because of his foolishness."

Claire sighed, ducking her head. Eventually, after pursing her lips several times, she said, "Fine, he might not be brightest sometimes... I just don't want to see him do anything stupid, that's all." When Jill watched Leon give Claire a light nudge, she smiled inwardly.

"You said you had an idea of what Chris may do next," Leon intervened, turning his attention to Sherry.

"It's more than likely that he might have gone to look for Marco," she said. "As far as we're concerned, Chris could be looking for a solution to the virus that isn't the serum."

"An actual vaccine?" Leon asked. "But who could develop it?"

"Marco, of course," Wesker claimed. "After the attempt to stop the deal that resulted in the precedent to this situation, he must've surely gotten his hands on the virus. If we consider the kind of technology Marco has and my notes on it..."

"Damn James," Sherry spat, snapping her fingers.

"I can't believe he'll actually do it," said Rebecca, shocked, "not after what Marco did to you, Claire."

"I suggest you get used to the idea," Wesker quickly cut in, "because it is more than likely that it's not just the alter's decision to have sought Marco's help."

"What do you mean?" asked Jill. She grew stiff, her eyes wide. "You're saying that after all we've gone through, he's actually changing sides now?"

When Wesker nodded, tension found its playground. Jill was mostly shocked by Claire's expression, which was a mix of anger, pain and disbelief. Jill herself sighed, lowering her head, then heard Sherry say,

"What could be more obvious than a role reversal?" Her tone was rhetorical, sad yet somehow amused, and the remark was directed at Wesker, who was more silent than a tomb. Though impassive, his demeanor had turned somber, subdued yet tense, very tense.

"Role reversal?" asked Rebecca, looking at Jill. "Do you mean-?"

"It's our natures," said Wesker, his tone hard. His remark caught everyone's attention, Jill perhaps more concerned than intrigued. As he talked, he sprung to his feet and turned his back to the group; only Jill could see him sideways. "He won't accept what he's become, so won't I, but it's the irony that kills us both. Perhaps now... he will understand."

"Understand what?" asked Claire, narrowing her eyes.

"How you feel when you're stripped of what you really are," he replied, neutral. "Call it payback, if you may."

Claire's frown deepened even more, then Leon inquired, "Can we bring him back?"

"If he lets himself. He won't go down without opposing, that you all know." Wesker seemed struck, unusually unsettled by the current situation, which led Jill to wonder whether if there was something else to his behavior. "But I have to say it won't be easy."

"What is these days?" Rebecca quipped, running a hand through her naturally short bangs. "But in truth, it's worth a try. At least that's how I see it; I don't think he'd give up on us, despite he seems very willing to do that now."

"And with that you are implying that I may lend a hand?" Wesker piped up, amusement showing through a smirk. "Don't take things for granted."

"If there's something that's characteristic of you is that you don't do things without looking at the side that may benefit you," Claire intervened, her tone scathing, "and now, I think there is something too. If we get him back, you'll have a chance to kill him again."

Wesker smirked. "An attempt you will undoubtedly foil," he said naturally, which made Claire also smirk. Then, something seemed to click.

"Wait a second," she quickly began, "There was no audio to listen to when we watched the footage. How could you determine it was split personality?"

Silence ensued. Wesker remained staring at her, his features once more impassive, and Jill drew in a low, sharp breath when the hunch hit her like an alarm going off. Could it possibly be what she was thinking? Eventually, Wesker exhaled and crossed his arms as if he'd just raised a barrier to defend himself.

"Why did I suspect you'd reach that question?" he half-uttered to himself, then raised his head. "If you must know, I knew because I also went through the same stages."

Surprise struck everyone.

"Wesker..." Sherry breathed out, her blue eyes wide with concern, but Wesker dismissed it with a shake of his head.

"Trust me, it's not something easy to say."

He just admitted he was weak. It's not like him.

Jill frowned at him, but he didn't seem to notice. She knew he would never say something that could tarnish his name, so to speak, since he was seen as a man who had no weaknesses but at the same time had many more than the ones he'd accepted. She noticed the first traces of distress that very slightly gave his conflict away, and as such she made no comments about it. For a moment she pitied him, then wondered if the Wesker she and the others had seen all those past years had been one who was an alter ego of some sort.

"You know what's going on, then?" Claire asked, expectant.

"To extents you wouldn't dare thinking of," Wesker replied, somber. "And the strangest yet bothersome of quirks about this disorder is that it's nothing more than an auditory hallucination, like in schizophrenia, but one can't help to alter their personality according to it."

"He willingly changed?" came Leon's question as he quirked an eyebrow.

"Not exactly. It's quite difficult to explain, truth be told, but know this: it can be used to our advantage."

"How?"

Wesker seemed pensive for a moment. "In most cases, whenever the person experiences different episodes with different personalities, amnesia will follow after a swap. In Redfield's, however, the matter is different and much more complex. Speaking in general, there comes a time when you experience the changes constantly, and they are so fast-paced there is no room for any kind of abnormal forgetfulness."

"I wouldn't like to undervalue our efforts in past years," Rebecca began, "but if Chris is suffering from this kind of disorder, then it's been because of trauma. I know we've all gone through situations we wouldn't have imagined, but we've all gotten over it. Chris is strong, so you've seen, but I think there's a lot going on in his head. It has to be trauma, severe trauma."

"My God..." Claire whispered, closing her eyes.

"There will also come a time when Chris will stop suffering from this constant changes, and when that time comes..." Wesker shifted, "... it'll be quite the ride."

"What will happen?" Jill asked, clenching her fists.

"For now, I don't know if he's acting on impulses or under influence -most likely on both-, but he will be what we say a ruthless killer that will know no mercy." Jill saw Wesker hesitate ever so slightly. "The side effects of all Progenitor-based viruses are mostly aggressiveness and hallucinations, but this kind of disorder is rare except certain conditions are present in the host such as, how Miss Chambers said, severe psychological trauma. That is the reason why all alter egos come knocking like a sadistic personality, with quirks that differ from person to person."

"Goddamn it, he seems impossible to bring down now," Leon complained, somehow in defeat. "Is there any way out of it?"

"There is," Wesker said, nodding, "and that is inflicting pain. Not any kind of pain, but one that fuels the effects of the trauma."

"Are you crazy?" Claire snapped, angered. "What are you trying to do, kill him for good this time? I thought you were going to help us."

"And that is exactly what I will do, since it all plays in my favor aside from yours," Wesker agreed, his tone cold. "As I was saying, inflicting pain is our only solution."

"How's that achieved? What could possible cause him more trauma?" asked Claire, tapping her foot on the floor. Wesker smiled.

"You," he said, "and Jill." Jill's eyes went even wider. "Don't be so surprised; you're only the positive kind of pain, so to speak. I'm not the best candidate, so that leaves you two."

"Why us?" Jill inquired, calm despite the revelation.

"Because you're the only two people he truly holds close, and that's speaking for him," Wesker said, surreptitiously grimacing at his own words. "You're the only ones who can ease him down. Emotional conflicts cannot be kept at bay sometimes."

"That's what you're saying that will happen?" came Jill's question. Wesker nodded. "And how're we going to find him? We don't know where he is; we have no clues."

"Well-" Sherry began, but another voice interrupted her, one that they all recognized. Even Wesker froze, and that was a feat in itself.

"Let me save you the trouble, shall I?"

Many of the present people gasped, and Claire didn't hesitate to dash out of the room. Everyone chased after her, but they didn't have to go further past the door to find Chris leaning casually against the right wall. Jill herself remained at the back of the group, reluctant, and stared at Chris intently, a knot of nervousness in her stomach. Claire stepped forward.

"Chris? Chris, please, tell me it's the real you," she pleaded, her voice mellowing.

"I know, Claire." It finally sounded like the Chris they all knew, but there was a distinctive tinge of malice in his voice. He lifted his head, grinning. "You want me back so badly, don't you? Tough luck."

"What are you doing? Why are you doing this?" Claire's tone became stronger, somehow afraid, which caused Chris to chuckle aloud in a way Jill had heard before. "Don't be stupid!"

"I'm not being stupid, Claire," Chris said, "but sensible. I'm sick of all this, and the only way to put a stop to it is by changing sides. "Marco is going to give me back all that I lost and after I get it... I'm going to take the last bit away from you." Chris now talked to Wesker, who Jill watched relaxing.

"Really? How?" His tone was scathing, mocking, disdainful, but Chris wasn't fazed by that.

"In due time, I will. For now..."

Then, he was a black blur.

"CAREFUL!" Wesker bellowed as he gave a step backwards that caused everyone else to withdraw. Jill stepped forward on the contrary, and was about to place herself next to Wesker when Chris immediately took his place and sent Wesker flying with a single blow. Again, he vanished, giving Jill and the others no time to react accordingly, then pinned Wesker against the wall.

What they heard next was a scream of true agony.

Jill took everything in in a mere second: Wesker screaming, bleeding; Chris grinning madly, a knife plunged into Wesker's side, the blade gleaming dully with blood.

"THIS IS HOW I WILL DO IT!" Chris yelled out, his tone mad with malice. "And I'll do it again and again and again until THERE'S NOTHING LEFT FROM YOU, YOU BASTARD!"

"GO ON AND DO IT THEN!" Wesker yelled out in return.

Jill couldn't keep on watching. In a split second she found herself sprinting towards Chris and Wesker, but a loud gunshot forced her to stop in her tracks. Chris withdrew with another dash, which gave Jill the idea the bullet had gone for him, and she looked back: who had fired was none other than Claire, who held the gun steadily in her hands.

"Back off!" she said, pausing at the end of every word. There was silence, no reply from Chris except his incredulous look. "I won't hesitate to shoot."

"That is, if you can hit me."

With one last smile, Chris vanished, as if he had never been there in the first place.

It was then that Jill's instincts kicked in. She briskly approached Wesker, so did Rebecca and Sherry, and watched with increasing horror how profusely Wesker's wounds were bleeding. There was a deep cut across his abdomen, then a slight mark of how the knife had been lowered, and they found the weapon piercing his side entirely. At the sight of so much blood, Jill felt panic rising. Wesker was trembling, having shrunk as if to prevent anyone from touching him, but then more blood spewed from his mouth and stained the floor.

"Oh crap, he's horrible. He'll bleed out if we move him," Rebecca quickly said, assessing the situation.

"I can... move perfectly; it's... mere feet away," Wesker managed to say through bloody coughs. Jill shot an urgent look at Rebecca, who nodded and carefully brought Wesker to his feet with Sherry's help. Without causing him anymore pain, Rebecca and Sherry entered and closed the door to the medical room, leaving Jill, Claire and Leon outside.

Jill allowed herself to sit against the wall and curl up into a ball, bringing her knees up to her chest, and without caring who was there with her, she cried silently. The first thing she felt after that were Leon's arm around her shoulders.

"I'd also like to know what's going on," he said, his tone sorrowful. "But for now, responsible or not, we have to accept it."

"He's right," Claire said, a remark which made Jill lift her face to look at her. "I'm sorry about before."

"It's alright," Jill replied, "but why aren't you-?"

"Why am I not shocked or traumatized by Chris' sudden appearance and feats?" Claire finished, smirking. "Because I've quickly made up my mind. Until we find out what's going on, and I know blood runs thicker than water, he's not... Chris anymore. He's just a stranger, a killer without a remedy, but we'll help him. I won't give up on him. For now, I'll think of him as that. Consider it cruel... but it's not far from the truth."

Jill had to admit Claire's words were completely true, and in Leon's company she stayed, hoping for whatever was happening to come to an end soon.

Chris... Please, you have to fight it; don't let it take over. God, I miss you...