Story Title: Build a God, Then We'll Talk

Summary: He's a secret agent, and she's gone off the deep end, then there's the presidents daughter, some strange 'Police man' by the name of Luis and the chick in red. Life could hardly get more complicated. OH! Did I mention the crazy guys in bath robe's?

Rating: T

Warnings: Swearing, both creative and traditional.

Author Notes: Yup, no idea bought the title. Kinda dont have a clue thar. Sorry about the delay, had alot of school crap to deal with. Still do. Also, hate Garradors hate even more that you have to turn your back to the first one it get it to move. So, now done with that Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and A wonderful holiday season to all regardless of religion. May the season of giving be upon yeh! *Tosses all cyber treats*

Disclaimer: I own A Umbrella, doesnt that make me evil or rich. Only crazy, because I never use it... Regradless of the excessive amount of rain that falls in my general area of residence. But it would be nice wouldnt it?

Chapter 9: Bondage

By: Tamuril Telrunye A.K.A Bamvivirie

I felt my body seize again, twitching it seemed to move on its own, thrashing about uncontrollably as my body tried to find a way to alleviate the pain. And as suddenly as it started it was gone, leaving behind only the dull ache of strained muscles, accompanied by a painful hitch in my throat as I tried to breath. I was on the ground, Leon and Ashley on either side as I lay there.

"Trouble?" Leon asked, concern filling his voice as I felt him slip his hand under my back helping me to sit up.

"I'm" I paused gulping down a lump of... Something in my throat, something that brought the taste or copper to my mouth even as I forced it away "I'm fine, just tired."

Even Ashley looked concerned, as I got my feet under me to stand.

"Maybe you should take it easy?" Ashley said wringing her skirt between her fingers.

"No," I said, "We have to go, and I cant hold us up. The sooner this is over the better."

I didn't tell them that I didn't think it would be over soon, or if it was it would end a lot sooner then anyone would have liked. The taste of copper hit my tongue again, and I rolled it around in my mouth before gathering it on my tongue, grabbing a napkin from my bag I spit into it while Ashley and Leon weren't looking.

Ashley and Leon walked up the steps as I dawdled behind, jumping when a massive wall slammed up in between us and the end of the next hallway. I tossed the napkin into the corner before jogging to catch up to them.

"Great," I bringing my gun out. "Now we get to go all Indiana Jones on the place... Don't suppose you have any explode bits eh James Bond?"

"Nope, unfortunately." Leon said as he glared at the wall, shoving something- things further into his attache case. Ashley fidgeted a bit as I noticed something else that was odd. What the hell was a type writer doing here? WTF Odd people are ODD.

"Well, there are two other doors." I said before doing an impromptu inny meany bit.

"I cannot believe we are relying on your skills of random." Ashley said as I picked the door to our right.

"What? Its worked out before!"

"I for one am not going anywhere you inny, meany, miney, moe." She said heading towards the door on the left. A quick tug rewarded her with the knowledge that it was indeed locked and she let out a little huff before glaring back at me. I sighed as I twisted the handle, mock bowing the two of them into the room not bothering to look back. As I tried in vain to keep my mind from dwelling on the bloodstained napkin sitting in a lonely corner of the empty hall.

The door had opened into a large looking foyer like room, two large columns surrounded by stone supports taking up the majority of the room with an of-shoot to our left leading to a locked metal door, and another leading onward. A quick inspection of the room revealed nothing important although I did manage to knock a painting off the wall in one of my epic show's of clumsiness.

Almost like the time I tripped over my cat Boozer on the stairs, went flying and ended up landing on my toosh in my half filled laundry basket. I totally blame Boozer, he has it out for me.

I do hate my luck most of the time, it leads to the weirdest predicaments.

Like the one I am currently mired in, you know crazy guys, torches, El Gigante, yeah fun times. Remind me to send them a thank you card... Attached to the pipe bomb I am determined to learn to build specifically for said purpose.

You know, I may just have issues. Just maybe.

We walked through the strange room quietly, and I couldn't help but think that they felt the same twinge of wrong that seemed to permeate the room. Smothering any positive emotion with apprehension and misery, yes something was definitely wrong here. I felt a faint stirring in my abdomen, almost like the butterfly's in your stomach feeling that you get from riding Teacups for awhile, before I felt my blank eyed gaze settled on the room below this one.

You could see it thorough the way the room was set up was very strange, one area the area set below was cut off by the steel door. But you could still see into the room due to the open window like area along the left side of the room. It wasn't terribly easy to describe, but was a bit like ballroom.

A ballroom with from what I could see, a bell to one side and a cage set in the wall not far from it... Perhaps not a ballroom then, for the cold grey stone that was used for this portion of the castle spoke more of a prison. I shivered at that thought, and backed away from the windowish area, ignoring the strange almost breathing like noise from below.

A little way from me, Leon was reading a piece of paper a note that had been attached to the wall not to far from us.

"Trouble," he said moving towards me, "What do you make of this?"

Capture Luis Sera

I have confirmation that Sera has entered the castle.
Why he would during his escape leaves me to question
his motives. But we must seize this moment and capture
him.

We will get the other three Americans after we apprehended
Sera. It appears he took some vaccine's when he stole our "sample".
The vaccines we can do without but we must retrieve the "sample"
for its our life blood.

I feel there is somebody else or some other group involved in this
whole affair.

If the "sample" were to get into the hands of that other entity, the
world which we seek to create will not come. We must apprehend
Sera as quickly as possible.

Hu, I KNEW that smarmy Spaniard was up to something! We would have WORDS! Was of course my first thought, but I as I pondered on it further I couldnt help but feel as though it was... Too strait forward.

"I think they meant for us to find it," I said, flipping the note over before looking back at the other side again, "I also think they're telling us the truth, at least partially. Luis may very well have been working for them, but he doesn't seem to be agreeing with what they are doing."

"You think he's on our side?" Leon said sceptically.

"Nooooo, not precisely." I said biting my lips and pulling at them. Stupid anxiety. " I think he's on the side that suits him best, I couldn't honestly say I trust him. But then again I barely know him, and with you as the rare exception I never trust anybody fully until I have their 'number' so to speak."

He ran his fingers through his hair as Ashley stood behind us, clearly put out about our excluding her from the conversation. I turned to the route ahead and twitched at the only thing blocking our path.

What was it you ask?

Not some conventional door, or gate no.

A fricken wall of FLAME!

And what more unusual? That the flame was emitting from the mouths, or was it the nostrils? Of two horse/donkey statues, I refused to get close enough to tell the difference. I took to staring at the flames while grumbling under my breath about flaming asses and whither or not I could do something to get past them.

"Don't even think about it Trouble," Leon said, all business.

"Yeah, dont be stupid." Added Ashley, as I turned my glare of doom up a notch and pointed it in her direction.

"What make you think imma do something stupid?" I asked, plainly put out.

"Because I recognize that look on your face you nutter, I know what your thinking and I do not approve. " Leon said before my brain for some reason, fed me the mental image of Leon stamping my thoughts to ensure quality. "If I have to tie you up, I will."

"Kinky as that sounds," I said spotting something shiny off to my right, as Leon groaned "I think I will have to pass."

I pointed grinning, and Leon stared at what I had just noticed myself. A painting, of a man holding a hunting pistol, and a key. Only the key wasn't painted on, it was hooked on in an elaborate optical illusion that made it seem as though it was painted on. Ok, so maybe you had to hand it to these people, they were at least creative. And optical illusions, regardless of their purpose were always a work of brilliance. Such complex simplicity, you can stare at something all day and not see the purpose unless you know how to look.

"Well I'll be," He walked toward the portrait moving to take the key, pausing for a moment to look around before grabbing and yanking. We all waited with baited breath as we expected some horrible doom to befall us, but nothing happened. Nothing moved, no hidden booby traps, nothing. Was kinda ominous in and of itself, as it were.

"Where do you suppose it goes?" Ashley asked, looking at it.

"Well, there are two obvious answers to that question." I said looking at Leon.

"The door down or the door that Ashley tried to open?" Leon said, staring at it hard. "Either way, we'll try both. One's on the way, so its not like were losing much time by doing so."

"Sounds like a plan to me." I said.

"Yeah, but then so does running and screaming," Ashley said, and I was alarmed to discover I felt the same way.

The key was indeed to the heavy steel door, that opened to reveal a long stone staircase down into the room I had been looking into only minuets before, and I couldn't help but think something was off. My chest, or rather the area in-between my chest and my stomach throbbed dully causing my hand to inch upwards in unconsciously. I really was not up for another round of convulsions right now, thanks all the same.

Leon paused at the top of the stairs, as if noticing something and I did the same. I put a hand up to stop Ashley, and cocked my head to the side as I noticed something. A faint sound, almost like... Breathing.

"Do you hear that?" Leon asked, and I nodded in reply putting my finger to my lips. I followed him as he walked slowly down the stairs, Ashley not far behind. We hit the ground floor, and I noticed that it was at least fifteen feet to the little window area that I'd been peering down from. Another couple of steps gave me the sight of a few stack of crates, and of all the odd things, a bell- no two bells. One placed at either side of the room.

Leon motioned with his head, and I picked up on the direction of the breathing. It was coming from behind a pillar, a pillar that was in turn cluttered with crates and standing just in front of something that looked far to much like a prison cell for my tastes.

Leon and I moved towards it, while Leon waved Ashley off. Pointing towards the far corner, or rather to be more specific, the corner that stood just a few feet from a bell and a pile of crates, just below the windows. She crept over without complaint, as we moved around the pillar, taking in the sight before us.

And then my brain stopped. I am not lying either, my brain just stopped. Because I couldn't be seeing what I was seeing. Because my brain couldn't grasp what I was seeing, it had passed go collected two hundred dollars and kept running. That bastard. It was one of those instant denial things, like what happens when you go to a Haunted House during Halloween, and the room is so faked out an painted up that you don't even think of believing it because its so fantastically unbelievable. The only given problem with this concept at the moment however was, that it was not fake. One often underestimates the length their brain will go to deny something. I had never had this problem before, or at least not in this context. I was always believe, accept, and move on.

It made my life easier to just believe, and be disappointed later. Man did this ever screw with my world view. I should perhaps explain what I was so adamantly trying to not accept?

A man, or what once must have been a man. Who was now definitely NOT a normal man anymore, because he had to be somewhere around eight feet tall totting a steel trap over his head, and wolverine like claws attached to each arm. A chain was wrapped around him, securing him to the wall via what looked like an old fashioned rack. You know, the Spanish inquisition kind? No one expects the Spanish inquisition.

Okay, to much Monty Python not enough pay attention or I'm gonna get hurt.

I crept closer as Leon gave me a look, and I gave him another look. He was chained to a wall, behind a prison door to boot, what could he possibly do breath on me?

I moved up against the bars, and looked closer noting that his eyes weren't shut by his own choice. Probably the only way to disable him enough to get him in here. I know you have to blindfold horses sometimes to get em to do things, although this was a little more extreme then blindfolding a horse to get it past something that spooked it.

A breath, and a twitch was all the warning I got before I found myself flatted underneath the heavy metal that once was a door, and now wasn't. Before the sound of breaking chains accompanied by Ashley's shriek and Leon's long string of curses split the air. I shoved at the door trying to get it off of me, but wheezed as its weight increased exponentially due to the sudden added weight of the monster that had been behind it.

The thing seemed to use the door as a launching point, slashing its claws out in Leon's direction, as Leon dropped down and rolled under them. A feral shriek rent the air, escaping from the creatures mouth as Leon dodged back around the pillar.

Ashley let out a high pitch screech, turning white as the creature turned towards her dropping down into a crouch before setting off at a speed that was not natural to something of that size.

"ASHLEY!" I and Leon yelled in unison, Leon let off a shot hitting it in the back. It staggered to a halt for a moment, stunned? I couldn't tell.

"ASHLEY! CLIMB THE GODDAMN CRATES!" I screamed from my place of temporary imprisonment. And she seemed to agree that it was a good idea, as the creature spun from where he was turning toward me in instead.

Oh shit.

Ashley scaled the crates in record time, before one upping my idea and leaping for the thin lip the sat below the windows. Good idea, I might actually commend her if I don't get TRAMPLED TO DEATH!

I struggled again with the door, grunting with the effort but to no avail. It was just to damn heavy to get off me without someone else's help, and then an idea hit me. I shoved a bit squirming to the far side as the creature began another death run, this time in my direction. Leon moved to shoot it, enraging it more as it moved. It was ten feet from me now.

Five feet.

And then its foot was hitting the edge of the door, pressing down on that side as I pressed up on the other. Popping it up and into the creatures shins and kneecaps, and probably cause a great deal of damage as I crab walked away before leaping to me feet and making a b-line for Ashley's safe haven.

I moved like a creature possessed as I heard it stagger before yelling again, then the clacking of the chain around its neck as it dropped down. Down into the crouch it made before sprinting. And I hit the edge of the first box, and I went UP and then the second box, then the third. Then I was clawing at the thin stone lip while Ashley dragged at my arm, climbing the wall like an alien on steroids.

I felt the box give under me as its claw hit strait on, but it didn't matter because I wasn't there anymore. Another short range out, this time the loud report of Leon's rifle and the thing screamed in pain as it tried to free its claws from the wall. I gulped as I clutched both Ashley, and the edge of the window that allowed us to stay where we were, a welcome handhold that kept us in place.

A third shot range out, and it proved to be the last as the thing fell to its knee's with a groan.

"You can both come down now." Leon said, reassuring but tired smile on his face.

"No we cant." I said, as I an Ashley looked at the ground that seemed miles away.

"What?"

"To high!" I said in a high pitched whimper.

A/N: So, Leon finally calls it as it is with Trouble. And then all hell breaks loose as the plot thickens nicely.