Evicted (A Resident Evil Story)

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 1

Author's note: You'll find that some things are different from the teaser. That's because I wrote the teaser before I had completely planned out Evicted. Anyway, here you go.

---

January 17, 2004 Washington D.C, United States of America

"To another successful mission!" the teams that were off duty raised their glasses before gulping down their choice of liquor.

"Everything good?" Chris asked Jill as he sat down beside her.

"I was this close to getting the intel I needed," Jill sighed, draining her shot before signaling the bartender for a refill. "Wesker is out there, somewhere, and he's done God only knows what to Mark."

"Jill, you've got to just let it go," Chris shook his head. "There is no way that Mark is still alive, we both know how much Wesker hated him."

"I left him alone in Raccoon," Jill stared Chris in the eyes. "I should have known better."

Jill left the full shot glass behind and stalked off, the rest of the group continuing to celebrate as the door closed behind her.

"That doesn't look like it went well," Rain slid into Jill's spot, taking the shot of whiskey and throwing it back.

"You can say that again," Chris sipped at his beer. "She's gonna come around."

"I'm not sure about that," Rain shook her head. "She's been looking for close to five years now. I doubt she'll give a grudge like that up."

"I just hope she doesn't end up dead in a ditch somewhere," Chris looked at the celebrating teams. "Wanna go join in the fun?"

"Yeah," Rain smirked. "I'm gonna drink you under the table."

"LSK's buying this round!" J. D. called out. "We finally managed to get him to pass both his driving and pilot's license tests!"

"I swear it's not my fault that things cause me to crash," Leon muttered as he sunk his head into his hands. "There's always something else that happens."

"To Leon not crashing anymore!" they all downed their drinks.

"Well, I think the future is going to be alright," Chris grinned and began laughing with the two teams. "We've got a good team here."

---

"You ready?" Ada asked, her weapon concealed via a garter holster underneath her red dress.

"I'm blending in as one of the serving staff," Jill replied with a smile and a shake of her head. "You've got the hard part."

"Wait five and then go through the server's entrance," Kaplan instructed into a small earpiece. "We arranged for one of them to be absent. You're the replacement."

"Got it," Jill replied. "You'll be alone for a bit, Ada, so watch your six in there."

"I always do," Ada laughed as she disappeared into the crowd of partygoers.

–
–

"We have eyes on the target," Jill whispered into the mice seated against her throat. "He's moving up to the private rooms with some of the female guests."

"I'm already on the second floor where his room is located," Ada replied. "I've got the room next door occupied and ready to be used as a staging area."

"I've got the cart with the gear en route," Kaplan informed the two. "It's being dropped off as luggage. Jill, you're going to be requested to bring it to the room that Ada's in, I've gotten enough of a voice sample from the guy she rendered unconscious to fake the request."

"Just tell me where to go," Jill whispered.

"Start heading for the back entrance now, they'll get a call about luggage when you get there," Kaplan's fingers were heard flying across a keyboard. "After that you're on your own, the drone is Bingo on fuel. I'll reestablish contact once it's back in the air."

–
–

"Nice place," Jill said after she closed the door behind her.

"Minus the bit of trash," Ada replied, slipping out of her dress and into the combat gear that Jill handed to her. "But he got us in."

"How long will he be out for?" Jill asked as she peeled off the servant's uniform and stepped into her own kit.

"Couple of hours," Ada checked the round in the suppressed five-seven she had used since Raccoon City. "Considering what the guy next door is engaged in, I don't think it'll take us that long."

"How close is the window?" Jill holstered her own sidearm and slung an MP5 around her back.

"A yard or so to the next section," Ada grabbed her grappling gun. "We should be able to jump or swing over."

"I'd rather not leave behind any traces of our presence," Jill stuffed their clothes back into a small duffle bag and hid it in a nearby vent. "The BRA doesn't exactly do many of these ops."

"If we want to catch Spencer then we've got to track down those who he's selling BOW's through," Ada reminded her partner. "So, we get to play in my playground."

"I'm just not sure that this is the way we corner Spencer, he's been in hiding since Raccoon City fell, and we've destroyed a ton of his bases."

"Won't know unless we try," Ada shrugged as she opened the balcony window and looked to make sure it was clear. "You coming, or not?"

"Let's just get this over with," Jill sighed, moving to the balcony and setting up to jump to the next one over. "On you."

"Moving," Ada took a running start and used her momentum to carry her over both railings, rolling to a stop in cover on the other balcony. "Damn this guy's making a ton of rackett. Bet the girls are faking it though."

"Don't care if they are," Jill panted as she moved to her position on the other side of the door. "We go in quietly, and make sure that we leave the girls unharmed."

They slid the door open and moved in, the moans of the trio in the bedroom covering any noise that they would have made.

Closing the door behind them, they settled into hiding places and waited.

–
–

"Thanks for a great time!" the target saw the ladies out, a broad grin on his face as he moved to the balcony in his bathrobe. "Man, that was fantastic."

Jill exchanged a not with Ada as she stealthily moved closer, a device similar to an epi-pen in her hand.

Standing up and covering the man's mouth, she jabbed the device into the meaty part of his thigh, the customized tranquilizer moving into his blood stream.

Jill eased him down and zip-tied his wrists and feet together before looking at Ada.

"I'll set up the descender," Ada said as she pulled the device from a pack.

–
–

"Good job on that," Kaplan said as Ada and Jill piled into the van they had rented. "Think he'll have anything for us?"

"Might have access to some databases that'll narrow down Spencer's or Wesker's location," Jill mused.

"Guess we'll find out- Shit! Get down!" A gunshot rang through the streets as blood spread out from the target's chest.

"Ada!" Jill snapped, catching the grapple gun as the Asian woman tossed it to her. "Keep Kaplan safe."

Bolting out, Jill followed the assassin, the hooded man running across the rooftops just ahead of her.

"You're not getting away," Jill snarled, using the grappling hook to swing her forward of her target.

Driving her knees into the man, he hit the ground and rolled, a pistol in his hands as he came up.

The handgun barked as Jill dove behind a chimney for cover, the brick shattering and sending up clouds of soot as he disappeared.

"Fuck," Jill coughed as she coughed out some of the soot, her foot nearly rolling on a spent casing. "He got away." She bent down to pick up the casing.

"Ten Millimeter?" Jill asked. "What assassin uses 10mm as a sidearm?"

Shrugging, she pocketed the round and made her way back down.

"Cloaked assassin?" Kaplan asked.

"Yep," Jill sighed. "That's the fourth op this quarter someone matching that description has ruined one of our ops, we've got to track this guy down before one of our guys gets killed."

"We'll keep an eye out," Kaplan nodded. "I've got the Queen on it, if anyone can find him, it's her."

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 2

"Isn't this supposed to be a job for the Secret Service?" Rain asked. "And how did we end up with a third wheel?" She jerked her head at Leon who was walking silently behind the duo.

"Yeah, it should be the Secret Service's job," Chris pointed out the vehicle that was waiting for them. "But there was evidence that some sort of BOW was involved," Chris shrugged. "Leon's tagging along because Barry and J. D. think that he'll be a good solo operator."

"He," Leon growled. "Is right here and can hear you."

"So your mouth does work," Rain snarked. "I was wondering when you'd find your voice."

Leon just sighed and climbed into the back of the rental vehicle, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"Look, Leon," Chris said after he and Rain stowed their gear and climbed into the SUV. "Alpha Team says you're good, but that you have the potential to be great. So we're going to put you through your paces and get you up to speed. The goal is to have you pulling missions with one partner similar to how Rain and I do it, or how Jill and Ada do it. Barry and the rest of the guys work well as a big group, but we need smaller teams for infiltration and getting things set up for us to knock out the bigger targets."

"Umbrella sure is taking its sweet time to die," Rain agreed. "You'd think it would be easy, but they had so much shit hidden all over the place that it's near impossible to figure out exactly what to hit sometimes."

"It's politics," Leon shrugged. "Politicians tied themselves to Umbrella, and those kinds of people always think that their bad decisions won't come back to bite them in the ass."

"It's politics or war," Chris chuckled. "I'd much rather people try to solve their problems with words instead of Bio-Organic-Warfare."

"As if," Rain laughed. "The day that happens, is the day that I retire and pop out a litter of kids."

Leon simply closed his eyes once again and drifted off, the other two would wake him up when they had arrived at their destination.

---

"So," Kaplan turned to Ada and Jill with a sigh. "Our work wasn't entirely in vain."

"Really now?" Jill raised an eyebrow. "And how so?"

"The guy had a data chip hidden in his jewelry," Kaplan explained. "Now, the data's encrypted, so it'll take me time to figure out what was on it, but that means that the two of you can focus on our assassin."

"So, who's the next low-level death dealer on our list?" Ada asked. "I think I know how to catch this guy."

"There's a guy in Mexico that's been on our radar for a little while," Jill pulled out a folder and tossed it onto the hotel room table. "We've been waiting for him to slip up and show us some bigger fish though."

"This guy's our lure," Ada explained. "If they're trying to make sure we don't get information, then we've got to make them try and hit the guy before we do."

"And then we roll them up," Jill nodded. "We're gonna have to do a fairly precise leak though."

"That'll just help us get the moles identified," Kaplan shrugged. "So we'll be killing two birds with one stone."

"We're going to want Bravo Team on this one," Ada started shoving her kit into a bag. "Alpha's on a different op, and Bravo is made up of ex-Umbrella employees, they might recognize the assassin's MO."

"Back to the states it is," Kaplan agreed. "I'll get with the WQ and see if I can get this decrypted. It might have some useful intel."

"Alright," Jill picked up the file folder. "We've got a plan of action, so let's get to it."

---

"Please be careful on some of those corners," Leon cautioned. "I've got some really bad luck with vehicles."

"We'll be fine," Rain shifted gears and maneuvered down the dirt path. "It's not like we're expected, after all."

While the two argued about driving, Chris snored away in the back seat, the larger man had driven for the first leg of the trip.

"I warned you," Leon sighed before checking that his gear was secured on his person. "Not my fault when we crash now."

As the village came in sight, the SUV hit something that shredded the left two tires, the jolt jerked Rain's head into the steering wheel, and as she slumped forward her foot stepped on the gas, driving the car onward as things went black.

–
–

"Fuck," Leon breathed as he woke up to the sound of a chainsaw. "I thought seat belts were supposed to prevent you from being ejected," He muttered as he pulled himself free of debris before locating the chainsaw sound.

A man stood with his back to Leon, the chainsaw in his hand as he seemed to cut away at the wood that surrounded the wreckage of the car. "Thank God you're here to help," he approached the man. "We seem to have had a nasty wreck, you think you can help me get my friends free?"

The man slowly turned around, his eyes glowing red as the chainsaw spun.

"Shit," Leon drew his handgun and dove out of the way as the villager gave chase. "I'll come back," he whispered in the direction of the car. "I promise."

---

"Here's your new target,' Wesker slid a photo across a glass coffee table. "Your infil and exfil have been prepared, all that is required of you is to ensure that the task is finished."

The man nodded, the weapons he needed were already on his person.

Wesker smirked as his pet project left, the satisfaction never changed.

"You seem attached to that tool," the other man present stated as he swirled a full decanter.

"He is but one of many," Wesker shrugged. "I have many tools that serve the same purpose. It is a necessity given the risk involved."

"I suppose you are correct," the man sipped at his whiskey. "Inform me when his task is complete. I shall have another assignment on standby."

"A similar target, I expect?" Wesker questioned.

"Something like that. I think you'll want to be hands-on for this one. After all, how many can say that they were present at the place where Spencer first discovered the 'novel' virus?"

 

[VicSage]

How many viruses can one evil organization have?! Just stick with the world ending ones you already have, no need to keep introducing new nature's own whole grain horrors into the mix.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 3

"Ada, I've got the target in my sights. Let me know when you want me to take him out," Jill muttered into her mic, adjusting the range on her scope to reflect the distance on her rangefinder.

"Give me a few minutes, the little fish couldn't hold his liquor very well," Ada chuckled.

"No," Jill replied as she flipped the safety off and settled the sights on her target. "We move now. There's no guarantee that we'll get another shot."

"Alright, I'm grabbing little fish, good luck," Ada glanced around before slipping into the bathroom that the cartel member had entered.

"Got it," Jill gently squeezed the trigger, the rifle giving a soft bark as the round left the suppressed weapon, the sound of the traffic and other city norms covering the noise.

"I hit him," Jill told the grab team that was on standby. "Move in!"

Standing up, she slung the rifle over her shoulder and went down the fire escape where Kaplan was waiting with a car.

"Target is on the run," Kaplan reported as the driver peeled out of the alleyway, the tires screeching. "Looks like you got him bad enough that he's slowed down, grab team is moving in."

"Can I take a look?" Jill asked.

"Yeah, I've got a second screen set up back there."

Jill nodded and looked at the view that the drone showed.

"They've got him cornered," Jill grinned. "Step on it."

The car pulled up to an alleyway where a small group of Special forces were waiting.

"Cromwell," Jill nodded at her old Delta buddy. "Looks like everything went well."

"It was a good shot," Cromwell returned the smile. "Alright gentleman, I want no sign of our presence ever having been here, start cleaning up!"

"You guys leaving already?" Kaplan asked.

"You're not the only op in town that needs our help," Cromwell shrugged. "We'll get this guy to the safehouse for you and then we'll head out."

---

"Why'd it have to be a damned chainsaw?" Leon dodged a pitchfork before hitting the chainsaw-wielding maniac with a round from his handgun. "Or somewhere I've never heard of? I could have been in Morocco, beach, hot ladies, and great booze. But no, I'm in the middle of nowhere, Spain and my Teammates are both unconscious."

More villagers began showing up, slowly pressing Leon back into an older brick house.

"Please be unlocked," Leon threw his shoulder into the door and grinned as it opened wide, giving him a couple of minutes of breathing room.

"Close the gaps," Leon shoved a desk in front of the doorway, rifling through the drawers for more ammunition and anything that might help him fight off the crazies outside.

"Shotgun, hallelujah!" Leon grabbed the old pump shotgun and few boxes of shells that were stored in a nearby closet as the door began to buckle under the weight of the bodies.

"Chris, Rain, now would be a fantastic time for the two of you to show up," A chainsaw revved, cutting through the door that was sheltering Leon from the crowd and scattering the remnants of the ancient desk.

"I'm ready! How about you?!" Leon shouldered the Shotgun and pushed forward.

–
–

"Fuck!" Rain breathed as she blinked the black spots away from her vision, her brain still fuzzy on what exactly happened. "What hit me?"

A sudden gunshot sent a jolt of adrenaline through her veins, and she looked around at the wreck that was once an SUV.

"Chris!" Rain turned and saw her partner gently snoring in the back. "Jackass," She shoved him awake. "Wake up asshole."

"I'm up!" Chris stretched and sat up. "I'm up."

"Kid's gone," Rain gestured towards the passenger seat. "Most of his kit is here though, so he probably got ejected. And the gunshots I'm hearing."

"Leon's in trouble," Chris nodded, helping free Rain from the seatbelt and tossing her the carbine that was stowed in a duffle bag in the back.

"Think he can wait long enough for me to grab my vest?" He asked.

"I think we need to take our time," Rain winced as the pain of whiplash caught up to her body. "I'm gonna be a bit slow, and you're going to have to help me kit up."

"I got your vest," Christ helped her into the tacvest. "Want the pads, or no?"

"Nah," Rain disagreed. "I'm not going to be mobile enough to need them, find me a sniper tower and let me play overwatch. I'm hurt."

"Looks like there's a church off in the distance," Chris pointed at a bell tower. "Think you can get there?"

As Chris pointed at the bell, it began to ring, and the gunshots continued for a minute before stopping entirely.

"Leon might be down," Rain shouldered her carbine with a grunt of pain. "Let's move."

---

"Is there a reason why they always put a hood on the people that are grabbed?" Ada asked as she finished strapping the cartel member into a chair.

"You know," Jill replied thoughtfully. "I never actually asked."

"Don't ask me," Kaplan shrugged. "I run tech, and sometimes shoot things."

"Not important right now," Jill stopped the conversation. "Ada, you and Kaplan start picking apart the Cartel guy's story. This guy's all mine."

Jill went to grab the hood off of the assassin, pulling part of the hood off and catching a glimpse of familiar features before pausing for a moment as something seemed off.

Her gut telling her something was wrong, Jill ran into another room of the safehouse just in time for the captured assassin to explode, ripping the other room apart and showering the walls and doors with bits of human flesh and bone.

"What the fuck happened?!" Kaplan rushed into the room.

"I think they were ready for this sort of thing," Jill remarked as she stood up, sighing as she looked at the gore on the walls.

"These guys take secrecy to another level," Ada snarked. "I'm starting to feel much better about my decision to pick a side."

"Yeah, I'll say," Kaplan shuddered as he stepped in a puddle. "This house is a goner, let's get our captive and get out of here, I think our primary is a bust."

"Go ahead," Jill leaned against the wall. "Just give me a moment."

"Get a good look at the face?" Ada asked.

"A partial one," Jill replied. "It looked familiar."

"Think it was him?"

"I don't know. And that's what worries me."

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 4

“Got the results back,” Rebecca slid a file folder over to Jill. “It’s not Mark. We verified it against what DNA we have on file and it doesn’t match.”

“How do we have any of Mark’s DNA?” Jill asked the question that was the most relevant in her mind.

“Oddly enough, we have the late Chief Irons to thank for that,” Rebecca smirked. “Mr. Paranoid had his blood sample sent to the FBI for an investigation shortly before Raccoon City fell. According to the notes that he sent with it, he wanted to know what a ‘Drifter like him’ had done in the past.”

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing there to dig into,” Jill sighed. “The guy might as well have been a ghost before he showed up in Raccoon. I looked into it once we had the authorization. I found a town in Mississippi and a few locals that recognized him, but that was it.”

“What’d the locals say?” Rebecca raised an eyebrow.

“That he up and left after high school,” Jill shrugged. “After that, the paperwork trail pretty much dries up until Raccoon.”

“Well, I can tell you that whoever you got in Mexico wasn’t Mark. But that’s about all I can tell you,” Rebecca gestured at the folder. “Pretty sure that there was a bomb embedded in the chest cavity somewhere. Not enough to kill anyone aside from the assassin unless you were really close, but enough to ensure that there wasn’t any information to get out of him.”

“It just brings us back to square one on this one,” Jill flipped through the folder. “I think I’m taking a vacation. I’m not done looking into this, but I really need a break.”

“Maybe get a dog or something,” Rebecca smiled. “You need something to look forward to aside from just the mission.”

“I’ll think about it,” Jill stood up. “Thanks for looking into this for me, I know you guys are busy with research into vaccines and such, but this is important to me.”

“I’m happy to help,” Rebecca pulled Jill in for a hug. “So is Alice and the rest. We just don’t want you to burn out pursuing this vendetta.”

---

“Asshole,” Leon muttered, kicking the chainsaw man in the face after one final shot with the shotgun. “Couldn’t leave well enough alone.”
“Gotta get into a better position while they’re distracted,” Leon reloaded the shotgun while he had the chance, shoving the rest of the shells into his jacket pocket.

“Maybe I can get in contact with Command,” Leon reached for the sat-phone that had been on his belt, only to find the shattered remnants of what had been. “Never mind, there goes that plan.”

Sighing, Leon stepped out of the building and looked around, trying to locate anything that might be useful to him.

“There’s definitely something in the Castle,” Leon looked at the few power poles that led to said castle. “Might be able to find something there.”

Leon eyed the curtains inside of a house and unsheathed his knife, cutting a strip off and using it as a makeshift sling for the shotgun.

“It’s not much, but it should work,” Leon slung the shotgun and drew his handgun again.

–
–

“Leon!” Rain stopped the younger man. “You good?”

“No,” Leon shook his head. “The villagers here went crazy as soon as we wrecked, they attacked me, and I had to put a few of them down.”

“Looks like they’ve got some sort of other issue,” Chris knelt down by one of the few bodies. “This doesn’t look like what we’ve dealt with before involving the T Virus, this is something new entirely.”

“You guys got the kit?” Leon asked. “I managed to find a shotgun, but my rifle was in the car.”

“I’ll be using your rifle,” Rain winced. “I’m pretty messed up, so I’ll find a good spot to get on overwatch and provide long-range support.”

“There might be something up there,” Leon pointed at the castle. “It’s the only place that looks like it has power, and that’s the direction the church bell was coming from as well.”

“We’ll make our way there,” Chris agreed. “Rain, we’ll get you situated in a good location, and then we’ll move in.”

---

“Wesker,” Spencer bit out, the old man glaring at the blond. “I see that you’ve decided to taunt me now that I’m at the end.”

“I have learned much of what you desired to be hidden,” Wesker smirked behind his glasses. “And I know that the BRA has discovered that you remain here as your last bastion,” he glanced at his watch. “I believe they will be landing within the hour.”

“If you came to see me beg, you will be gravely disappointed,” Spencer snarled. “I had a plan to change the world. And soon, you will follow me into the grave.”

“I think not,” Wesker pulled out a recording device. “You see, I’ve recently begun setting up a visit to a certain village in Africa, and have also been negotiating with some other select people in Europe. I know all that you know, and I will do it better.”

Wesker pulled off his sunglasses, revealing his red eyes. “You see, I’m not a mere mortal anymore, I have ascended to godhood. While you remain as fragile as you have ever been.”

“Godhood,” Spencer scoffed. “You bleed like the rest of us, and everything dies in the end, everything.”

Wesker replaced his sunglasses and turned, nodding at the figure standing in the shadows.

Stepping forward, another man pointed a handgun at the old man, squeezed the trigger, and turned to walk away as the shot echoed in the distance.

As Wesker and his pet assassin headed toward the roof, windows began shattering as special operations soldiers began breaching the mansion.

“I want this clean!” Jill barked. “We’ve got an opportunity to bag the one behind Umbrella, let’s not waste it.”

“Jill!” Kaplan’s voice came on a private line. “Ada, Wesker is here, our drone is showing him on the roof. They’re heading for a chopper now.”

“Get the Brits to ground the flights,” Jill barked as she began sprinting. “Ada, we’re taking him down.”

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 5

Wesker turned around at the sound of a door flying open, the helicopter blades not blocking his enhanced senses.

"Wesker!" Jill screamed, her rifle shouldered as she dumped the mag into her old team leader.

"Ahh," Wesker evaded the rounds before casually walking forward with his hands in his pockets. "Valentine, such a pleasure to meet you again. It's been a few years and you seem to have only grown more lovely."

"I'm going to kill you," Jill glared, swapping mags as she backed away. "And then I'm going to dismantle everything you've ever built or had a hand in. And I won't stop until I'm dead and ashes."

"That can be arranged," Wesker smirked. "But I don't think I'm the one you're really looking for."

The figure in the hoodie stepped forward and drew a handgun and combat knife, holding the knife under the handgun.

"It took many months of manipulation, and more chemicals than I had expected," Wesker explained as he pulled the hood down, revealing the masked face of an old friend. "Unfortunately, the amount that I need to keep him obedient has slowly been increasing as his body adapts. I fear his mind will soon give out and he will be nothing more than a mindless pet."

"Try not to kill her," Wesker turned his back to the woman. "I still have plans for her."

Mark simply nodded, the tube connected to his mask flexing as his head dipped.

"Mark," Jill searched for any sign of familiarity in her friend's eyes, finding nothing but apathy as he stepped forward.

Wesker climbed into the helicopter and began taking off, narrowly beating a stream of dark clouds as lightning flashed across the sky.

Jill dove out of the way as Mark's handgun barked, the rounds narrowly missing her as she ducked behind an old wall, the concrete barrier showing signs of heavy damage as the rounds tapered off.

Knowing she had scant few seconds at best, Jill lunged forward, leaving her rifle behind as she tackled Mark in the middle of reloading, the handgun and magazine sliding out of his hands and away from the two combatants.

Darting up, Mark moved the knife to his right hand and thrusted forward, cutting part of Jill's jacket before she tucked the knife hand underneath her elbow and tried to force a break, the elbow and arm following the body's natural instincts and releasing the knife, leaving them down to bare fists.

Jill knew that she had a chance while Mark's arm was still disabled, so she struck, driving her knee into his hip and shifting to rip the tube out of the mask.

The tube disconnected with a hiss but it did little to slow down someone who had six or seven inches and eighty pounds on her. He rotated his hips and threw her off, pausing to reconnect the hose before crouching and grabbing the knife, flipping it into his left hand with a deft movement as he threw it, the knife catching part of her vest and pinning it to the wall behind her.

While Jill struggled to free herself, Mark collected his handgun and calmly reloaded, the sharp sound of the slide rocking forward striking her ears and forcing her to look up.

"Please," Jill pleaded as she finally managed to free herself. "Mark, don't do this."

A gunshot rang out, breaking the atmosphere and sending a jolt through Jill's system as Mark stumbled backward and fell off of the roof.

"Fuck," Ada swore as she slung the rifle and helped Jill to her feet. "Sorry I fell behind, Alpha needed some backup."

"It's okay," Jill stepped to the edge of the roof and looked over, not seeing a body. "We had him."

"Who?" Ada asked. "Wesker? I thought he got away."

"Wesker brought Mark," Jill knelt and picked up the handgun that had been left behind when he had fallen. "He's alive, and I think I've got a hint of where to go next."

"Okay," Ada nodded. "What give you that idea?"

"This," Jill held up the knife that had been stuck in her tactical vest, passing it over to her partner.

"I have no idea where this is," Ada shrugged at the image of a state or country that had been hand engraved into it.

"Neither do I," Jill stood up, tucking the handgun into her pocket. "But we have people that can find that out for us. And when we do, we're going to hit it hard and fast."

–
–

"Mister Spencer, you are being extradited to the United States of America to be tried for Crimes against Humanity," Jill informed the founder of Umbrella. "I hope that you understand just what it is that you brought on this world."

"I brought the future," Spencer muttered from his stretcher. "Humanity must evolve and become superior. I have seen it, and it is inevitable."

"The only inevitability in life is that monsters like you arise in every generation," Jill crossed her arms over her chest. "And that it's the job of people like me to put you down before you poison the whole world."

"Load him up," Jill ordered. "This bastard has done enough harm."

"Think he's gonna get a jury of his peers?" Kaplan asked as he moved up beside her.

"Nah, he's getting a military tribunal," Ada stated. "They're not taking any chances with him arguing his way out."

The group boarded the Chopper and began heading for the next military base. Soon, the world would bear witness to the Trial of Ozwell E. Spencer

---

"You sure you want to do this?" Billy Coen asked.

"I'm sure," Lisa replied, an odd look crossing her face. "You know I can handle myself."

"It's just odd," Billy shrugged. "I expected you to want to tour Europe as a graduation present. Maybe go skiing in the mountains somewhere. Not to go hang out in South Africa for a while."

"It's different," Lisa replied, having planned out her arguments well in advance. "Besides, you already promised."

"I did," Billy sighed. "I'm gonna miss you," He kissed Lisa's forehead as he pulled his adopted little sister in for a hug. "Just do your best to stay safe. I'd hate to have to hunt down someone for hurting you."

"I wouldn't be too worried about that," Lisa squeezed back. "I like to think I'm pretty scary."

"Especially when hungry," Billy shuddered. "I love you, I'll be waiting here with a home when you get back."

"I know," Lisa whispered. "I'll be back when I'm done, and with lots of stories to tell."

"I know you will," Billy let go, wiping a tear from his eye and helping load her bags into the car. "Love you, Lisa, Have fun and take care."

Lisa pulled out of the driveway, headed for the airport.

"Sorry Billy," She pulled handgun out of the glove box and set it on the seat. "But I have one thing left to do in this life. And I don't really want you there when I do it."

Shifting her form, she absorbed the 1911 and allowed it to sit in a pouch next to her stomach, the contents safe from any detection that might be present.

"Africa, here I come."

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 6

"I'm not so sure splitting up is a good idea," Leon muttered as the two men left Rain behind in her overwatch position."I'd rather move slow with an extra body than move quickly with just the two of us."

"We'll be fine," Chris replied with a smile as he took point. "Just follow me and try to keep up."

"Whatever you say," Leon sighed, keeping the shotgun at low-ready.

Chris pushed through the gate and into a small cluster of houses, using small bits of cover to break line of sight as they moved up to the castle complex.

"Guys, I don't have line of sight anymore," Rain said over the radio. "And Leon, it looks like some of the villagers you shot are getting back up, I'm going radio silent until I'm sure that I'm hidden."

"Dammit," Leon swore. "It's like Raccoon City all over again."

"Maybe," Chris shrugged. "I couldn't tell you."

"Right," Leon shook his head. "Forgot you weren't there. Now, can we get a move on, please? Something's bothering me about the castle."

"Yeah," Chris started moving again before pausing as he seemed to hear something. "You hear that?"

"Yeah," Leon shoved Chris forward and into a building before closing the door silently behind them. "It's a fucking chainsaw," Leon whispered. "So stay quiet, I'm not getting cut into pieces today."

Chris nodded, shouldering his rifle as he glanced through the crack in the door, a chainsaw wielding villager stalking past as a small group followed.

"They kept moving," Leon cracked the door open and began moving through the rest of the village toward the lowered bridge into the castle. "Let's go before they come back."

"Right behind you," Chris put his hand on Leon's vest following close behind.

The two of them had given up on subtlety at this point, and were simply focused on the mission and getting out of there.

Crossing the bridge, they moved into a the guard tower beside the portcullis, climbing into the old stone building to get a good vantage point.

"That doesn't look safe," Leon looked at the rotting floors above them.

"It's that or we try this without intel," Chris began climbing the stairs.

"In that case, why don't you let me go?" Leon asked. "I'm lighter and less likely to break through the floor given I'm not built like a linebacker."

"Fair enough," Chris stepped down, the stairs creaking violently as he did so.

"Give me five minutes and I'll be down with what we need to navigate at least part of this place," Leon began moving up the stairs, careful to test every step before he put weight on it, gradually moving further up and into the guard tower.

–
–

"There's that chainsaw again," Chris leaned against the interior wall of the guardhouse as the sound echoed in the distance, a handful of dark robed figures leaving the castle as he stayed in the darkness of the tower.

Then, one of the robed figures stopped, and it felt as if the rest of them sensed something as well, because the group stopped and turned as one to face the tower.

"Whelp, I always knew we'd have to get loud," Chris's rifle barked, rocking back into his massive shoulder as he advanced.

One of the rounds hit the head of the robed figure and the head seemed to disappear in a burst of tentacles before Chris ended it with a few more rounds.

As the figures surrounded Chris, he lunged forward with a punch, driving one of the enemies to the ground as he used the opening to create more space where he could maneuver, and so he began backpedaling further into the castle as the robed figures were downed, eventually ducking into a passageway and closing a massive wooden door behind him.

"Well, that was fun," Chris sighed. "What a nice welcome party they set up for me."

"But you see, the party was indeed a welcome for you, and you struck the first blow, so now you must face the consequences of your actions," a diminutive figure greats him from a small chair further into the corridor. "Mr. Redfield, the time has come for you to pay said consequences, are you ready?"

"What the-" massive arm wrapped around Chris's throat, tightening as he struggled and forcing him into unconsciousness.

"Very good Mr. Krauser," Salazar applauded. "I will speak well of you to your employer."

"Yeah?" Krauser asked. "I think Wesker will rely on my report more than your own. After all, I'm the reason you guys even got the research teams sent here."

"Yes, yes," Salazar laughed. "Things are as you say. Now, I believe that Mr. Redfield was not alone, yes? The BRA does not normally send singular operatives if what I am told is true."

"No, they don't," Krauser agreed. "In fact, this jackass normally works with a woman named Rain. I'll have the villagers looking for her as soon as I'm done here."

"Leave him here," Salazar laughed. "I will see to it that he is baptized."

"Whatever," Krause dropped Chris onto the ground. "I'll be at the communications center if you've got any other jobs for me."

"Thank you for your assistance," Salazar waved the mercenary off. "I will see to it that you are rewarded for this."

Krauser grunted and left the room, leaving the unconscious Chris Redfield behind.

"You will be the instrument of your organization's demise," Salazar smirked as Ganado moved in and collected the man. "Take him to the chamber, it is time that he is baptized."

---

"Do we have anything on where Wesker ended up?" Jill asked Kaplan as they were seated in the BRA's HQ.

"Not yet," Kaplan typed away. "The Queen's trying to help with the search, but there's a lot of Blond-haired and blue-eyed people to sort through."

"Anything on the knife that I gave you?" Jill asked.

"Limited production by a nation in the middle of Africa," Kaplan shrugged. "The nation was only unified enough to export things for a handful of years before they collapsed back into internal fighting. "They had good Iron deposits and were trying to upgrade their steel infrastructure before they started fighting again."

"Well, can we see if there's anyone boarding flights for that area, maybe they were headed there?" Ada asked.

"No, checked that already," Kaplan sighed. "If they were going that way, they took the most roundabout way to do it, and it's throwing the analysts and our AI for a loop."

"We'll figure it out," Ada shrugged. "It'll just take time."

"I'm not sure that Mark has time," Jill clenched her fists. "Wesker was bragging that it was taking more and more drugs to keep him in line and that his mind might go before his body did."

"Shit," Kaplan swore.

"Yeah," Jill agreed. "I know it's Wesker and we can't trust most of the words he speaks, but we do know that he likes to brag about his accomplishments. So if there's even a grain of truth to this…"

"Then we're going to have to find him sooner than later," Ada agreed. "I'll reach out to a few of my old contacts, maybe they'll have something for me."

"I'll have the Queen put more priority on looking for Wesker and accomplices," Kaplan continued typing. But until we have positive ID that's the most I can do from here."

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 7

"Ahh, I've been brought such a beautiful specimen," Chris looked at the man that stood over him with blurry eyes. "Normally, I do not get healthy and big ones such as yourself."

Chris attempted to speak but it simply came out as unintelligible grunts.

"Ahh, you'll find that speaking will be hard until you've become moved past the drugs that are in your system. Your body, it struggles against the true path. But soon, when the resistance has stopped, you will receive enlightenment like no other."

The strange man's hand came down and stroked Chris' chest.

"Yes, once you're fully consumed you and I shall have such great fun! I cannot wait to see what I can do with the tools I have been given. Now rest, and we shall see exactly how you take to the parasite within."

A mask was placed over Chris' face, blocking his view as a gas leaked out. He twisted, nearly snapping the bands keeping him strapped to the table as the mask finally sealed and the world began to go dark.

He could hear his own heartbeat, and the faint sound of a lullaby as the darkness slowly closed over his vision.

–
–

"Chris, there is such a thing as too much gym time," Leon muttered to himself as he unstrapped the larger man and slung him over his shoulder and back. "You're heavy man."

With a grunt, Leon stood up straight, his handgun in hand as he slowly left the lab that he had rescued Chris from, blood splatters and gore covered different sections.

"Sorry about the mess," Leon quipped as he walked out of the door. "But I don't normally make house calls like this."

"Rain, I've got our friend out," Leon muttered into the radio he had found earlier. "You still on overwatch?"

"I've got visual," Rain responded. "Just get him out and I'll cover you."

"I'm bringing him to you and then I'm heading back in," Leon grunted as he shifted Redfield's weight a bit. "I think I know where the VIP is held."

"I'll give you directions once you get close enough," a muffled cough was heard as one of the villagers dropped dead behind Leon. "Keep moving, if you get bogged down now, I'm not going to be able to get you out."

Leon picked up the pace, moving up the incline before dropping out of sight for a minute and setting Redfield down.

The shotgun in his hand barked once before he racked it, the buckshot tearing apart two villagers and making the other two shift back a bit.

Then a sound came from behind the remaining two and they broke apart to reveal another one wielding a chainsaw.

"Not again," fire erupted from Leon's shotgun twice as the larger villager fell to his knees for a second before standing back up. "Rain, this one's not down yet, I could use a little help here!"

"Busy keeping the other's off of your back," Rain's rifle coughed again. "You're on your own."

"Copy that," Leon sighed as he reloaded a handful of shells into the ancient shotgun. "I wonder if this one still has that capability."

Leon sighted in on the chainsaw user, the bead lined up with his head and pulled the trigger, only this time; he didn't release it, pumping again, the shotgun bucked as the next round cycled through and fired.

Leon grinned wide as he continued pumping away, a shell leaving with every cycle and the barrel smoking as the Ganado stilled.

"I think I'm in love," Leon reloaded the underchamber of the weapon before slinging it across his back and moving back to where he had left Redfield. "Hey, sleepyhead, it's time to wake up."

Chris' eyelids fluttered for a second before the big man groaned and woke up.

"Come on," Leon helped the other man stand up. "I wasn't able to get your rifle," he pulled a handgun and two magazines out of his pocket. "And your custom piece is still in the castle, but I did find this for you."

"Leon," Chris grabbed the other man's arms. "Is Rain okay?"

"Yeah, she's good," Leon pulled the earpiece out and handed it to him, tucking the handgun and magazine pack into his pocket for a minute.

"Rain, I've got some sort of parasite or something in me, I overheard one of their scientists talking about it. If things go south, I want you to put a bullet in my brain."

"I hear ya," Rain replied. "It won't come to that, but I hear ya. Now grab the gun Leon has for you and get up here. He's going back in for the VIP and you'll only slow him down right now."

"You want this back?" Chris pulled the earpiece out.

"Nah," Leon shook his head. "I don't even know where Rain is right now. Probably best for me not to know," he shrugged. "Now, you're probably going to want this."

"Wow, a pistol from World War II," Chris snarked. "You get the nicest things."

"Saint Browning's blessing has been bestowed on this weapon," Leon chuckled. "Look, it's a 1911. And it's both functional and has working ammunition. Just accept it and work with it."

"One weapon with a full magazine and two spares isn't a whole lot to work with," Chris muttered. "Twenty two rounds ain't much."

"Then make your shots count," Leon pumped the shotgun, ejecting the last spent shell. "Now, I've got to get a VIP out. Wish me luck!"

---

"You still resist," Wesker leaned over the masked medic. "It amuses me that you still continue to fight the inevitable. You will give up eventually, and then you will cease to exist in all the ways that matter, an empty shell to be used as I see fit."

"But, until then, I shall have to tune the cocktail. I need your body to do as I tell it. But your mind is unnecessary for my purposes. Who knows, maybe I can use you to get my real prize," Wesker leaned over and looked at a sample of Jill Valentine's blood that he had obtained. "She is unique, adaptable. Perhaps she will be what I need to further my research."

Wesker sat in his chair. "I shall have to see what leaks may lead her to me. And that the traps are appropriately designed. I would rather not have her die, after all. That would be much too messy."

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 8

"Anything?" Jill asked.

"I told you already," Kaplan yawned. "I'll let you know when the Queen turns up something. Until then, you'll just have to wait like the rest of us."

"Fine," Jill sighed as she was called on the intercom. "Go for Valentine."

"Need you for an op," Ada said. "We've got an outbreak in South America."

"Fuck me," Jill closed her eyes and exhaled for a moment. "Okay, I want Alpha and Bravo mounted up and ready to go. I'll get the director working with the local military heads to close off the city."

"I still don't know why you didn't opt into the director's position," Kaplan muttered. "You're doing all of the actual work anyway."

"Directors don't get to go on ops," Jill smirked. "You think I want to get stuck behind a desk doing paperwork for hours on end?" She scoffed. "Nah, I'll leave that for the guy pushing paper while I take to the field."

"Fair enough," Kaplan chuckled. "I'm perfectly content to stay here with my computers if given the chance."

"Kaplan," Jill made sure he was paying attention. "I want the Queen focused on Wesker until we get a hit. I'll keep running ops but I need you focused on nailing Wesker and everyone who he's working with to the wall."

"You got it," Kaplan nodded as he leaned forward and began typing on his keypad. "You might want to grab someone from R&D. Looks like there's some novel BOWs being tested down there."

"Great," Jill sighed. "I'll get with Rebecca and Alice, they should be able to put together something to help with combating this if it isn't normal mutations."

"J. D.!" Jill barked. "Grab the Railgun, it looks like we've got some Goliaths to take down!"

"Finally!" the man laughed. "I thought I'd never get to play with it!"

"You better make sure you know exactly what's behind your target," Kaplan warned his old squadmate. "Otherwise you might take out a building or a mountain range if you're not careful. That's not the prototype they were testing out half a decade ago."

"Calm down you worrywort," J. D. laughed. "I'll take great care of this thing of beauty."

"Captain Enrico's on his way, and Barry is working on the paperwork," Jill informed them as she lifted her hand from her ear. "Rest of Alpha and Bravo will meet us at the airfield."

–
–

"I take it we've got Puff on standby?" Enrico asked as he jerked his thumb over to the AC-130 Gunship that was on the runway next to the ship they were boarding.

"Captain," Jill admonished. "We're the United States of America. We always ensure that the response to any enemy action is 'appropriate'."

"So we're bringing a lot more than this," Enrico grinned. "Got it."

"Yeah," Jill smirked. "We're being let off of the leash on this one. And the nation that requested our help is allowing us to have full operational control of the situation. So let's load up and get moving, people! We've got a job to do."

---

Leon crept through the castle, his shotgun slung across his back as he moved from doorway to doorway and room to room, clearing it out as he went.

He had led the villagers and other psychos on a chase outside of the castle before vanishing down a side alley and heading back in.

His handgun in one hand and a knife in the other, Leon finally froze as he heard something different from the usual noises he had heard while moving through.

As he rounded the corner, Leon saw an ornate door, gold etching stitched through parts of it and a solid oak board wrapped in rusting chains and closed with an ancient lock.

A soft whimper was heard as Leon quietly pulled a lockpicking set from his jacket pocket.

"Please let all that practice with Jill have paid off," Leon muttered as he fiddled with the lock, the tools in his hands causing the mechanism to creak and the occupant of the room to cry in terror as the the lock fell with a solid "thud".

"Nice," Leon congratulated himself and began moving the chain off of the board, only to wince as the chain began rattling as it began falling off of the door. "Fuck."

Leon turned rapidly and shifted his torso so the shotgun was closer to his hand before sighing in relief after nothing happened.

Sheathing his knife for a moment, he grunted and shoved the board blocking the door up and off of the bars across, a the noise echoing through the corridor more loudly than both the chains and the lock.

Holstering his handgun and bringing his shotgun to bear, Leon pulled the doors open and sighed in relief as the face of the VIP came into view.

"Ashley Graham?" Leon asked.

"Get away from me!" the blonde screamed and threw her hands up, her clothes torn from where she had been roughly handled. "I don't know anything!" She backed up into the corner.

"I'm Leon Scott Kennedy," Leon said calmly as he crouched down, the entrance kept in his peripheral vision. "I'm with the Biohazard Response Agency and I'm here to help."

The younger woman covered her face and ducked further into the corner as Leon panned the room once again.

"I'm not here to hurt you," Leon crouched down on her level. "I'm here to get you out of here and keep you safe."

"Nowhere's safe," Ashley sobbed. "They did something to me, put something inside of me! I can feel it when I sleep!"

"We'll find a way to fix whatever's wrong," Leon stated confidently. "There's always a way."

"You promise?" One eye shown through the hands and knees.

"I promise," Leon swore before he pulled the trigger on his shotgun, sending the Ganado that had entered down to the ground as a corpse. "Now come on, we've got to get out of here."

As he said this, Ashley shivered and covered her arms.

"Here," Leon swung his jacket off and helped her put it on before remembering that she would need ear protection. " You'll want these too," he dug into the jacket pocket and pulled out a set of foam earplugs. "Now, can we get out of here?"

Ashley nodded and latched onto Leon's tactical vest as he left the room, the earplugs expanding as Leon's shotgun boomed and took out another cloaked figure.

"Left is the way that I came in," Leon glanced down that way before seeing the light from torches. "Looks like to the right it is."

Pulling one of the few grenades he had off of his belt, Leon primed it and threw it down the corridor towards the torches.

"That should keep them busy for a bit," a small shockwave went through the passageway as Leon and Ashley ran further into the depths of the castle.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Evicted Chapter 9

“How do you think the kid’s doing?” Chris asked as he lay down next to Rain.

“Better than us,” She shrugged. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders and has made some fairly good calls today.”

“I just hope he has a plan to get out of there,” Chris sighed. “If they were willing to experiment on me, the odds are that they’re going to try the same thing on our VIP.”

“Yep,” Rain agreed. “Which means that we either need to go in and check out that lab for ourselves, or RTB fast enough that we can let Chambers and Alice figure out how to fix you.”

“Right,” Chris nodded. “I vote we go in and check out that lab. We don’t know how long it takes for whatever this is to affect me.”

“And the VIP has been here for longer than we have, God only knows how long she has left ” Rain shifted up from her prone position with a grunt of pain. “C’mon you big lug, I’m gonna need you to play human shield for me.”

“So business as usual?” Chris snarked.

“You know it,” Rain limped forward, her rifle held tightly in her hand. “We moving or what?”

Chris moved to his girlfriend’s side and readied the 1911 that Leon had found for him.

All that was left was for them to avoid the Ganado, and enter the castle. A castle that they could now hear explosions coming from.

“Is that what I think it is?” Chris asked as he watched something fall from the sky.

“Self-defense as the founding fathers intended?” Rain replied as the cannonball fell and left a massive dent where her sniper perch had been. “Looks like it to me.”

The partners watched as the villagers began to converge on the main castle gates, slowly filing in as they made their way to the sound of the distant explosions.

“Think the Kid’s okay?” Chris asked.

“He’s got a cannon,” Rain rolled her eyes. “He’s better off than we are.”

---

“Probably a stupid question,” Leon whispered as he and Ashley hid away in a corner as several Ganados passed. “But you didn’t happen to see any extra ways out when they brought you in, did you?”

“They covered my head,” she shivered. “I didn’t see anything until I was put into that cell.”

“Figured,” Leon shrugged as he loaded another shell into the shotgun’s chamber. “Nearest wall should be that way,” he jerked a thumb down a distant hallway. “We head there, see if there’s a way down and out from there.”

Ashley just nodded, her body still shaking as if she were running a fever.

“I’m so cold,” she whispered.

“Well, I only had the one jacket,” Leon snarked. “And I left my pocket warmers in the luggage. Now, let’s get you outside and into some fresh air. You’ll feel warmer out in the sun.”

Leaving the room, Leon moved with purpose to the old wooden door at the end of the hallway, shoving it open and revealing the light of the day.

“Alright,” Leon looked around, noting several old cannons placed along the wall along with what looked like barrels carefully placed next to stacks of cannonballs. “Looks like there’s another door further along the wall, and we might be able to use that cannon to knock down the gate that’s preventing us from leaving.”

“Do you even know how to use this thing?” Ashley seemed to gain some semblance of life now that she was outside of the darkened hallways of the castle.

“I’ve seen some old documentaries,” Leon responded “I’m pretty sure I can figure it out.”

Leon grabbed a torch from the hallway and held it to the fuse that was already in the cannon and then both he and Ashley jumped as a lone cannonball went sailing off towards the distant village.

“Whoops,” Leon noticed the crank and wheels on the cannon. “I probably should turn this thing around.”

“We’ll need another fuse,” Ashley commented. “Each firing requires a new fuse, I learned about it when I toured the Constitution a couple months back.”

“Like these fuses?” Leon kicked over a footlocker, revealing the rest of the things that would be needed to reload and fire the cannon.

“Yes,” Ashley nodded. “It’s a good thing they kept the powder in these barrels, otherwise you’d have scattered it all over the ground there.”

“Just help me load this thing,” Leon sighed, “I don’t want to be here any more than you do.”

---

“You remember the route you and Leon took to leave?” Rain asked.

“Yeah,” Chris nodded as he continued to take point. “I think I do for the most part. But it’s not like they clearly labeled any of this stuff.”

“So it’s not an Umbrella facility,” Rain chuckled. “Got it.”

“I almost wish it were,” Chris glanced down a hallway. “At least then we’d get some proper lighting.”

“For all of thirty seconds before something caused the emergency lights to be the only thing on,” Rain retorted, her rifle at the ready. “Then a Licker or something else would appear to wreck our day.”

“Yeah,” Chris agreed. “I’d still take the Umbrella facility though. “At least then I wouldn’t have to worry about the ammunition problems.”

“You’re using a 1911,” Rain backed up her partner. “And we’re in a backward area of Europe. I bet we can find you some .45 ACP if we look hard enough. It’s not like we didn’t sell a ton of these things post WWI and II.”

“Saint John Moses Browning protects,” Chris snarked.

“Now, I wonder where all of the enemies are?” Rain finally asked.

“I’m betting they’re distracted by the cannon that’s blowing parts of their wall down,” Chris said as a distant explosion was heard. “Pretty sure that Leon’s having a field day with the cannon.”

–
–

“This fucking sucks!” Leon yelled over the sound of Ashley gleefully destroying another section of wall and laughing at the chunks crushing several Ganados. “We’re going to run out of ammo, and then we’re going to get overrun!”

“Not if I get all of them!” Ashley laughed viciously.

“Ashley, we’re surrounded,” Leon tried to communicate.

“That just means that they have nowhere to run,” Ashley poured black powder down the cannon’s tube before ramming a cloth wad and cannonball down. “Now, where’s the largest group at? I want them to feel the pain.”

“I’m so going to jail for this,” Leon sighed. “Women…”

 

[1stSergeant MagicalGeek]

Poor Leon, he's luck is never the best...

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 10

Chris kicked down the door as the Plagas egg inside twitched, nearly freezing him in his tracks as Rain stepped in behind him.

"Can't stop in doorways you big lug," Rain cleared the corners of the room. "You know that it's a killzone."

"This thing is shifting around," Chris bit out through gritted teeth. "Give me a minute."

"Sure," Rain sighed. "Leave the wounded to do all the work for you."

Rain began going through files and documentation, allowing her rifle to dangle from its sling as she began skimming.

"Chris, we're gonna want to take this stuff back with us," Rain said as she set a folder down. "R&D can use this to make countermeasures if we bring enough of this data back with us."

"I'm afraid that my beautiful specimen is indisposed at the moment," a chipper voice echoed from where Chris had been standing. "The Plaga is beginning the hatching process, and soon he will be a prime subject for study."

Chris was facedown on the ground, his muscles seemed to be spasming as a doctor set a taser down and began walking towards Rain.

"You stay right the fuck there," Rain snapped her rifle up and centered it on the researcher's chest. "One more step and I drop you."

"But if you kill me you'll never learn how to remove the Plagas from their hosts," the man grinned madly. "Aren't you curious as to what you could be? I could make you so much… More than what you are now."

Rain simply squeezed the trigger, her rifle coughing once and then twice as the suppressed round tore open the crazed man's chest.

"Not interested, psycho," Rain spat, pulling her handgun out and putting a third bullet between the eyes. "Hey, Puta!" She called out to Christ. "You gonna get up any time soon, or do I have to save your ass again?"

Chris groaned and rolled over.

"I feel like I got tased," his tongue wet his lips.

"That might be because you did," Rain smirked and then started coughing. "Now help me figure out how to get this thing out of you. Then we can get the kid and the VIP and get the fuck outta here. I still feel like I got run over by a car and I know I've got a messed up rib."

"Well," Chris raised an eyebrow as he stood to his feet. "This is a lab, there's probably a medkit around somewhere."

"You give me a single dose of painkillers and I'll give you something that'll make you need them yourself," Rain snarled. "Now get to reading, you brute. I'll watch the door since you seem otherwise distracted."

---

"Any word from Chris or Rain?" Alice sat on the corner of Kaplan's desk.

"Nah," Kaplan shook his head. "But they're withing the seventy-two hour reporting window, so they've got another twenty-four hours before we send a team to investigate."

"Yeah," Alice nodded. "I just noticed that they broke their normal pattern when I was going over the reports with Jill."

"Huh," Kaplan leaned forward and opened a few files before nodding. "You're right, normally they'd have at least radioed in with a status update by now, so let's see what's on standby that the Queen can get access to."

"You do that," Alice smirked. "I'm heading home for the day, try not to stay up too late!"
"Yeah, whatever," Kaplan waved her off as he took a sip of coffee and started giving his pet AI the parameters of what he needed. "I'll let you know what I find out."

"I'm gone!" Alice slid off of the desk, grabbed her jacket and ensured her weapon was still tucked into the holster on her person. "Be back tomorrow."

"They don't know what they're missing out on," Kaplan muttered. "The Queen is the best."

Meanwhile, a red light winked green at his words before access to an old forgotten USSR spy satellite was granted.

"And we're in!" Kaplan clapped his hands together and began focusing the cameras on the last reported location of the BRA agents. "I'll have to add this one to the list of satellites that were forgotten about," he muttered as he opened a spreadsheet and typed the name of the satellite into it. "Thank you CIA and KGB. Your incompetence and forgetfulness is to my gain."

---

"Well, that worked out just great!" Leon ducked back into cover as a crossbow bolt passed through where his head had been. "Maybe I should return you to your new friends!"

"No thanks," Ashley stayed down and covered her head as Leon killed the offending Ganado. "Can we get this thing out of me and leave?"
"Sure, I'll just ask them nicely to provide us with the means to surgically operate on you and remove a lethal parasite," Leon deadpanned. "I'm sure things will go just fine."

"You can drop the sarcasm," Ashley wrapped Leon's jacket around her as the frigid evening air chilled her to the bone. "I know I made them angry."

"Yeah, they're angry, but I think you damaged enough of the walls that they'll be busy for a bit," Leon stood up out of cover and pulled the VIP behind him as he moved back into the castle. "Now, please stay behind me and try not to step into my line of fire."

"Leon, it's moving," Ashley's boost of courage seemed to fade as she doubled over and threw up. "Can I go home now?"

Leon pulled her hair out of the way and helped her stand up, noting that the whites of her eyes were beginning to take on a dull red tint."

"We'll get you out of here," Leon stated. "And I'll get that thing out of you."

"Oh, how very touching," a short yet ancient looking man clapped slowly as he stepped out of the shadows. "It took me some time to identify you, Mr. Kennedy. But I'm afraid that this is, how do you Americans say it. 'The end of the line'."

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 11

"But I'm afraid that this is, how do you Americans say it. 'The end of the line'," As the short and gray haired man spoke, four giants in heavy cloaks stepped out of the shadows, their hands more resembling claws than anything else.. "You see, I have a something to accomplish with our dear Ashley here, and I cannot have you ruining any of it. So turn her over to us now, and you will be allowed to go free, along with your two compatriots."

"That won't be happening old man," Leon snarled at Salazar.

"Old man?" Salazar spread his hands out, as he smirked. "It may surprise you, Mr. Kennedy, but I am only twenty years old. Now, I have given you the chance to do this peacefully, and you have not accepted," the man tipped his tricorn forward in respect before he turned to walk away. "Dispose of him, but take her and get her to the Island."

Two of the creatures turned to follow the Count, a group of Ganado taking their place as the hum of insect wings began to resound throughout the interior space.

Leon glanced around as no one seemed to move for a second, spotting a small crack in the wall before nodding to himself.

"Stay!" He barked at Ashley as he shoved her into the hole, the shotgun now tucked into his shoulder as he took aim at one of the giants.

With a squeeze of the trigger, the weapon boomed, the buckshot driving one of the giants back and showing a strange exoskeleton as the cloak shifted. Leon pumped the weapon back while he held down the trigger, a rapid fire pace of five shells being ejected as the giant crumpled to the ground, twitching but down for the moment.

Letting the shotgun hang from its sling, Leon drew his handgun and knife, using a variation of the Harries technique to brace as he lunged forward at the nearest Ganado, driving his knife into the throat before firing a trio of rounds into the other giant, the bullets sparking off of the carapaced exoskeleton as a spiked tail tore the cloak off.

"Shit," Leon ducked, pulling his knife out and diving backward as the tail speared into the Ganado, the giant pulling back and sending the Plagas infested Spaniard flying away.

Then Ashley screamed, a trio of horrifying man-insect hybrids beginning to carry her away as she struggled frantically.

Leon paused to line up a shot with his handgun but had to dive away from a spiked stinger, the Verdugo driving him back and further away from his VIP. Spinning as he was in the air, he fired a single shot at the flying Novistador before he was knocked out of the air by the first Verdugo that Leon had attacked.

He hit the wall, gasping in pain and dropping his knife as he felt something give in his torso as the unhurt Verdugo picked him up and held him by his throat and then carried him over to one of the sections that Ashley had damaged earlier with her cannon fire, his stinger drawing back and then punching into and through the tactical vest that Leon was wearing before releasing him to fall into the depths of the hole below.

Leon cradled his chest as he fell, the pain radiating as darkness overtook what was left of the light. A small brick caught on his foot and sent him spinning into the sides of the tunnel, and Leon thought he saw a glimpse of a stream of water as he hit something that felt like concrete and everything went dark.

---

"They researched how to remove it," Chris finally found a file with the information he needed, his brow furrowed in anger. "But they only have a prototype made, and it's not in this lab."

"Well, do they detail where said prototype is?" Rain asked.

"It's on a secure island nearby," Chris sighed, closing his eyes and resting his head on the cool surface of the desk. "We'll have to fight our way through and then hope they don't destroy it when we get there."

"Sounds like we have a plan then," Rain smirked as she stuffed the last of the research into a fire and waterproof bag. "But we need to find the kid first. I don't want to leave him working solo on this."

"Agreed," Chris straightened up and thumbed the safety on his 1911.

The big man stepped out of the lab, his weapon ready for any movement as Rain followed, her rifle checking for anything that Chris might have missed. She was already hurt, and she wasn't planning to get torn to shreds by something in the dark.

"You mind hoofing the extra weight?" Rain gasped as the duffle bag full of documents banged against one of her wounds. "I'm gonna be a bit of deadweight until we get back home."

Chris held his left hand behind him and Rain pulled the strap of the bag off of her shoulder and pressed it into his hand, backing up as the man slung the pack and continued moving forward.

"Do you remember where the explosions came from?" Chris asked. "That's probably the best place to start looking for Leon."

"Take the next left, I need to be outside to get my bearings," Rain replied.

The duo moved down the eerily empty hallways, eventually finding their way outside and into the fading twilight of the evening sun.

"Chris," Rain breathed. "Hit the deck," She peered through her riflescope as Leon was thrown from the wall of the castle. Pulling the trigger, her rifle bucked into her shoulder as she dumped what was left of her magazine into the scorpion-human hybrid, the 7.62 NATO rounds ripping chunks off of the creature as it fell to the ground.

"And stay down," Rain reloaded the SCAR-H, the bolt slamming home to chamber another round. "Chris, estimate on the distance that the kid just fell."

"Thirty feet, maybe?" Chris peered over the side. "It's getting a bit too dark to tell."

"Fuck," Rain fired a handful of times, finishing off the remainder of the enemies. "We'll have to wait until morning to see if he made it."

"We'll have to come back," Chris sighed. "I need this thing out of me and if he's gone, that means they've got the VIP."

"And odds are they're going to be taking her to said island as well," Rain moved up while Chris stood back up. "We should get moving before it gets too dark, our NVGs were damaged in the crash, and I'm not so sure there's going to be much of a moon tonight."

"It'll be a long night," Chris muttered as the thing within his chest moved around again.

"Isn't it always," Rain looked back with a raised eyebrow and a look that did things to certain areas of Chris's anatomy. "Now let's go, big guy, I'm hurt, and the faster we get back, the sooner we can do fun things again."

Chris grunted and adjusted himself before moving to take point at a faster pace then before. There was something to look forward too after this mission, and he'd be damned if he missed out on it.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 12

"Drip, Drip…… Drip."

The sound of water dripping and a small amount of liquid splashed onto Leon's face, his face twitching and his nose crinkling in disgust as an acrid and foul smell reached his nose. Then, with a groan, the man slowly opened his eyes.

Pain; It meant that he was alive, but right now, Leon almost would have preferred death. Every small breath meant pain radiated out of his chest. And every bruise now made itself known as he shifted to an upright position.

Tucking his arm inside of his vest, Leon felt around where the spike had been driven through and felt a warm and sticky substance that stuck to his fingers.

"Fuck," he breathed and then winced as the pain increased to a sharp stab for a moment before subsiding to the persistent radiation as he used the hand not stemming the blood loss to pull himself back until he bumped into a wall.

Using the wall to support himself, Leon dug into one of his pouches and pulled out a chemlight, sticking part of it under his leg while he used the one hand to crack it, the soft green glow lighting up the sewers around him. Grabbing a second stick, he repeated the maneuver until he was able to see clearly enough to manage tending to his wounds.

His vest was destroyed, the only thing it would be good for now was carrying what was left of his ammunition, but it was underneath his vest that made him cringe. Nearly screaming, he pulled off the vest and the shirt underneath, revealing a torso covered in wounds and scratches caused by his fall and the wreck.

Pausing, he took a shallow breath and then looked down at the source of most of his pain. There, a small hole in his chest from the stinger, a stab wound that opened up and revealed an oozing wound and a cracked rib in his sternum, a small piece of the white of his bone showing through the red blood. He was lucky, if it were an inch lower or higher it would have perforated a lung and then he would really be up shit creek without a paddle.

Opening the small waterproof pouch that rested on his right hip, Leon grabbed the two rolls of gauze that lay within, and tearing off a small piece, wadded it up and stuck it in his mouth before biting down.

Grunting in pain, Leon began packing the wound carefully, nearly screaming with each movement made inside of his chest. Clenching his teeth, he continued making sure that the wound cavity was full before holding it in place with pressure while opening the second roll of gauze and beginning to wrap it tightly around the bandage, circling around and finally tearing it off from the small amount left in the roll and securing it.
That task done, Leon rested his head against the cool stone behind him, shallow breaths leaving as he worked through the pain.

After a few minutes of regaining his will to continue, Leon pulled the scraps of his shirt and vest back on before checking over the rest of his body, a small gasp of pain leaving as he touched the clusters of bruises from where he had hit various things during his fall.

To sum things up, he was a mess, and Leon knew that his only chance of making it out of here to get treatment lay in actually finishing the mission. On top of that, he was pissed. Someone had thrown him off of a fucking Castle. They should have made sure he was dead, because now he was going to kill every last bastard between him and the VIP before burning the place to the ground.

Grabbing one of the scattered chemlights, Leon shifting into a crouch before tossing them all over the place, the lights revealing a small trickle of polluted water that moved through the sewers and a small green glow shined as the night sights on his pistol glowed in the dark.

"Best purchase I made," Leon bit out as he grabbed the customized Beretta, shaking the slight mud off of it and removing the spent magazine before clearing the barrel and ramming a fresh magazine in, his thumb pushing the slide lever to chamber a fresh round.

"Now for the real test," Leon muttered with a wince as he touched the button on the pistol's flashlight, the weapon flashing on a bit and revealing more of the sewer around him.

Leon then pulled the shotgun around and pumped the spent shell out, reaching into his pocket, he grabbed the last handful of shells and slid them into the magazine one at a time until there was only the chamber left empty.

Leon now had a weapon, light, and a belly full of hatred and anger. They wanted a war? He was going to give them scorched earth. He shouldered the weapon and forced the action closed over the shell in the chamber.

"Now who's first?"

---

"Clear!" Rain barked as she limped through the room, Chris repeating the call as they finished off the last of the Ganado in between them and the small docks.

"Looks like there's a handful of boats here," Chris commented as he glanced around, the 1911 in his hands feeling heavy as sweat dopped from his brow. "Can we take a minute? I don't feel so good?"

"It seems someone's getting lazy," a harsh voice echoed through the open space. "You'd think you were being affected by a virus or something."

"Show yourself!" Rain barked as she looked around, her rifle at her shoulder.

"Rain, Rain, Rain," a voice tutted. "I can't believe you'd try to rush this sort of thing. It's not as if we aren't old friends after all."

"Krauser…" Chris bit out as he finally recognized the voice. "The fuck are you doing around here? I thought you were dead."

"I would have lived if someone had decided to bring me back with them instead of leaving me in a jungle to die!" Krauser's voice boomed. "But my team, those who I trusted, they let me behind!"

"You didn't even have a pulse!" Rain yelled back. "I paid for your fucking funeral!" She fired a random shot at where she thought the voice was.

"An easy justification for leaving me behind," Krauser chuckled. "But it's fine. I forgive you. Without your mistakes, I would never have become what I am today. Try to survive, old friends. I'll see you once you reach the island."

The voice drifted away, leaving nothing but still echoes in its place as Rain and Chris exchanged glances.

"There's no way that was actually him," Rain stated, matching Chris's pained look with a firm stare. "He was dead, we buried him, and it was his own damned fault that he died too."

"And if it is him?" Chris asked.

"Then we put him back in the ground," Rain snarled, a furious look flashing across her face. "Because it means that he's not anything close to a friend anymore if he's willing to work for known monsters."

"Alright then," Chris set his shoulders. "Let's go ahead and get his over with," he sat down in the first motorboat and pulled on the cord, releasing it and causing the engine to start right up. "You coming?" He asked.

"Yeah," Rain looked back at the castle, hoping that Leon would shuffle out before they left. "Was just hoping Kennedy would make it out."

"We'll come back for his body," Chris helped Rain into the boat. "Just like we did for Krauser's."

"Just punch it," Rain sighed. "We need to finish this."

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 13

“Godammit Chris,” Leon grunted as he limped toward the exit of the castle, a hand pressing down on his chest as he stepped over another corpse. “I’d heard you make a lot of messes, but a clear walkway would have been nice.”

As he neared the docks, Leon slowed down even further, grabbing the slung shotgun and holding it tight as he cleared the area. There was nothing, not a sound besides the lapping of slight waves against the dock and the rocking of the boat.

The quiet unnerved Leon, and he meticulously went over everything around him, taking in everything around the docks and pausing every few seconds to make sure nothing was creeping up behind him. Then finally, something caught his eye.

“The fuck is Umbrella doing here?” Leon crouched near a crate with the prominent logo proudly displayed, the wooden box looking faded aside from the red and white logo.

“Open the crate and potentially kill myself,” he muttered. “Or don’t open the crate and leave a potential thing that might kill me behind me.”

With a heavy sigh, Leon unsheathed his combat knife and began prying open the crate, hoping that whatever was inside wouldn’t kill him on sight, his breath stilling as he refused to exhale while working.

As the side of the crate crashed to the ground, Leon backed up and sighed in relief, a smile spreading across his face as cans of first aid sprays scattered across the docks, some of them rolling into the water with a sharp splash.

“I really hope that what they said about these things is true,” he grabbed a can and read the instructions, wincing as he tore the bandage off of his chest and began pulling bloodied gauze out of it before jabbing the nozzle of the spray into it and depressing the top, the hiss sounding loud compared to everything around as pain began radiating from the hole in his chest.

After the whole can had been emptied out, Leon tossed it to the side and looked at his chest, raising an eyebrow as a translucent film seemed to cover it, and the sides began the healing process.

“Damn,” Leon shook his head in amazement. “I’d heard the rumors, but this shit’s amazing.”

Looking at the remainder of the cans, Leon glanced around, eventually spotting what looked like an old suitcase leaning up against a nearby guard shack, and upon prying it open, found a loose linen shirt and a small rucksack that seemed like it had been snatched out of World War II.

Pulling the thin linen shirt on, Leon smiled as he clothed himself before also slinging what was left of his tactical vest on, grabbing the rucksack, and stuffing it full of First Aid sprays until it was nearly bulging.

Then, as he turned to head off towards the boat, he heard something, the whimper of something in the distance.

With a sigh, Leon moved toward the sound, his weapon tucked into his shoulder as he rounded a corner and looked into a small forested section in between the castle’s inner and outer walls.

Then Leon saw what was making the noise, a Husky, its leg caught in a bear trap as a trio of starved wolves began to circle the other canine.

“Get back you mangy mutts!” Leon fired a single shot just over one of the wolves, the booming of the shotgun scaring off the wolves as Leon knelt down by the dog.

“Good boy,” Leon stroked the husky’s snout, smiling as the dog leaned into the human’s touch for a moment before whimpering again. “I know, give me a minute.”

Leon grabbed the metal teeth of the trap, his muscles straining as he fought against the springs until the dog’s paw was able to pull free.

“Easy,” Leon said calmly as he let the teeth crash back together. “C’mere boy.”

The dog’s tail began wagging as the dog limped over, its front paw stained with blood.

“Let me take care of that for you,” Leon grabbed one of the cans of spray out of the rucksack and began spraying it into the gash, the dog shying away before Leon calmed it down with a few strokes of his other hand.

Then after a third of the can had been emptied out, Leon tucked it back away and began heading to the docks, a new companion at his side with a tail wagging furiously.

---

“I see that Mister Kennedy was not the only threat remaining,” a voice taunted Rain and Chris as they stepped out of the boat. “Chris Redfield, Rain Ocampo. My my my, what an interesting pair you make. Can you feel the Plaga within you, Mr. Redfield, the glorious life that longs to take control of what you feel and think?”

“Fuck you,” Chris grit his teeth as he held back vomit, something writhing within.


“Ahh, Mister Redfield, what a mouth on you,” Salazar’s voice continued to echo. “Were you never taught better by your mother? Manners make the man, after all.”

“I’ll put a clean one between his eyes once we see the bastard,” Rain snarled. “I’ll only need the one shot.”

“And you, Miss Ocampo,” Salazar’s voice continued to echo through the mist as the two soldiers continued onto the island. “Didn’t you learn long ago to never draw close? After all, isn’t that how the two of you lost a friend? First to Raccoon City, and now even the dead will have nothing to do with you.”

“Just stay calm,” Rain grunted at Chris. “Eyes on the prize.”

“I’m good,” Chris exhaled slowly. “I’m not angry, I just want to kill him with my bare hands, there’s a difference.”

“Uhuh,” Rain laughed. “I think we’ll have to find him first, it’s not like we can see a damn thing in this mist.”

As the two walked slowly down the docks towards a pair of torches, they heard the sound of loud footsteps, and the ground began shaking as something rounded the corner.

“I didn’t bring enough ammo for this,” Rain glanced at her rifle.

“See, you never should have left me behind,” Krauser’s voice came from behind as he launched Chris into the path of the El Gigante, grabbing Rain in a chokehold and pulling back, his knife cutting her rifle’s sling and leaving it behind as he dragged the struggling operator away and into the mist.

Chris looked around as the giant continued walking towards him, spotting his M1911 lying in the mud in between him and the monster. He dove for the weapon as Gigante began its charge, scooping it out of the mud as a giant fist caught him in the stomach and launched him back into a stone wall, the old stone cracking from the force of his impact, dust falling over his face as he slid to the ground.

“Shit,” Chris groaned as he tried to stand up. “I’m not down yet,” he spat blood as he glared at the giant. “I can do this all day.”

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 15​

"Here," Leon knelt down next to the rifle that had been left behind when Krauser took Rain. "You might want something with a bit more of a punch than that." he handed the rifle to Chris.

"Thanks," Chris accepted the rifle and checked the magazine. "Only got the one mag though."

"Then you'll have to be careful with your shot placement, won't you?" Leon arched an eyebrow. "Now let's move, I'm fucking done with Spain. I want beaches, girls, and a vacation after this."

"I'll settle for getting this thing out of me," Chris replied. "Now, you done bitching?"

"Yeah," Leon sighed. "I'm done."

"Good, then we can find my girlfriend and the VIP and get the hell outta here."

As the two moved through, the thick fog that seemed to encapsulate the island began to shift and move away, a chilly gust of wind blowing through and showcasing a group of platforms interlinked by bridges, the ruins of some sort of bridge or skyway created centuries ago.

"Ancient ruins, deadly virus, what next? A hidden lab and helipad somewhere?" Chris muttered to himself."

"Why do you tempt Murphy?" Leon glared, the dog walking beside him whining in tune. "Now we're going to have to deal with everything that could possibly happen on this op."

Finding some ancient stairs resembling Roman architecture, they climbed up, following the alternating stone and wood path as they moved deeper into the island.

"So, what's the story with this 'Krauser'?" Leon asked, his shotgun slung as he was out of rounds while his handgun helped cover their rear.

"Old partner and friend," Chris shrugged. "We were tracking down reports of bioterrorist activity in South America and he'd been with us on more than a few operations. We got along well for the most part, even if he was a touch more violent than we preferred to be."

"So what went down in South America?" Leon turned and took point as Chris leaned over and threw up over the side of the skyway.

"It seemed like a standard op," Chris stood up and continued as if nothing had happened, the two men slowly stepped across some rotted boards. "At least at first. Things were going well, then Krauser made a mistake, pissed off some of the locals. Unfortunately, said locals were getting paid off by the remnants of Umbrella in the area. They decided they didn't like the way that we looked. And, if you've operated in South America, you know that they've got some of the biggest arms deals in the world. They opened fire and nearly killed all three of us. Nicked one of Krauser's arteries before we managed to TQ it and get the bleeding managed. We had to fight our way out of the village, found the nearby Umbrella lab and shut it down. Then as we were heading towards the evac point, our chopper got shot down. Which meant that we had to go through the jungle."

"Yikes," Leon glanced down at the ground for a second, considering the distance from the platform to the ground.

"Yeah," Chris grimaced. "It wasn't fun, and he kept on bleeding, and even with the tourniquet and stuffing the artery we just couldn't keep him alive. He died right as we reached a friendly village. But we encountered more remnants after that, and we had to bury him there before we left to finish our trek through the jungle. If we'd tried to take him with us he'd have just gotten eaten by something. So we held a small funeral and moved on. We knew that he was dead. He'd been dead for a few days before we made our decision. When we got back to the States about a month or so later, we contacted his family and told them what had happened and offered to retrieve his body if they wanted."

"They just held a memorial service, didn't they?"

"Yeah," Chris nodded. "He was the Black Sheep of the family, only one that went into the military in a family of Doctors and lawyers. The service was decent, but they didn't really understand what it was that he was doing."

"And then he appears here," Leon finished. "And he seems to be holding a grudge."

Chris grunted in agreement before sighing. "I don't want to kill and old friend, but I'll do it if I have to."

"I'll take that shot if it comes to that," Leon shook his head. "No one should have to kill a friend."

–
–

Rain slowly opened her eyes, grimacing in pain as the rope she'd wrapped around herself dug into the part of her that was already a mass of bruises and cracked ribs.

"Fuck," she exhaled painfully, untying the rope and stabbing her knife into the wooden support above her. "I need to get to a doc."

A series of footsteps were heard overhead, and a dog began sniffing at the floor above her, the light shining through the wooden planks as familiar voices were heard.

"Well, we've got damages here," Leon knelt and looked at where nearby stone pillars had been recently damaged. "And I think my friend here smells something."

"Leon!" Rain yelled and then hissed in pain as her chest throbbed again.

"Chris, she's underneath," Leon laid down and looked underneath the walkway and spotted the woman. "We've got a rope up here, I'm going to get it to you and pull you up."

Chris tied a loop into the rope they'd found earlier before passing it on.

"Put your foot in and we'll raise you up," Leon swung the rope to her, the woman grimacing as she caught it. "Easy now," he stood up to a crouch and braced as Rain allowed herself to swing freely. "We've got you."

Leon then began pulling Rain up as Chris moved up and grabbed Rain's hands once she was close enough to the edge.

"Thank God," Rain gave Christ a sloppy, wet, and painful kiss. "I thought that I was dead."

"Well, not yet at least," Leon looked her up and down. "But you don't look too far off."

"Asshole," Rain laughed and then groaned. "It hurts to laugh."

"Well, I'm not sure if it'll help," Leon shrugged off the sack and grabbed a can of First Aid Spray. "But I'm not sure it'll hurt," he peeled off her vest and the shirt and tank top underneath, grimacing at the bruises that were underneath.

"Damn," Chris whistled as Leon shook the can and began spraying it on the damaged tissue, the spray seemingly already working on some of the surface bruising.

"Well, it's not perfect," Rain sagged in relief. "But it's a helluva lot better."

"Just give it a minute," Leon replied. "I'm going to go make sure the perimeter's clear."

As Leon moved to check and ensure that there weren't any enemies around, the dog left his side and nudged into Rain's hand, licking the hand before resting his head on her chest.

"Cute dog," Rain muttered. "Where'd you find it?"

"Leon's rescue," Chris shrugged as he knelt down beside his lover. "I had nothing to do with it."

"Too bad," Rain smiled as she stroke the dog's head and scratched behind his ears. "I like dogs."

"We can get one when we get back from this op," Chris smiled. "But first, we've got a mission to finish."

"Help me up," Rain grunted. "That stuff works miracles, I'm not at a hundred, but my seventy-five's better than most people's full kit."

"Damn straight," Chris grabbed her arm and helped her stand, assisting her with securing her vest before handing her rifle back to her. "Here, you dropped this."

"Thanks," Rain sighed as she looked at the cut sling. "Fucking asshole wrecked my rifle sling."

"Just don't drop it and you're fine," Leon cheekily called out from his position up ahead. "Now, can we get on with this?"

"He's getting cocky," Chris sighed.

"He's kinda earned it today," Rain shrugged. "He's in better shape than the two of us, anyway."

"No comment," Chris pulled his 1911 out of the holster. "No comment."


Author's Note: I apologize for the late update on this, I got caught up in writing other things and was lazy. But no more excuses. This is back on regular updates.