A/N: Holy SHIT! I'm on a goddamn roll here ladies and gents! The momentum I got from writing the last chapter is still kicking strong and I was able to get the next one ready much more quickly then I had anticipated. I know a lot of you haven't read the books which can act as a go-between for the games, so this is probably all new to you. But trust me, if/when you do read them it will make a lot of sense. S.D. Perry really knew how to add to the story of Resident Evil in a way that was both compelling and original.
This chapter is the last one based from 'Caliban Cove', after that we're going right into when things started falling apart in Raccoon City. But if you've been paying attention, then you know Ethan's got a plan for what's coming. But for now, lets see how he handles his girlfriend being offered to join a different team to fight Umbrella.
Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil.
Chapter 24:
"Life sometimes separates people so that they can realize how much they mean to each other." - Unknown
They all stared at David, some of them looking as though they had been punched in the gut. Still reeling from the information about what was happening within STARS, the realization that they were now on their own, and now there was another lab to worry about.
But most of all, this man wanted to take Rebecca with him to infiltrate the place.
David went on, his dark gaze still fixed on the young Bravo. "I've talked to the people on my team I believe to be trustworthy, and three of them have agreed to go. I'm not going to lie to you, it will be dangerous, and without STARS to back us up, there's no guarantee we'll be able to close the lab down. We just want to go in, collect some solid evidence on the T-Virus to add to what you've already obtained to make it stronger, and get back out before anyone even know's we're-"
"I'm going too." Ethan said with a tone of finality that left no room for argument. "We'll all go." agreed Chris along with the others, Jill putting an arm around the medic and making her flush at all of the protectiveness that now surrounded her.
"This isn't a full-scale op, five people is already stretching it. Rebecca's got the background we need to find the data on the virus, and she already knows what symptoms to look for." David said after shaking his head.
"You've got you're team right here." said Chris, "Take us in instead, send your guys to look into the cover up."
Sitting back down, the man looked at Chris with an expressionless face, "Tell me who's involved in Umbrella's conspiracy to hide their research," he said seriously.
"Several people locally. Umbrella's office workers, of course. The police commissioner, Chief Irons, a couple of his men. Not to mention people on the city council who run various corners of the city." said Ethan, his tone clipped and sharp making the others look at him strangely.
David nodded, "Now can you tell me about the classification of the virus?" no one could answer him...no one but Rebecca anyway. He knew it, they knew it, she was the only one with the expertise to decipher how the virus functioned and ways on how to combat it.
"I agree with all of you that Umbrella has to be stopped," he continued, his tone tense and determined. "But let's not kid ourselves. We're talking about breaking from the STARS and going up against a multi-billion dollar establishment on our own. Nowhere is going to be safe, and our only chance for success is if we each do what we can, what we're good at, to take Umbrella down."
His stare shifted to Ethan who was looking off to the side, seemingly into nothing, but he knew when someone was deeply thinking about something of deep importance. David could see how much this young man loved Rebecca, he could see it in his eyes, the burning will to protect her from harm. One that obviously had come into play a month ago when they had been fighting for their lives in the forest around the city.
"The rest of you already know what to look for here. You should stay in the city, out of sight, see if you can ferret out the connection between the local police and Umbrella. And try to reach out to the STARS members that you think would help us." David turned to Rebecca again, "And if you agree, I think we should leave for Maine tonight. With the information I have, it looks as though things have already gotten out of hand. My team is standing by, we could go in tomorrow at dusk."
Ethan inhaled sharply, emotions whirling in his mind and starting to form into a headache. David was right about their options, they barely had any to speak of, shutting down Umbrella took priority and to do that they needed as many hands on deck as they could to unsure that they were successful.
The logical part of his brain said that it made perfect sense, that Rebecca was their only chance at truly finding out what the virus was capable of. Even with his knowledge of this world, he had only the bare minimum on what T could do from what the games had mentioned. They needed more information.
But, his heart was battling hard against the logic. This was his girlfriend. They'd been through a lot together and the thought of them being apart like this, with her in mortal danger without him backing her up was putting him severely on edge.
Taking a moment, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Allowing his thoughts to sort themselves so that he could think clearly. In the end, only one thought came through to him. 'It was her choice...and no matter what she chose, he needed to respect her wishes.'
Opening his eyes again, he turned to David just as Jill asked the question that was also on his mind. "What information do you have? How did you find out about the lab?"
David pulled out a battered briefcase that had been leaning against the chair on the floor. Digging through it, he pulled out a folder and layed it out on the coffee table, "An interesting story in itself, if a strange one. I was hoping that one of you might be able to explain some of this." He took out three sheets of paper, photocopies of newspaper clippings and a simple diagram which was obviously a map of some kind. "Shortly after I talked to the home office, I received a visit from a stranger, a man who claimed to be a friend of STARS...he told me his name was Trent."
This caused everyone's heads to snap up, "Trent?!" Jill exclaimed, sharing looks with the others.
"You know him?" he asked puzzled.
"A shady benefactor who gave Jill intel about the mansion and told her to watch her back against possible traitors." Said Ethan as they combed over the data before them, "He also had information on one of us. Medical records, DNA analysis...the works."
The Exeter STARS narrowed his eyes questionably, "Who?" The young profiler looked at him in all seriousness, "Me. We have yet to figure out why, but Trent had mentioned to Jill that there are several parties that are interested in me and that I was in danger. For what reason I don't know, but it's definitely serious."
David leaned back in the recliner and tried to swallow this new development. Trent had been very cryptic when giving him the information he was sharing with them, to know that he had also contacted them as well, and revealed that someone maybe after one of their own was a bit troubling. What else was going on that they didn't know about?
Watching the man out of the corner of his eye, the traveler mentally sighed. Knowing who Trent was working with was a bit of a shock, but the fact he had to keep it to himself made him feel guilty. He was lying and keeping things from them, necessary or not it weighed heavily on his mind.
Sitting back on the couch, and moving closer to Rebecca he looked through all the data layed out before them. The facility was located somewhere along the coast of Maine in a place called Caliban Cove and a had a slightly similar layout to the lab complexes that they had seen before. There was also a list of names on another sheet of paper, one of them standing out amongst the rest.
"William Birkin." he said catching the attention of the others, "He was partners with Wesker in Umbrella, they both were students of James Marcus and had him executed when the company no longer needed him."
"Safe to say that Birkin must have had a hand in the virus' creation." said Jill looking over the names.
'You have no idea.' he thought to himself. "Oh shit." he turned to Rebecca who was looking at the top of the page with all the color drained from her face. "Nicolas Griffith is on this list too. I thought he was dead. He was one of the greats, one of the most brilliant men ever to work in the biosciences."
She turned to David with her gaze heavy with dread, "If he's working with Umbrella, we've got a lot more to worry about than the T-Virus getting out. He's a genius in the field of molecular virology and if the stories are true, he's totally insane."
"What can you tell us about him?" asked the Exeter STARS.
Reaching for her glass of water, she drained half its contents to clear her dry throat before speaking. "How much do you know about the study of viruses?" She got mixed answers and decided to continue, "Okay. Viruses are classified by their replication strategy and by the type of nucleic acid in the virion, that's the specialized element in a virus that allows it to transfer its genome to another living cell. A genome is a single, simple set of chromosomes. According to the Baltimore Classification, there are seven distinct types of viruses, and each group infects certain organisms in a certain way. In the early sixties, a young scientist at a private university in California challenged the theory, insisting that there was an eighth group, one based loosely on dsDNA and ssDNA viruses that could infect everything it contacted. It was Dr. Griffith. He published several papers, and while it turned out that he was wrong, his reasoning was brilliant. I know, I read them. The scientific community scoffed at his theory, but his research on virus-specified inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm without a linear genome..."
Rebecca trailed off, noticing the blank expressions on their faces, save for Ethan who was used to her scientific rambling. "Sorry. Anyway, Griffith stopped trying to prove the theory, but a lot of people were interested to see what he'd come up with next."
Jill interrupted, frowning. "Where did you learn all this?"
"In school. One of my professors was kind of a science-history buff. His specialty was defunct theories... and scandals."
"So what happened?" David asked.
"The next time anyone heard from Griffith, it was because he'd gotten kicked out of the university. Dr. Vachss, that was my professor, told us that Griffith was officially fired for using drugs, methamphetamines, but the rumor was that he'd been experimenting with drug-induced behavior modification on a couple of his students. Neither of them would talk, but one of them ended up in an asylum and the other eventually committed suicide. Nothing was ever proved, but after that, no one would hire him and as far as the facts go, that's the last anyone heard of Nicolas Griffith."
"But there's more to the story?" David asked now very interested.
Ethan spoke up. "In the mid-eighties, a private lab in Washington was broken into by cops and the bodies of three men were found, all dead of a filovirus infection-it was Marburg, one of the most lethal viruses there is. They'd been dead for weeks; neighbors had complained because of the smell. The papers the police found in the lab suggested that all three men were research assistants to a Dr. Nicolas Dunne, and that they had allowed themselves to be deliberately infected with what they understood to be a harmless cold virus. Dr. Dunne was going to see if he could cure it."
Seeing the odd looks he was getting, he just smirked and put his arm around Rebecca's shoulders. "Hay, my girlfriend's a biochemist. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't take an interest in her major?" Rebecca blushed.
No one could argue with that logic. "How was your professor sure it was Griffith?" Jill asked softly. The young biochemist shook her head, "Griffith's mother, her maiden name was Dunne."
She looked around as everyone had their attention solely on her, their faces tight with concern. Ever since the incidents in the two facilities, they all had become like family to her. She didn't want to leave, to risk never seeing them again, especially Ethan. The very thought of being away from him when so many people were out to get them didn't settle right in her stomach and made her heart heavy.
'David's right. Without support from STARS, nowhere will be safe for any of us.' she thought to herself. 'And this would be my chance to really contribute to stopping Umbrella, to do what I'm good at...' Though that wasn't the only reason, a tiny sliver of excitement ran through her at the prospect of studying the mutagen and picking apart the virion right down to the smallest capsid.
She felt a hand grip hers and looked up to see Ethan smiling at her. She could see that the situation bothered him greatly, but she could tell that he was giving her his undying support no matter what she chose to do. He was always like that, always putting her needs ahead of his own, just like back at the training facility and then the mansion soon after.
A couple of times, Jill had told her that she had found a keeper in the profiler and to hold on to him with everything she had. And Rebecca couldn't help but agree, and wouldn't let this man get away from her no matter what was in her way.
Taking a deep breath, Rebecca made a decision. "I'll do it. When do we leave?"
The older STARS in the room showed different levels of discomfort at hearing her choice. Including David. It was pretty obvious to anyone in her position, she was young, and that had more often then not caused people to overlook the fact of how smart she really was.
Chris sent a not-so-subtle look Ethan's way, as if trying to convey the message; 'talk some sense into her, she's your girlfriend!'
"Don't give me that look, Chris." the older teen said sending the man a sharp look. "Rebecca's a grown woman and can make her own choices, I won't force her to do anything she doesn't want to."
Rebecca, who was still holding on to his hand, gripped it gently. Smiling at her boyfriend for his support even if it was obvious that he was just as uncomfortable about it as the others.
David nodded, "All right, then. Good. There's a plane leaving Bangor at twenty-three hundred hours, with a connecting flight to a field just outside of Exeter. I thought we could all go over a bit of strategy here, and then drop by your place on the way to the airfield so you can pack a few things."
The medic nodded while Barry went over and cracked a window for some fresh air. "You and Ethan are the strategists," he said rejoining everyone, "Why not start us off?"
Sharing a look, the older man motioning to Ethan since he had a better grip on the situation here in Raccoon. "As of right now, even with the evidence we have, we can't go to the press. If Umbrella has parts of STARS in their pocket, they can buy out anyone that could smear their name." explained the profiler. "What we should focus on..." he trailed off as he looked out the window Barry had opened.
He heard the rustling of leaves in the bushes, a soft clink of metal on metal, and shadows moving just out of sight. His eyes widened, "EVERYBODY DOWN!" he slammed into the couch, knocking it over sending Rebecca, Jill and Chris to the floor with him just as the window exploded with an explosive burst of automatic weapon fire.
David and Barry dove to the floor as well, drawing their weapons as smoking holes tore across the wall sending plaster and wood flying. Ethan rolled over on to his back, Samurai Edge aimed at the ceiling as he shot out the lights plunging them into darkness. Another barrage of gunfire came from the front yard as Chris crawled his way to the hallway and shot out the lights there with his own weapon.
A window in the back shattered just as the gunfire outside stopped. The sound of heavy footsteps crunching over glass could be heard in the kitchen for a second or two before going silent. 'He's waiting for his partner to catch up.' Ethan summarized as he rolled to his feet, back pressed to the wall under the cover of darkness as he approached the way into the back room.
A second set of footsteps in the kitchen joined the first meaning that the gunmen had joined up. 'They got the power advantage, we need to outsmart them.' he looked over to David, the Exeter STARS looking his way obviously thinking the same thing. "Stairs. Hit the ground outside, make a run through the park." he whispered.
The older man nodded in agreement, turning in the direction of the others as they got into what cover they could in the living room with their guns ready. "Jill, get to Chris and prepare to lay cover fire with me on my signal." he whispered quickly. "Barry, you and Rebecca hit the stairs fast to an East window, softest jump, Ethan here will back you up. We'll follow. Ready? Go."
Everyone began moving quickly and quietly. Jill disappeared into the hallway where Chris had taken cover, Rebecca and Barry right behind her with Ethan covering their backs. David gathered up the papers and data disk on the table and the briefcase before creeping after them.
Ethan kept his back pressed to the corner as he peered toward the opening to the kitchen, Barry and Rebecca behind them waiting to make their move. David got the others into position, Chris and Jill covering the kitchen entrance while he had the front door. They waited with baited breath, fingers tense on triggers as they waited for the signal.
"On my mark," David whispered keeping his weapon trained on the door. "NOW!" The house was alive with the sound of gunfire. Barry and Rebecca lunged for the stairs and began ascending two at a time, Ethan on their heels when he heard automatic and semi-auto fire tearing through the air behind them.
Reaching the top, he motioned for them to keep going as he crouched at the top with his Beretta aimed at the bottom of the steps. A handful of seconds later, Chris and Jill were on the stairs heading his way, running past him in the same direction the others went.
A small explosion was heard down below followed by more gunfire before David could be heard coming up as well. The teen saw movement in the darkness and fired twice. A strangled scream was heard on the first level followed by a loud thump of someone hitting the floor.
"Keep moving!" David said firing back the same way as they double timed it down the hallway as more crashes could be heard, the sound of male, commanding voices also filtering in as they headed for the window that Jill and Barry had already gone through, Chris already halfway out with Rebecca standing by.
The two strategists crouched down by the window and stood guard as Chris disappeared, Barry reaching back in and helping Rebecca through as feet could be heard moving up the steps. Both men fired, one of the attackers that had reached the landing fell back and crashed into his comrades that had followed him up and giving them time to bail out the window.
Hitting the hedges below, the others stood around covering various directions incase they were followed while they got to their feet. Twenty feet to the left was a dark stand of trees which was their exfil.
Barry's colt registered loudly and a dark form fell to the ground at the corner of the house. "Move!" Chris shouted as they all began to fall back to the trees. Ethan heard someone calling out from the second floor and aimed at the window they came through, firing six times and causing a man in black armor holding a rifle to fall out and hit the ground, dead.
Taking turns covering one another, the STARS vanished into the cover of shadows provided by the trees of the park. The sounds of sirens in the distance was followed closely by shouts from Barry's front porch, a moment later tires squealed on pavement as a number of vehicles peeled away from the home.
Ethan's feet pounded the soft Earth as he ran, keeping up easily with the others. Rebecca stumbled on his right and he managed to catch her before she fell as they continued falling back. After what felt like minutes they slowed to a jog, stopping where the line of trees ended, he turned back to search the shadows for anyone that could have followed them. The traveler's back pressed to a gnarled tree as he waited for possible hostility.
Peering around the bark, he saw a shadow gliding stealthfully through the foliage. Taking out his knife, he waited as a man in black riot-gear burst from the treeline and took aim at the surprised STARS.
He never had a chance to fire as Ethan leapt into action, kicking the automatic weapon he had been aiming into the air before jamming the blade of his knife into the soft flesh of his throat above his kevlar vest. The man gurgled something as his mouth and throat filled with blood, most of it seeping from the open wound and down his front as the traveler pulled the knife free allowing him to collapse the ground on his knees, feebly trying to stop the flow.
The Umbrella operative fell face first to the dirt very much dead. Ethan shook his knife off and sheathed it, releaving the man of the submachine gun he had been holding and any ammo he had for it before rejoining the others with his newly acquired weapon.
Nodding to them, they started running again. Putting as much distance between them and the home-turned-battleground as they could.
X
Three black SUVs all pulled into a vacant parking lot roughly ten miles from the target home they had attacked. The doors all opened and nine armed men in black riot gear stepped out, two of them sporting wounds of some kind sat on the ground as they were tended to by their comrades.
One of their own was unaccounted for, and three were confirmed KIA. But worse of all, the targets had escaped.
From the lead car, another figure stepped out. Dressed in black like the others, but he also wore a cloak-like hood over his head with a shimmering pattern that was also on the body suit that he wore. Tactical vest containing ammo for his weapons along with two serrated knives crisscrossed on his lower back allowing for quick access and maneuverability.
A gas mask with neon blue lenses leered out from under the hood as he examined the men all around him. With a shake of his head, he reached up to his ear and activated his personal comm system, "Command, this is Vector...mission objective failed." said the man.
"What happened? You were supposed to infiltrate and execute the targets!" barked a commanding voice over the line.
"Sir, they were expecting an attack. Took us by surprise and exited out of the back of the home, using the nearby park for cover to make their escape. Law enforcement was en route and we had to fall back or risk exposure." said Vector, gritting his teeth in frustration behind his mask at the failure.
There was silence for several long seconds before his superior spoke again. "Return to HQ. We will send a different team to handle the STARS situation. You are to report for a new mission with the rest of your team upon arrival, is that understood?"
Vector nodded, "Yes, sir." he took his hand away from his ear and motioned to the USS operatives around him that they were pulling out. He looked back the way they had come from before glancing down at his vest were a bullet hole was visible, the 9mm round stopped by the kevlar plates under the hardened weave.
His thoughts went back to that moment, he had just reached the top of the stairs in the residence when he was shot. The force of the round knocking him back into the two men that followed him and allowing the targets to escape. The image of the one who had fired at him still very clear in his mind.
'I'll find you, and when I do...you'll pray for death." Vector turned and stepped back into the vehicle, returning to base in order to prepare for his next assignment with the rest of Delta Team.
X
It had been a long trek. But after escaping Umbrella, the STARS had managed to find refuge in Brad's cottage which was a little over a mile from the Burton's home.
Jill expertly picked the lock thanks to a bent safety-pin and one of Rebecca's earrings before ushering them inside. Rebecca taking Barry to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom as he held Chris' t-shirt over a bullet wound in his left arm he had gotten when they fled.
David, Ethan and Chris swept the small home thoroughly. Checking every inch of the two bedroom home until they were sure that the place was secure. The cottage shared a backyard with a security-conscious family, bright lights snapping on outside on the neighbors back door when the Exeter STARS opened the back entrance. And with the other houses around it made a perfect isolated location for a hideout.
The house was furnished simply, although very obvious that the occupant had fled in a panic. Various items were thrown everywhere across the room as though Vickers had been unable to decide what to bring with him when he decided to flee Raccoon City.
And after what had just happened, none of them could blame him anymore for running.
After securing the cottage, the STARS all gathered in the small living room similarly to the way they had done back at Barry's. The bearded man sporting a much better bandage on his arm thanks to the supplies they could find and Rebecca's medical experience. Chris came in soon after with a faded blue hoodie with the arms torn off.
Ethan unslung the HK5 submachine gun he had pilfered off the dead Umbrella operative and laid it on the coffee table as he slumped into a nearby chair. Rebecca coming over and sitting comfortably in his lap with her legs draped over one of the arms, cuddling into his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. Jill came in moments later with a pitcher of water and several mix-matched glasses and started filling them before passing them to the others.
They sat in tense silence, slowly coming down from the ordeal that they had just survived. "Well...that was fun." Ethan said sarcastically, gulping down a couple mouthfuls of water.
"If that was your idea of fun, I'd hate to be around to see what a real party is." David said with a humorless chuckle. He sobered before glancing Barry's way. "Have you thought about what to tell the police?"
Barry shrugged, "We won't have to lie, much anyway. The four of us were at my place, a bunch of guys broke in and tried to shoot us. Simple."
"Irons will probably pass it off as a botched burglary or something like that." Chris sneered. "If he's in this as deep as we believe he is, he won't want to call attention to anything Umbrella's doing."
"Just don't mention actually seeing bodies." said David. "They may have had time to clean up. And you should say that you were chased into the park. It would explain you leaving the scene."
"You just worry about your end, okay?" said Ethan tiredly. "We can handle things here." his grip discretely tightened around Rebecca's waist, she kissed him on the cheek to ease his tension.
The Exeter STARS stood, "We need to get going, our flight is set, and with Umbrella already making their move we're running out of time much quicker than we thought." he looked to Rebecca, "We'll head to your place first, gather whatever you will need and we'll head straight to the airport."
"Becs and I share a place, I'll tag along and provide support." said the profiler. David nodded before turning to everyone else and started shaking hands and offering thanks. Rebecca exchanged various goodbyes with the others while Ethan hung back by the front door with the HK5 in hand as he peered out at the silent streets. When everything was all done the other two stacked up by him as he looked back at his team. "I'll head back this way when these two are on their way to the airport, keep a light on for me."
"Be careful, Ethan. Those guys could still be prowling around out there." Jill warned.
Nodding, he turned back to the door and the three headed out into the night once more. Checking every shadow before making their way toward his and Rebecca's apartment building, staying close to back roads and alleyways to avoid detection. Their minds on high alert every step of the way, though Ethan's thoughts drifted every so often to a fact that made his chest hurt a bit.
In less than an hour, the woman he loved would be gone on a mission where the outcome was unknown to him. And for the first time since coming to this place...he was actually afraid.
X
It took almost forty minutes to reach the apartment building, and thankfully they hadn't run into any trouble while en route. Ethan unlocked the door, letting Rebecca and David inside before closing and locking it behind him. "I'm gonna start packing, be right back." the medic said before heading down the hallway and disappearing into the bedroom.
Ethan laid the HK5 on the bar in the kitchen, taking out his Beretta, knife and spare clips for the guns and laying them all out as well before turning to David as he looked around the couple's home.
"You really think this op will give us what we need to bring Umbrella down?" he asked getting the older man's attention. He already knew the answer, but he needed to take his mind off of things at the moment.
"Can't say for sure, but anything that gives us data on the T-Virus is better in my book." replied the Exeter STARS. His dark eyes locking with Ethan's grey-blue ones, knowing full well that it wasn't just the mission he was concerned about. "You really love her, don't you?"
The traveler sighed, turned to look toward the partly open bedroom door before going back to the man in front of him. "I do, more than anything. And I'd do whatever it took to make sure that she was safe and happy." his gaze hardened as he stood directly in front of David. "I'm putting a lot of trust in you, Trapp. Just, please, make sure that she's kept safe."
David smiled, resting a hand on the teen's shoulder, "I'll make sure she comes back in one piece, I promise." Ethan's shoulders relaxed, reading the seriousness in the man's words and knew that he could trust him to make sure that Rebecca was okay on their assignment.
The girl in question came back into the room, an overnight bag containing spare clothes, her gear, weapons, and medical supplies slung over her shoulder. "I'm all set."
David nodded to her, taking the bag before addressing them both, "Our flight leaves in about two hours, we should get moving if we want to make it in time. I'll give you guys a couple of minutes." he headed to the door and stepped out into the hall to give them some privacy.
When the door closed, Rebecca felt her head turned to the right before a familiar pair of lips pressed firmly against hers. Strong arms going around her thin waist and bringing her into a warm body she was really familiar with.
Her eyes closed, lips moving against the ones kissing her, hands going up and running through the soft-brown hair that she was secretly happy that Ethan decided to let grow out. It was innocent, sweet, and held every single emotion that they had for each other. Neither of them wanted the moment to end, but sadly time wasn't on their side.
Coming up for air, they pressed their foreheads together and stared in each other's eyes. "Promise me you'll be safe." Ethan said feeling a slight constriction in his chest.
"I promise." Rebecca replied, feeling similar in her own chest. "But you have to promise the same. That you'll be here when we get back after the assignment." she got a nod in return and another kiss that ended too quickly for their tastes.
"I've got something that might help us." She said before reaching into her back pocket and producing two wallet sized photographs, both depicting the same image. The two of them together on a warm day almost a week after the mansion incident, Rebecca was in Ethan's arms bridal style with both of them smiling at the one taking the picture.
Ethan took one of the photos and smiled, putting it in his own pocket before turning to his lover. "I'll be here, darlin. Go out there and kick some ass."
Rebecca grinned wickedly, "I intend to." She hugged him close, face burrowed in his chest, "I love you Ethan." He embraced her, afraid to even let her go, "I love you too Rebecca." They stood there in their own world for another minute before it was time for her to go.
Walking them out of the building and watching David hail them a cab that would take them to the airfield, the couple shared one last kiss before they got in and headed down the road. Ethan watched them go, his heart already missing her as he watched the tail-lights disappear around the street corner.
Taking a deep breath and telling himself that he would see her again, he spun on his heel and stormed back into the apartment building. Eyes as hard as ice while his mind turned over what needed to be done. He had plans that needed to be set in motion, and more preparations to make for the coming storm.
And by the end of it all, Umbrella would have no idea what hit them.
A/N: And there it is, along with a twist or two that you didn't see coming. Now alone, Ethan will have to pull out all the stops to help the others survive the coming outbreak as they prepare to strike back against Umbrella. But it won't be easy, then again, dealing with these bastards never is.
Review and the next update will be coming at muzzle velocity.
