A/N: Another slow going, and a relatively short chapter, but one that has been well worth waiting for in my opinion.

Now we enter the 'Code Veronica' arc. And as many fans of the series know this is quickly leading up to the apex of Umbrella's collapse. But if we all know Ethan, then you know that they are coming down hard.

But enough gab, let's get started!

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil.

"Choices made, whether bad or good, follow you forever and affect everyone in their path one way or another." - J.E.B. Spredemann

Ethan's POV:

After another day of recovery, and roughly 11 hours in the air, we finally made it to Paris, France. A sense of relief went through us all when we finally reached where the others had been all this time.

Claire had been eager to go out and look for Chris, but David and I reminded her and everyone else that we still needed to keep a low profile. Even more so now that we were so close to Umbrella's main headquarters.

It took three days before we had managed to track down Chris, Barry and Jill. They'd been staying in a small motel on the outskirts of the city, getting the lay of the land and what intel they could on the facility we would all soon be raiding.

The reunion was heartfelt, to say the least. Claire hugged her brother and refused to let him go for anything. Jill and Barry hugged Rebecca and I with the same enthusiasm, none of them really knowing what had happened to us after we all separated.

After introducing John and Leon, we all crammed ourselves into the one room our three friends had been sharing and had a sit down. David told the others about what happened in Maine, While I talked about what happened in Raccoon City after they had left. Everything leading up to our raid on the Planet, and the code book we retrieved that would give us an edge.

I had also told Chris, Jill and Barry the same story I gave the others about my abilities. They were shocked, no surprise really, and they had a lot of questions that I answered as truthfully as I could.

In the end, they still accepted me. Chris had patted me on the shoulder and said that I was still the same little smartass genius they met months ago, and that would never change.

When everything was out in the open and everyone was caught up, we started to plan our next step; breaking into Umbrella HQ and aquiring anything and everything they had about White-Umbrella's experiments.

But first we needed a better hideout, one that would work better than a cramped motel room.

Thankfully, Oracle had contacted me in the days we were looking for the others. The coordinates to the place he had mentioned when we spoke back in the states were sent to me and I informed the others about it.

When they asked me how I got the place, I told them that a good friend from college owed me a favor and came through with no questions asked. They accepted it, and we moved ourselves and all our gear to the four bedroom, two bath house.

Oracle definitely went all out for us.

We went to work immediately, comparing notes and scouting out the large building, all of us coming up with a plan that would get us inside. A week later, we prepared ourselves and infiltrated the Umbrella HQ...

...Then everything went to hell.

The code book we had nearly lost our lives to get only managed to get us inside, after that we discovered that none of the codes inside worked anywhere that was classified. And within minutes of figuring this out, Umbrella Security Services were on us like locusts.

After all the times we managed to get the drop on them in the past few months, the company had managed to prepare for a sudden attack on their HQ. Changing all of the codes when they realized that Reston's book had been lifted, beefing up security...they'd been waiting for us.

Our infiltration mission became a whole different fight for survival, the eight of us had to shoot our way out through the seemingly endless numbers of Umbrella's private army.

We were forced to split up, dividing our enemies attention so that we could get away...and somehow luck had been on our side as we managed to get away relatively in one piece.

But not all of us were so lucky.

When our separated team managed to get back to the safe house and regroup, we quickly realized one of our own was missing.

Claire had been captured by Umbrella.

Jill, who was nursing a bullet wound in her leg, told us that when she, Claire and John split off from the group they'd been ambushed by another squad of USS. Claire had managed to give them an opening to escape via a large explosion, but they had somehow lost sight of each other in the blast.

Chris had been beside himself, he had just barely gotten his little sister back and she was ripped away from him by Umbrella. Leon was in a similar state, he and Claire having gotten really close since Raccoon City. Both of them felt helpless, all of us did.

For over a week we all sat in the safe house, a couple of us recovering while the rest simply waited for any new information to come light. Our anger and thirst for retribution on the corproration mounting with each passing day.

Umbrella took one of our own, and we were prepared to go through hell to get her back.

X

In the back room of the Paris safe house, Chris and Ethan both sat silent and tense as they reloaded rounds into clips for the team's weapons.

Occasionally, the traveler would look at the man across from him. No one in their group was sleeping right ever since Claire had been taken, the fear of whether or not she was alive weighing heavily on them.

"She's alive." Ethan told himself mentally. "Many things may have changed, but I know Claire's alive out there." He looked at Chris, and knew full well that he had been telling himself everyday for the last ten days that his sister was still alive.

But knowing that Umbrella had captured her, that his little sister might already be dead ... it was killing him, eating him up inside. It was all he could do not to barge into Umbrella's headquarters with a couple of machine guns and start demanding answers, even knowing that it would be suicide. Ethan couldn't blame him, he would have done the same.

Ever since the botched mission at the Umbrella Headquarters, everyone in the safe house had been keeping busy as best they could. Rebecca had been tending to Jill, who had been shot in the left leg during their escape, and reviewing all the notes they had gathered on Umbrella's viruses.

Barry, John and David had been talking to a few people they knew around Europe, trying to dig up any information and restocking their supplies. Which was where the three older men currently were now.

Ethan and Leon each took turns monitoring Umbrella's message traffic. The traveler had always been good with computers, but he never thought the former rookie cop would have decent amount of hacking skills of his own. They would alternate shifts off and on as they tried to catch something they could use.

Or anything on Claire's wereabouts.

As for Chris, he just kept their weapons cleaned and combat ready. Jill would keep him company and talk to him from time to time, but until Claire was found and brought back he would remain tense and stressed to the max until they finally heard something.

Finishing yet another clip and moving onto another, Leon's voice shouted urgently from down the hall. "Chris, Ethan, get in here!"

The two former STARS looked at each other, Ethan seeing the fear and worry clear on Chris' face, and they both stood up. Chris hurriedly led the way down the hall to where Leon was working, the traveler on his heels. A small part of him praying that it wasn't bad news.

When they got to the room, they found the young cop was standing next to the computer, his expression unreadable.

"She's alive," Leon said simply.

Ethan could almost see the tension wash off of Chris like a wave. Like his heart had suddenly been released after being gripped hi a vise for ten days, the sense of relief as physical as it was emotional, his skin flushing with it.

The former point man grinned, but it was soon slipping at the cop's carefully neutral expression. There was something else.

Before he could ask, Leon motioned at the screen, taking a deep breath. "They've got her on an island, Chris...and there's been an accident."

Chris was leaning over the computer in a single stride, Ethan right over his shoulder as they read the brief message twice, the reality of it slow to sink in.

Infection trouble approximately 37S, 12W following attack, perps unknown. No bad guys left, I think, but stuck at the moment. Watch your back, bro, they know the city if not the street. Will try to be home soon.

Chris stood up, silently locking gazes with Leon, his expression worried again.

"She can take care of herself, Chris." Ethan said after rereading the massage again. "I was with her through Raccoon, she takes after you more than you know. And if she's able to send a message to us, she must have broken out of where they were holding her."

"And with another viral spill on their hands, Umbrella won't be able to notice her too well." added Leon.

Chris nodded absently, mind already working on what he would need for the trip. The coordinates she'd listed put her in an incredibly isolated spot, deep in the South Atlantic, but he had an old Air Force buddy who owed him, could jet him down to Buenos Aires, maybe Capetown. He could rent a boat from there, survival gear, rope, medkit, an assload of firepower.

"You're not going alone." said Ethan, accurately reading his expression. "I'm coming long."

"Me, too," Leon said.

Chris shook his head. "No, absolutely not."

Both younger men started to protest, and Chris raised his voice, talking over them.

"You saw what she said, about Umbrella homing in on me, on us," he said firmly. "That means we have to relocate, maybe one of the estates outside the city, someone has to stay here, wait for Barry's team to get back and help Rebecca move Jill safely, and someone else needs to scout out a new base of operations."

Chris looked between the two. "Somebody's got to mind the shop, Barry's the man. He's got the experience and knows all the contacts. But I can't leave him to do it alone."

"No, you need some form of backup." Ethan said critically, "One person going in and out as quiet as possible sounds good, in theory, but if you get caught, or killed, not only will we lose Claire but you as well. We don't have enough people on our side to lose even more."

Seeing Chris preparing to argue his point even more, the traveler cut him off at the pass,"If you won't do it for yourself, think about Claire. If Umbrella sent a clean up crew for the situation then they will be actively looking for survivors. You need someone watching your back."

The point man was frowning, but didn't push with the logic in the discussion. Ethan always had a way of turning the end result of an argument to a different perspective, he chalked that up to the kid's genius.

"It's either me or Leon, but you're not leaving the safe house without someone." the traveler hit home, waiting for the older man's answer.

A whole minute ticked by before Chris finally sighed, "How does Rebecca put up with you again?"

"It's give and take." replied Ethan, turning to Leon who he could see he was working up to it another argument about going along. "We'll bring her back, Leon. But we need people guarding home base."

Leon hesitated, then nodded, high color burning in his cheeks, making Chris wonder exactly how close Leon and his sister had become. But decided to question his intentions with he when they got back

"I guess it's settled, then," Chris said. "Leon, find me a good map of the area, geographical, political, everything, you never know what might help. Also post back to Claire, just in case she gets another chance to check for messages, tell her Ethan and I are on the way. Ethan, pack major influence, but lightweight, something we can hike in without too much trouble."

"Already making a mental check-list." replied Ethan.

All three men nodded, turned away to get started, and Chris closed his eyes for just a second, quickly offering up a silent prayer.

"Please, please stay safe until I get there, Claire." It wasn't much, but then, Chris had the feeling he would be praying a lot more in the long hours to come.

A hand on his shoulder had him looking at Ethan again, "We'll get her back." he said with steel determination. One that Chris knew served the teen well through every nightmare they had faced up to this point

Nodding firmly, the duo got to work getting what they needed.

X

The good news got around the safe house quickly, the stress that had been affecting everyone ever since Claire had been captured faded a great deal. But was replaced with more than a little worry when the girls heard that Chris and Ethan were going out to bring her home.

"Are you sure that you two won't need anyone else?" asked Rebecca as Ethan moved about their shared room, gathering a small pack together for the trip. "The rest of us would be more than willing to join you."

"Jill still needs to heal and you're the only doctor we got, darin'." the traveler replied. "And even though Barry can hold down the fort, if Claire was right in her message, we need to have everyone ready encase Umbrella decides to pay a visit until we can switch safehouses."

His lover sighed, "I know. It's just that after..." she stopped, eyes widening before she covered her mouth and ran into the small bathroom connected to their room.

Ethan dropped what he was doing and followed quickly, finding her on her knees infront of the toilet as she threw up whatever she had eaten for lunch into it. Kneeling down beside her, he rubbed her back gently while brushing her bangs out of her face.

Rebecca had been like this for a couple days. It started with her becoming tired at random points and feeling feverish, then the vomiting started. She assured him that it was just some stomach bug that was passing through and he had nothing to worry about.

Regardless, Ethan still worried.

When the biochemist was finished, she flushed and rinsed her mouth out before being pulled into the traveler's chest with a firm hug. "I don't have to go. Leon would be more than happy to take my place." he muttered into her hair.

"I'm fine, Ethan." Rebecca said, he stomach finally settling as she nuzzled into his chest. "And if there was anyone to ensure Chris stayed out of trouble it's you. Even though we trust Leon, we all know that you'll do everything possible to get everyone home."

They stood there for another minute before returning to the bedroom. Rebecca helping Ethan finish packing before making their way down to the bottom floor where Chris and the others were waiting.

Jill in the process of hugging the older man, her bandaged leg hindering her a bit but Chris had no trouble picking her up and holding her off the ground.

"As if the two of them couldn't be more obvious." Ethan thought with a knowing smirk, Rebecca sharing his look and thoughts as they joined everyone else.

"Make sure you both come back in one piece." the former B&E expert said, Leon supporting her weight and keeping her off her bad leg.

"Well be back before you know it," replied Chris, "All three of us."

Leon nodded, "I'll keep an ear on the transmissions. If there's anyway to give you guys a heads up I'll figure it out."

Rebecca leaned up and gave Ethan a deep kiss, "I love you." she said pulling back.

"Love you too, darlin'." the traveler said back, giving her another kiss before he and Chris stepped out of the safehouse into the cool night air. The duo climbing into the black sedan they had procured a while back before pulling out of the small driveway and heading toward the airport where Chris' contact was waiting for them.

X

After getting in contact with a couple of old friends of Chris', we were on a plane to South America within the hour. Resting during the flight before we arrived in Capetown where another associate of his was waiting for us.

Chartering a small fishing boat, and after getting a few more weapons and ammo, we set off to the coordinates via the maps Leon gave us before. The two of us preparing for what was coming.

Even though I knew what to expect, and what Claire was going through on her own by this point, I was more than ready to face what would be waiting for Chris and I...

I just wasn't expecting another, unwelcome, familiar face to greet us during this rescue op of ours.

A/N: As previously stated, it was a short chapter, but with what's coming things will be worth the effort.

I know a lot of you were expecting more about the attempt on Umbrella HQ, but I figured after all the wins the STARS had been given they were due for a loss at some point. Awesome they may be, but perfect they are not. And Umbrella is more than able to adapt to those that are attempting to take them down. Hence why the Codebook became moot so quickly.

Given that this will be from Chris' point of view during the CV arc it won't be as long, but the amount of action and badassery will still be very much present. And you can bet that a very expected reunion/faceoff is coming. So be ready.

Update coming soon.