Welcome to the Jungle
Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil, only the games! If the title rubs you the wrong way please let me know, it was the best I could come up with, because all I could think of writing this was a Shadowleggy parody about RE5 where "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns 'n' Roses was used, and it would not leave my head
Chapter 1: Partners, or, A Rough Start
"You know Claire would kill you if she knew of your habit, right? And she'd have my ass in a sling for not stopping you." A black-haired male in about his 30's said, as he gave a brief side glance to his traveling companion, another black-haired male, as he was about to light a Camel menthol cigarette with a finger, its tip on fire. Said male chuckled mirthlessly, as he lit the tobacco, the acrid smell filling the Humvee, then leaving out towards the open savannah as he took a long drag, exhaling the smoke afterwards.
"Claire also knows all that shit gets filtered out. At this point she knows my body more than my doctors." He said, taking another drag before looking into the side mirror and sighing. If anyone told me this was gonna be my life after Raccoon City, I would've knocked their damn lights out. Hell, I would've knocked them out if they said anything about the city being nuked. I let out another sigh, taking one last long drag, before a nail sharpened, and punctured his palm, the whole hand lighting on fire, as well as lighting the remains of the cigarette on fire before he held his hand out scattering the ash.
"Don't let Rachael hear you say that. She might kick your ass." The older man chuckled as I gave a light smile. Here we were, being sent to Africa to stop a weapons deal. And because it isn't just any weapons deal, it's a viral weapons deal, I had to be a part of the motley crew sent to stop this thing from happening. Normally it'd be Chris and Jill sent on this type of shit but we lost Jill…God, has it already been three years…? My mind flashed back to the sight of her slamming what appeared to be my Uncle Wesker through a window, his hand ready to pierce through Chris' chest, as I started moving towards the two, my hand outstretched, my P226 dropping out of the other. I was brought back to reality as Chris patted my shoulder.
"I miss her too." He said, slightly gripping the steering wheel tighter as we started seeing the outskirts of the Kijuju Autonomous Zone, our area of operations for this mission. As soon as we started approaching the gate, an African woman I'd probably say was about 22, wearing a slightly low-cut purple shirt and tan pants approached as we stopped right in front of her and got out of the vehicle.
"I'm gonna take a good guess that you two are the North American BSAA agents they sent. I'm Sheva Alomar, BSAA West Africa branch. Your partner for this mission." She said with a bright smile, holding out a hand to shake Chris's as he slightly grimaced, and I crushed the handle closing the door, my jaw clenched.
"...Right. Sorry, Chris Redfield, that's Vincent Birkin." Chris said as he shook out of the stupor, shaking her hand, pointing over to me as I gave a half-hearted air wave before starting to walk up to the gate, the guard, a stern-looking African man wearing sunglasses, a cigar sticking out of his mouth, and an AK47 in hands started walking towards me shouting something, as Sheva sighed and started walking towards me and him, then started moving faster as he started lifting the AK towards me. As the AK was fully lifted towards me, my hand shot out, catching him in the stomach, my other hand gripping the AK barrel, sending him flying and disarming him. He flew a good 5 feet before hitting the gate and falling to the ground, the other guards holding their weapons and pointing them at me as Sheva finally made it to me and started rapid-fire speaking the native tongue as I inspected the weapon. Not in bad shape, surprisingly I didn't crush the barrel taking it from him. I checked the mag and raised an eyebrow before checking the chamber. Dumbass didn't even have a round chambered. As I finished my inspection, Sheva had gently tapped me and pointed from the AK to one of the other guards and I sighed. Damn, I was hoping to be able to keep it.
"Well, seeing as you've proven yet again you're a trouble magnet, can we go at least thirty feet before we cause another incident?" Chris asked, patting me on the shoulder as I handed the guard the gun and we were led through the gate quite promptly afterwards.
"Hey, first off it's his fault for pointing it at me, and secondoff he's the dumbass that didn't even have a round chambered in it. So he's 0 for 2 on both accounts." I said with a shrug as we made it about 15 feet through the gate before I stopped suddenly, and started looking around my nails sharpening. I took in the people walking around and grit my teeth, my instincts kicking in. Fuck me running this isn't good.
"You okay?" Chris asked, looking at me, Sheva's eyebrow raised as I placed my arms around them, making sure I didn't turn them both into pincushions as I started forcibly walking us and moving through the village square as fast as they could.
"They're infected. They're all infected." I murmured as I felt every eye on us as Chris stilled and Sheva looked towards me with a questioning look.
"How can you tell?" She asked as we approached the butcher shop. And as soon as we did, I turned…only for everyone to be gone. What the Hell?
"I figured it would've been in my dossier. Seeing as I'm a walking B.O.W. afterall." I said with a shrug, and Sheva recoiled from me, almost throwing herself to the ground, trying to get away.
"That's not in your file at all!" She shouted at me, picking herself up and stepping away.
"Then it's HQ's fuck-up. I had to do what I needed to. And unfortunately becoming infected with the T-G Virus was what I needed to do. It's been…almost 10-ish years I think?" I said with a nonchalant shrug. I've made my peace with this shit, no reason not to. Even though I knew I was lying through my traitorous teeth. Sheva's jaw just dropped and she stared at me.
"I…but…why…? How?" She sputtered out and I shrugged again.
"Raccoon City. My father created the G-Virus and Umbrella wanted it. Dad said no, and the Outbreak happened. He injected himself with it as a means to keep it from Umbrella and well…he came after me, my sister Sherry, his sister Claire, one of the new cops Leon, and his girlfriend Ada. And in a moment of sheer stupidity, and desperation, I injected myself with the sample that was in my pendant. Our group was one of the few that left that crater alive." I said as we started slowly making our way around the corner for the butcher shop. Sheva had put her hands to her mouth and muttered "Oh God…"
"I'm-" Sheva started as I cut her off with a hand wave and a shake of my head as I started fishing for another cigarette lighting it.
"I've gotten over it." I said simply taking a drag after crushing the little menthol ball. Chris shook his head before smacking my back, comfortingly, as both of them walked through the door, letting me finish my cigarette in quiet as I looked around, feeling eyes on my but seeing nothing. Letting my senses extend only brought about the sounds of the savannah, and the faint sound of people talking near the gates. I shook my head, sighing softly. Already, this is turning out to be a clusterfuck and we just started. I took a deep drag, letting out the small cloud of smoke, the pungent smoke wafting on the breeze as I let out a breath, extinguishing the tip, slipping the other half of the cigarette into my case, saving it for later. Might as well, who knows, maybe it'll be useful later on. Heh, who am I, Solid Snake?
"Vincent, you ready?" Chris called from the door as I nodded, finally entering, tuning out our informant, as I opened the attaché case, looking over my gear. Huh…a Smith and Wesson. The SW1911 actually. Their version of the M1911. Chambered in .45 ACP, 10-round a mag, actually manufactured pretty recently. Within the last year or two I believe. I began handling the gun, getting used to the weight, as I heard a voice sneak up, in the back of my head, freezing me to the spot, a cold chill going down my spine.
"Oh? Using a weapon like that is beneath you, my King." Alexia purred out, the sensations of her fingers ghosting over my skin making me growl quietly. Ever since I awakened to the T-Veronica virus from the Queen Zenobia Incident, her voice has been there always. Insistent, seductive. Rachael isn't too happy about it, but then again neither am I. It's been one of the more sore spots in our relationship. Though she was more understanding when she was told exactly how I happened to get the abilities, not through myself, but more than likely Claire. I shook my head, trying to brush her off, beginning to walk around, her presence lingering, her whispering sweet, seductive nothings into my ear as I finally snarled.
"Shut the fuck up!" I roared out towards her presence right behind me, all conversation in the room quieting as I shook my head walking out briskly, slamming the door shut behind me, her presence finally fading, the last thing I saw was the smirk on her face. Goddamn it all!
"Hey, you okay?" Chris asked, jogging, gently grasping my shoulder, as they dropped with a heavy sigh.
"Just…Alexia being herself." I murmur, shaking my head, Sheva catching up.
"What the hell was that?" She asked as I shook my head, snatching the half-cigarette out of the case, lighting it, pulling on it, swallowing harshly, letting out a sharp exhale.
"Don't worry about it." I said, taking another puff, finally finishing it, crushing the butt under my boot, the thought of using the T-Veronica flames, her flames, churning my stomach. As Sheva opened her mouth, Chris stopped her with his hand outstretched and a shake of his head.
"There's a lot that has happened to Vincent. This is…unfortunately one of the only times we failed him. And we failed quite spectacularly." Chris rumbled quietly, as I looked up my mouth open to protest as he shook his head, making my mouth snap shut as I let out a sigh. Sheva's eyes flickered from mine, to Chris's, obviously on edge. I don't blame her, the most dangerous person on this team, screaming at invisible people? I'd run for the hills too, given the chance. She swallowed harshly, opening her mouth, the next sentencing surprising me, given her actions about 10 minutes ago.
"I…understand if you don't trust me. Given the fact that we're practically strangers, I don't blame you…but please." Sheva asked, quietly, as I sighed, motioning us to continue walking through the back alley that connected to the butchers.
"Back in…the end of '98? I think a couple of days before the New Year, his sister Claire and I had attacked one of the Umbrella Facilities in Paris, and we were brought to an island, controlled by Alfred Ashford. A man we originally thought was psychotic, and cruel, only for it to turn out he was lonely, his sister, Alexia's "death" basically breaking him. Well, come to find out she's not so dead, infected his right-hand man, who we had to kill, and as we're all escaping, gets a hold of me. When I finally woke up, Alexia had told me that no one was coming. That I was hers, and she had infected me with the "King" variant of the T-Veronica virus, basically, making me her counterpart if I survived the bonding. As you can see, I'm still here. For…some amount of time, I really don't know how long…she had me…" I paused at this, balling my hands into fists, tight enough to draw blood, if the dripping fire was any indication as I let out a shaky breath before continuing.
"I will say, for someone that wanted me in a psychotic fashion, I was at least treated well," I let out a choked laugh, the tears gathering but not falling. Not here. "Fed, and watered, and tested on three times a day. Then something apparently scared her. Only to find out, it was Chris, Claire, Steve, and…someone else, coming to rescue me. Alfred had apparently died during their escape, which probably didn't do me any favors." I shook my head, unable to finish. Sheva's hands had flown to her mouth at some point during this, and Chris had turned away, likely doing the same thing I was doing, blaming myself. I walked away from the group as they stopped. I don't need to hear this, don't want to hear this.
"She…she came at us with quite a bit. First it was her mutated father, then herself. We found him in a room right beside her bedroom. It looked like a testing cell. And the only thing he had on? Pants. In fucking Antartica. As soon as he saw us, and that door was open? The way that kid had clung to my sister, then someone else…there's a lot of things that have happened in my life, Sheva. But the way he bawled? The way he gripped them both as if they were his lifeline to reality? He had lost himself somewhere along there, had given up, and it scared him shitless. I honestly believe, if we didn't rescue him then, it would've been too late. What we would've found, none of us wanted to know...I was the one that had finished Alexia off…another failure on my part for not verifying," He paused to let out a grim chuckle before continuing, "Though who would've known you can come back from being atomized by an energy weapon? The details past that, are kind of vague, because I unfortunately had other duties to get back to, so I left him there with my sister, and just…never asked, because I figured I'd be told if something significant happened. It took until Vincent joined the BSAA for me to find out that he had left. And I never brought it up, on principle that both of them were adults, they need to make their own choices, I can't be Captain Caveman whenever Claire gets hurt."
"So when he said he had gotten over it…?" Sheva asked quietly, already having an idea on the answer.
"Never did. And until he actually talks with someone he never will. To put it into perspective just how much he's kept this bottled up? His girlfriend Rachael still doesn't know the full details, only what Claire told her, and she's infected in the same ways he is. The Raccoon City Incident, the Rockfort Island and Antarctic Outbreaks? Those happened within months of each other. Not once did he talk to a shrink. I'm assuming he pushed Claire away to try and protect her, and knowing how much she takes after our parents, and myself, she was stubborn about it, they started arguing and fighting about it and he left. Neither one will say anything, but knowing how they are…" Chris trailed off with a light shrug.
"Are they still friends?" Sheva asked, blinking rapidly, her brain trying to comprehend the, rather condensed timeline of events.
"That's…tricky," Chris started with a long sigh, "They still talk, they're still friendly with each other, I mean for fuck's sake, they're still each others emergency contacts, him being her primary contact, her being his primary up until a couple years ago when he started dating Rachael. Claire's still secondary if for whatever reason Rachael is unreachable. Up until Rachael came into the picture, Claire had his entire medical history on file, and memorized. Even now, Claire and Rachael are best friends and talk constantly. I honestly think they entertained the thought of dating, and then this all happened, and it just dropped from there. Claire still hasn't dated anyone since then. She and Steve never worked out, though they tried. I think that Vincent might've been her first actual heartbreak, and she just simply hasn't gotten over it. I don't know, I don't try to keep tabs on my little sister's love life." He sighed with another shrug, as they finally started to catch up with me. Sheva's mouth opened, and I cut her off, with a harsh shake of my head.
"If the next words are I'm sorry, I'm turning around and leaving. I mean it." I said, my breath coming out in soft pants, wiping away the traitorous tears rolling down my cheeks.
"...Then I won't say it. All I will say is, you're stronger than you think." Sheva said, placing a hand on my shoulder before walking forward, Chris patting my shoulder as he walked by, me heading up the rear as we made our ebay near some stairs hearing a man scream. The first one through the door was Sheva, gun aimed true, before falling, a man pinning another down, some writhing orb in his hands as he shoved it down the man's throat, him gagging and gasping out as best he could, his hands flying up trying to stop the first man.
"Freeze!" Chris shouted, waiting for a moment before firing a round into the first man's head, him falling as the other man turned over coughing and gasping for air, as Sheva ran to him.
"Are you okay?" She asked reaching out as the man finally stopped gasping. His mouth opened…and four tentacles burst from it, Sheva falling backwards scrambling to get away, Chris's gun trained on the man, as the man crossed the short distance, reaching out towards Sheva, him then being blown backwards within the next moment, an ACP round passing through his head into the wall behind, jet black, ooze-like blood spattering onto it, as he fell forwards, landing near her feet, as she backpedaled more, Chris helping her up.
"Anyone have ANY ideas on what the unholy FUCK that was?" I asked, my mind catching up with what the hell just happened. And apparently so were they, because for a good moment, I didn't get an answer…until the gasping man, groaned, getting back to his feet, the other two freezing, as my hand quickly formed a claw, taking his head off with a single swing, before the body began…decomposing? Liquefying? It basically turned into a puddle really quickly. There's no better way to say it.
"I think this is the new bioweapon…it's almost like the Ganados from Leon's Report." Chris said, keeping watch of the first corpse, something I decided to save us the time and trouble of, and took his head off, the corpse doing the same thing seconds afterwards.
"Well, that's comforting and horrifying. So we're gonna have to start expecting worms and tentacles. Great." I said with a sigh, my hand turning back to normal flexing my fingers. My transformations have felt weird lately, that's not good.
"More than likely. There's bound to be more around…and if what you felt earlier was right, then we're not going to run into any friendlies any time soon." Chris said with an explosive sigh, as we opened the window, leaping out of it stepping forward, only to hear the calls of more of the townsfolk, them coming from the alley infront, and from behind. I took the front, the other two getting behind me as I tried making my hand into a claw once again…except this time it not happening.
"Vince, any day now would be great!" Chris called out, his handgun ringing out, another enemy falling as I began backing up, firing a shot or two, them beginning to back up towards the only way we saw forward, a barred door, with a locking bar on it. We went through as fast as we could, and slammed the door shut, slipping the bar through the door, the townsfolk banging on it as Chris turned to me as I stood there looking at my hand, fear written all over my face.
"I can't. Even now I'm trying. I'm going through all my mutations in my head and not a single one is responding." I said quietly, clenching my hand into a fist. Chris gripped my shoulder comfortingly, trying to show he didn't blame me, taking point, me once again taking rear, as we passed through a small tunnel, climbing up the ladder at the end coming into a room with a couple boxes of 9mm, and a box of .45. I ensured my spare mags were loaded, wishing I had my P226 with me, slotting the spares on my chest rig. We made our way through the room, finding ourselves back outside, a small house at the end of a road, the back yard opening into the village assembly. We looked at each other, shrugging some because where else did we have to go. We dropped down the ledge, me catching Sheva as she slipped, making our way into the house, before hearing the loud cheers come from the square. We made our way towards the windows and peeked out. Seeing the remains of the group from before, our informant Reynard being restrained as he struggled in the hands of two of them, before he was forced to his knees, our eyes catching a glimpse of an extremely tall man probably almost 8 foot tall, a giant executioner's axe is his hands, a black hood and apron on, various pins and hooks embedded in his body, a well-dressed man in a black button up, black pants, and sunglasses shouting through a megaphone, the crowd roaring and cheering with approval.
"Fuck you! You can all go to Hell!" Reynard shouted out, as two simultaneous shots rang out from my gun, ending the two Infected holding him, the crowd quieting, all heads turning towards the house, Reynard taking the opportunity and booking it the hell out of there no one stopping you, Chris and Sheva's jaws dropped, as my own horrified look settled, Alexia's ghost smirking as she took her hands off mine, and the trigger as she whispered into my ear, "Good luck", before disappearing.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Sheva cried out as the crowd roaring their displeasure, the man with the megaphone beginning to shout commands, the crowd now beginning to rush the house.
"It wasn't me, I swear!" I shouted out, firing a couple shots at some of the rapidly approaching Infected, as Chris worked on barricading the house as best as he could, finding a hand grenade in a drawer.
"We can deal with that later! More shooting right now, that big guy's getting close!" Chris said firing a round into one of the head's of one of the ones trying to get through the window, a hand grasping the bookshelf before falling backwards, two more taking his place, then three, before we heard a swoosh of air and a loud crash and smash, hearing voices cry out in pain. Guess the executioner is here. Fucking great. I raised my gun before seeing movement out of the corner of my eye, turning slightly, seeing Alexia sitting on the counter nearby smirking, swinging her legs, not a care in the world, watching, a sadistic gleam in her eyes.
"Why lower yourself to the level of these peasants my King? You know what you need to do." She said, slowly walking to me, a sway in her hips, her fingers ghosting slowly across my chest as I shook my head, feeling the virus in my blood cry out, wanting to be used, needing to be used. I, for the most part, gently brushed past her, as she then clung to my back, as another shot, then two rang out. They just don't stop!
"Vincent, focus!" Chris shouted as Alexia leaned forward, whispering into my ear my blood literally growing hotter at the wish of the Queen. Goddammit! Stop!
"Do it Vincent! Use the gift I gave you! Show me why I made you my King!" She purred, as I snarled shaking her off, to which she landed and disappeared in a puff of smoke, her laugh ringing throughout my head, as I gripped my gun tighter, my head hazy, as I shook it trying to clear it, before hearing another crash as the executioner made his way in, Chris lobbing the grenade at hit feet as he walked in, it exploding, taking out the nearby group of townspeople, stunning the executioner, as Chris grabbed me and began dragging me away, Sheva following behind.
"That's not gonna keep him down for long. Any ideas?" Sheva asked, dropping another two villagers, quickly reloading her gun, the spent mag making its way to her hip pouch, as Chris shook his head looking around, as I tried regaining my bearings pointing to the nearby gas cans, someone apparently already being clumsy enough, the spill leading to it being any indication. It might just work.
"Fire." I said simply, my head pounding as I groaned, my blood still crying out for the Queen. Not gonna happen. I'm better than that, I never needed her before.
"It's the best plan we have." Chris said, a harsh sigh as both he and Sheva aimed at the canisters, the executioner beginning to make its way towards us, dual shots ringing out, the gas spill catching fire, making its way to the canisters, before causing a small explosion, us being knocked off our feet from the shockwave, as the executioner let out a muffled scream, his skin catching fire, as Chris's communicator crackled to life.
"Redfield! Kirk here! Help is on the way! ETA 2 minutes!" The voice on the radio said, as Chris struggled to his feet, helping Sheva up, turning to me as I stared almost longingly into the fire. Chris hauled me to my feet, as Sheva began taking shots again, as I reached a hand out, my eyes unfocusing. The nearby flames from the gas cans almost came to life, before becoming a wave of fire, engulfing a group of the villagers as well as the executioner, as Sheva's hands fell to her sides both her and Chris staring at Vincent, the flames dancing around at his control, his hand almost like a conductor's baton. Once the executioner had fallen to the ground, the charred corpse near unrecognizable, a figure formed. A woman, about 5'10, wearing a dress of some kind, as Chris growled out, his gun instantly snapping to attention, firing off a round, the 9mm bullet passing through the section of flame where her head would be, harmlessly.
"Alexia." Chris snarled, her name a venom, as she continued approaching Vincent, his eyes still unfocused, turning to her.
"Redfield. Still you persist in being a nuisance for my King and I? Though I suppose for now, you're a useful nuisance, but a nuisance all the same," She paused, gently grabbing Vincent's chin as Chris growled holding the gun level with her head, not yet pulling the trigger as she continued, a saccharine smile on her lips, "Until he learns to accept my gift in the spirit it was given, he will not have access to his regular…abilities, if one must call them that." She spat, her eyes never leaving Vincent's as she…almost lovingly stroked his cheek.
"Gift? You mean the gift you forced on him?" Chris grit his teeth, his finger on the trigger, even though knowing it'd do no good. Alexia snarled, a spray of fire heading towards Chris, who rolled out of the way, the ground where he stood catching for a moment before being snuffed out., with an almost insect-like hiss.
"How dare you! I should kill you where you stand, but I wouldn't want to upset my King. This is not the last time we will see each other. Until the next I'm forced to deal with you, peasants." She spat, turning her head away, her body dispersing, igniting another nearby group, Vincent's eyes finally refocusing, as Chris's communicator finally crackled to life, the nearby gate being blown off its hinges, another rocket hitting the remaining group of Infected, blasting them away with a scream.
"Sorry, bad traffic! Seems you've got this handled from here! Alpha Team is almost at the deal coordinates, I'm gonna fly ahead and provide support!" Kirk said as he began flying forward, the last thing we heard from him being a loud 'Yee-haw!', Vincent falling to his knees with a low groan, blood dripping from his nose, not spontaneously combusting.
"How do you feel?" Chris asked, helping me up, as I nodded slowly, the room still spinning, and a tingle in my body, using a napkin in my pocket to clean the blood up.
"Head hurts…what the hell happened?" I asked in a quiet grumble, afraid if I talked any louder my head would explode.
"...Alexia made an appearance. Yeah, you were right. She put your powers on lock-down until you 'accept her gift'." Chris said, as my expression must've turned horrified, my stomach churning, before I stumbled behind the bus emptying my stomach contents, gripping the frame of the bus with a shudder. Chris came up rubbing my back, a bottle of water in hand, some mints in the other, both of which I took gratefully, cleaning out my mouth, popping a tablet in. I should've just told HQ to shove this mission up their asses. This shit just got a hell of a lot more complicated.
CHAPTER 1 END!
It's been a long, long while. This past year or so, has been a thing to say the least. This one's been on the backburner for a while, this one obviously taking place during RE5. Was a pain in the ass figuring out dates that lined up with the story, as well as ensuring they fit properly, but I'm only human so if there's a mistake, please let me know. And seeing as it's been a while since I've updated anything on Fanfiction, when the Hell did the document life change to a year versus, what was it, 2, 3 months? Gotta say I like that as a change, though it took long enough. Anyways, onto the important stuff.
First, this is gonna be some heavy shit. It is also my attempt at incorporating heavier stuff. Most of this is gonna be where Vincent is trying to grow into himself fully once again (Basically his normal self like in Rise of the Abyss), coping after Jill's death (something he thinks is his fault and not being able to prevent it), Wesker's betrayal, accepting the fact that unfortunately, Alexia is still alive, her location is unknown, and that the two are bonded through her injecting him with the "King" strain of the T-Veronica virus, and it awakening fully at the end of Rise of the Abyss, as well as the strain it's putting on his and Rachael's relationship, something Rachael is understandably upset about, as well as understanding the decision was out of his hands.
Second, a lot of the treatment that Vincent had suffered at Alexia's hand, he glossed over, because he never actually got help for any of it, and never actually had, I don't want to say cope, but more so never actually did the Persona 4 thing, and faced it head-on. Mainly because, who could? In his mind, how does one help someone who was forcefully injected with a virus, specifically the variant meant to be the counterpart and complement to it, kept for an unknown amount of time due to everything blurring together and Alexia never keeping a record, time or research, when "testing", being experimented on and used in God knows what ways? Especially when they're angry with themselves because of it, and pushing people away, thinking it's for the best to save them from his, in this case, firmly bottled up pain? Simple answer, it's difficult and was going to take a lot of time that Vincent didn't allow himself to use, and just did as described. In the abridged words of Walter from Hellsing Ultimate Abridged, he bottled it up, said three Hail Mary's, tossed it to the back of his mind, where it could fuck off and never be dealt with…until it blew up spectacularly, namely these last couple years after Revelations/The Queen Zenobia Incident.
Third, mainly another reason why the relationship between himself and Claire never went anywhere, was because he felt like he couldn't talk about it, a mix of him being stubborn and trying to move on past what has essentially been a very traumatic last couple months between losing both parents, him leaving Sherry behind to, in his mind, not paint a target on her back (He does find out later that, that hadn't helped whatsoever, so I guess technically you can add that to the growing list of things he feels guilty for), and then being experimented on by a mad-woman, and then throwing all of that basically onto a, for simplicity's sake, 20-year old's shoulders? Because fun fact, if you weren't aware, while we're never given an exact date of birth for Claire, she's 19 in the OG RE2 and CVX. Yeah, that's a lot to take in and put on someone who's just entering adulthood. Granted yes, she was by his side the entire time up to that point, but in his mind, he's protecting her by not letting her in. So he chose the hard route, and essentially broke it off, and left. Something she will give him grief for whenever I decide to get around to doing Revelations 2, and yes it will be done. Honestly, kinda has to, seeing as Gina is there. How I plan on doing it? Hell if I know at this moment.
But man, this Author's Note really dragged on a lot longer than I was expecting it to. That's pretty much it for now. I should hopefully be writing more, and I will try not to let this fall into Writer's Block-Hell, like Game of Oblivion pretty much has. I might get back to it at some point, but after losing the next chapter because of device failure kinda killed my drive for it. Especially since it's pretty much being summed up, albeit quickly, here. I might try banging out the last couple chapters for it, because we pretty much are in the end game there, seeing as Chris made his debut early, so no need to go back for a technical 3rd time. So, I guess we'll just have to wait and see, who knows, might get a wild hair going, just like I did with this. Regardless, this rant-style thing has gone on long enough, so like always, read and review!
Keep Calm and Read on, RavynShadowheart