Chapter Text
Chapter Twenty-Five: Like Lovers Do
“H is and Hers closets are perfect for skeletons, hiding resentment and shedding fatalities. Cheers to regret! Wash it down with some booze! Drinking like lovers do. ”
-Hey Violet, Like Lovers Do
Claire - Past (1997) - RCPD/STARS Christmas Party -
Low-key festive was the best description of the large museum building that had been made into police headquarters. There were decorations here and there, but most of the guests were gathered in the front entryway. A tree had been erected in the Library, along with some gifts for people that had paid into an auction and a long tray of food, pot-luck style. There were several public areas being used for holiday styled games so people were in and out of the library and other parts of the building frequently for the party. Only a handful of people were actually working or on call, so mostly everyone else was getting swiftly drunk.
I gathered my own ‘punch’ - I’d spotted Forest spiking earlier, and planned to just mingle a little. If I didn’t ‘know’ there was alcohol, then I couldn’t be charged with drinking underage. I loved the semantics of it. Not like I wouldn’t have been partaking at the college more openly, but Chris would lose it if he realized I was purposely drinking before twenty-one. I’d gotten to know a few of the people at Chris’ office pretty well and wanted to see how they were before I surprised Chris with my holiday visit. Once he knew I was here, I knew he’d take the rest of my night.
“She’s great, she’s doing really well, her grades her first semester were just stellar.” I overheard my brother despite my intent to avoid him. Chris was bragging about me, so I paused near the door to one of the offices to eavesdrop.
“I’m sure you’re very proud.” Barry’s voice, he sounded a little out of sorts...but Chris could get a touch overbearing when he was drinking, so I wasn’t surprised. Poor guy. I eavesdropped as I scanned the room for Jill. I’d made her a small ornament of lockpicks in one of my metalworking classes and I wanted to make sure she got it today.
“I am very proud. Man, I never thought I’d see it. I was worried I’d have to keep an eye on her forever, Barry.” Chris continued. “It’s so nice now, having some time to myself. Not having to constantly look in on her. I don’t even know what to do with all my time.”
…
He sounded relieved.
I knew he didn’t know I could hear him...but…
It hurt all the same. I headed away swiftly, to the upper level of the library where I could get away from people. Most wouldn’t head up here during the party. I knew Chris gave up a lot for me, helping raise me after mom and dad...but it was hard to hear it out loud. Was I just that much of a source of problems?
No. Of course not.
I knew he didn’t look at me that way. I knew he was actually proud, and he was just happy that I’d turned out mostly okay after some of my temper issues in school. It was more me being anxious about always being in trouble, I couldn’t let it get to me. Then, maybe I shouldn’t have come home early.
Maybe he wanted his space…
I hated to admit how much it stung to hear he didn’t want me here.
“Not a fan of parties either?” The deep voice surprised me, but I knew it. I hadn’t met him many times really, the infamous leader of the STARS team. Albert Wesker. He was not in uniform, but a rather expensive looking pair of slacks with a waistcoat that looked quite nice on him. I offered a small nod, a little awkward that someone else was hiding up here with me. “You know, the punch has been spiked.”
He’d spotted it too.
“Uh, was it?” I glanced at my already half-empty glass and went back to him. I definitely wanted a couple drinks after what I’d just heard. As it was I’d probably get a hotel for the night, and then arrive ‘on-time’ tomorrow as originally planned. I’d wanna get out of here before too many more people saw me.
“Still not quite old enough, as I recall it.” He noted, of course he remembered me. He didn’t move to take the drink out of my hand despite his words. “How’s college, She-field?”
“Busy, confusing sometimes, not that bad most of the time.” I replied honestly.
“No trouble with men, I presume.” He noted, smirking. He still remembered that time I kicked that kid in the junk huh? I smirked on thinking back, it wasn’t a bad memory.
“No, I am pretty able to defend myself.” I mused. “Besides, if I had real trouble I could always tell Chris and he’d…”
My words drifted off, I realized I shouldn’t tell Chris anything of that sort again. I didn’t want to be a burden on him...and I should be glad I wouldn’t have to be.
“Don’t worry She-field. I wouldn’t write up Redfield for defending his sister. He’s one of the best shots we have.” Wesker remarked, mistaking what my concern was. “You should probably go say hello instead of hiding up here.”
“You’re hiding up here.” I pointed out, then blushed when I realized that comment sent the wrong impression. “No, uh, I mean...I realized after I got here, maybe I shouldn’t have come back early. He’s already drunk and I don’t wanna spend my night dealing with him being that loud. It was a long ride back, so I might just get a hotel and then see him later tomorrow to avoid the hangover too.”
I was rambling.
He definitely didn’t care, he had no reason to, at all. I was just a kid to him, some girl that amused him once by beating up a boy in front of him. He was all by the book from what Chris said, he was probably quietly insulted that I was wasting his time and had invaded his hiding space. He was quietly watching me though, a bit sinister with the sunglasses, but apparently he had sensitive eyes or something. I wasn’t sure how I knew, since I couldn’t see that part of his face...something just told me I had his attention, even if the issue was a stupid one.
“Well, if you have any more of the punch first, come back and I’ll give you a ride. No point driving afterward.” He spoke softly, after a moment of quiet. No judgment, no other advice, just a friendly offer. I didn’t expect it, but I nodded slowly.
“You...don’t mind if I drink?” I asked, a little surprised at the concept.
“It’s just a little punch, yes?” He shrugged lightly. “If you need that ride, I’ll be in the STARS office. Merry Christmas, She-field.”
He left then, and I glanced curiously after him. No wonder Chris liked him, he was a little unnerving, but he seemed like a nice guy...
Claire - - July 27, 2009 -Present (2009) -
Fuck you too, subconscious…
Why did I have to think about that memory? It was freaking almost August, not really Christmas time. My brain was so mean to me. Here I am, doing my best not to feel totally overwhelmed about the fact that I am preparing to betray Wesker, and it’s like: remember this time he was randomly nice to you and you thought he was a good guy? I sighed and pushed my eggs around my plate, thankfully he’d taken my sulking to be frustration at having to help his shitty sister, and not the fact that I wanted to hand him over to Chris with as little violence as possible.
I didn’t want him dead, and I wasn’t sure Chris even could kill Wesker after the sort of regeneration I’d seen him capable of. But, I did want him behind bars with a jailor that wouldn’t just decide that he was fuckable enough to ignore every moral they had for a good time. Albeit, some part of me still thought it might have been worth it, I was pretty certain I wouldn’t ever have as good a time with sex again.
Stop it, Claire. Even horrific dirtbags can be good at sex, doesn’t mean you should jump in the van and spread your legs.
I resisted the urge to punch myself. I felt horrible. He didn’t seem to realize I’d plotted out a double cross with Chris. The fact that I’d agreed to give him information on where I’d think Alex would be taken in return for him not murdering people when he went to get her helped my case. I’d gotten his phone long enough to plan with Chris where to direct Wesker, and for them to have a trap waiting. I’d even had the time to go in and erase that part of the call history just in case he checked.
With Simmons gone, the BSAA had found out about some of his corruption and gotten their hands on his formula that had staggered the shit out of Wesker. I hadn’t gotten to get as many details as I would have liked about Simmons and Sherry, but I’d been pressed for time. Sherry was safe, so that’s all that mattered on her front…I needed to focus on the present and getting out of this mentally screwed situation I’d put myself in.
The goal was to lay Wesker low enough with this poison to put him back in the cage at the castle The Spencer castle’s prison layout for Wesker specifically was probably the only thing that would have been capable of holding him at this point. His sister was being held at a facility not too far from there, over the Italian border. Even if he was smart enough to put together some sort of trap in mind, he hadn’t talked about it. I doubted since he kept dropping innuendos that he would think I was in on it. He’d not acted strangely about his intended mission, he’d been busy researching the place, and the couple times we’d interacted he’d reassured me he wouldn’t let Alex test on me again. I doubted that he knew I planned to kick him back into the proverbial volcano…
“Come on, you can help me get ready.” He said when I’d finished the eggs. “Perhaps I could distract you from the pouting.”
“Haha, no thanks.” I retorted, glad I had the excuse of being sour at his sister to easier refute his attempts for more intimacy. It was bad enough I’d let myself go along the first time. I relented though, since I didn’t want him to pick up why I was actually acting so strangely… “I’ll help you get ready, if only to keep reminding you that you agreed to no murder.”
He probably wanted me to help dress him so I’d think about undressing him.
Manipulator…
Claire - - July 26, 2009 - Prior to Present -
“Claire! Holy shit, are you okay? What did that bastard do?” Chris’ voice was dowsed in concern and that wasn’t helping my already guilty conscience.
“I’m okay, I’m okay.” I insisted quietly, glancing toward the section I knew Wesker to still be sleeping in. “I don’t have long. I got his phone, but he could hear me. He wants his sister back.”
“Yeah, we expected that…Claire, you gotta get out of there.” Chris had a one track mind sometimes… “How did you even end up with him?”
“I gotta go along or this won’t work.” I answered. “Listen. He’ll be coming for her. I need to know the most likely spots so he can look into a few. If you can get your hands on the formula Simmons used to hurt him…”
“We did that already, we found a lot of corruption after his body was found. Why was Wesker after him?” Chris was still always in cop mode, wanting more information. Why wouldn’t he just listen?
“List, Chris.” I repeated. “You should know what to do from there. We gotta pump him full of that poison and put him back in the castle. Leon knows which one.”
“Or just kill him.” Chris hissed.
“I’m not sure we can. Just give me a list of names…I really can’t talk. Is Sherry okay?” I had to know that much considering what Simmons had been doing…
“She’s okay, more worried about you.” Chris confirmed before starting to list a few facilities and where they were. We had to put this plan together, it had to work…it was better I didn’t have to explain anything in detail yet. I wasn’t even sure where to begin…
Claire - - July 27, 2009 -Present (2009) -
I helped Wesker put on his ear piece as he messed with his belt. Just as well he didn’t ask me to go…there. All the willpower in the world probably wouldn’t save me if he tried to really press for attention before leaving. It was possibly the last time I’d ever see him...if everything went to plan anyway. Definitely the last if Chris had anything to say about it. I had to get myself out of this situation though, I shouldn’t be guilty about turning him in at all. He wasn’t a good person, and no amount of memories of times when Raccoon City was still around would actually convince me he was. There was a point at which you couldn’t redeem yourself, I should have realized Wesker had passed that long before I’d found him at the volcano…
“You look grim, Shefield.“ He pointed out, and I realized he’d been watching me more now than the last few hours as he worked. “Are you worried about me?”
“You wish.” I huffed at the accusation, blushing since he wasn’t wrong. I was worried. I hated that I was concerned about him, but I didn’t want him to be harmed, not really, just to keep him from harming others. Even despite all the evil he’d spread, even despite Rockfort, he’d often been rather kind to me…he’d saved my life too many times, and that made it extra challenging to wish him any form of ill - more so since I’d seen him suffer his own amount of pain as a result of his choices.
“Hmm,” He seemed contemplative as he watched me, taking my chin and pulling me closer. I turned so his lips met my cheek instead of my mouth. “So chilly, dear heart. I’ll put an end to this mission and come back to warm you up, mmm?”
“No murder.” I repeated, as if keeping to that ideal of stopping him from harming others would make what had done better. I needed something to justify it, because I was terrified of the part of me that hoped he would return. “I’ll be listening in.”
“Yes, that’s why I’m setting up the mic at all.” He retorted drily before looking me over. “I’ll do my best to keep your sensitivities in mind, in regards to morality, and otherwise.”
Was he always this horny? He needed to stop that.
“Let’s just get this over with.” I remarked, walking away before I let myself get carried away. Thankfully, we weren’t locked together with the tension this time, and he also busied himself with the final preparations. I would finally get to see Chris again soon, after all this time, but these weren’t the circumstances I was hoping for…
Wesker - July 27, 2009 - Present - Near Midnight -
Bases were always so low alert on Thursday’s. The place looked quite unassuming, the guard was heavier than usual in the reports I had on this place. A sign they probably had a guest that was higher priority. Confirming that in all likelihood, this was the place Alex was being kept. Not that an army would be enough to keep me from my goal. If Alex actively owed me her life, perhaps she’d take more care not to step on my toes in the future. A couple dozen guards were left sleeping by the time I’d reached the main facility building.
Thankfully, I’d hacked several facilities before my untimely swim in lava, and I still had a lot of good information on most of the BSAA. They definitely hadn’t improved their cyber-security as much as they likely should have. I knew that the prisons here would be underground and where to go on the maps. It was easy enough to steal the right key cards when you had dozens of downed guards to choose from. They hadn’t even set an alarm off yet, idiots.
The BSAA was used to dealing with zombies though, not godlike B.O.W’s with the presence of mind to actively use stealth tactics. Stealing a prisoner was akin to the candy-baby scenario for someone like me. I was congratulating myself on doing such an excellent job when the elevator to the prisoner floor opened and gunfire exploded into both me and the box I’d ridden down in. Perhaps, they were more prepared than I thought they would be…
Ouch!
I’d taken at least a dozen shells by the time I’d dodged to the side and thrown out a grenade of my own into the hall outside. They’d knew I was going to be coming, those bullets hurt like hell…it was the same trash Simmons had used. It burned like mad! I did what I could to dig out the shells closer to the surface before they could pump too much of the poison inside… shit…
“Wesker!” I heard Claire’s voice scared in my headset. She’d still been awake, keeping an eye on me. She must have heard the gunfire echoing in the mic…
“Nothing I can’t handle.” I hissed, though my ears and head were ringing as a flashbang went off near the exit. I’d escaped the flash for the most part, but it was still disorienting. I threw one of my own back out at them, along with one filled with smoke that would help cover me heading out into the fray. It was too late to retreat now.
The gunfire returned as I ducked out, but I was still fast enough to evade most of it as I rushed up to the line of men that had been firing. Two of them had the state of mind to turn and try and shoot me. The last was already dead. There were other groups shooting at me, but my smoke grenade had helped kill their ability to see.
“Stop this now, Wesker!” I knew that voice well enough. Chris Redfield was here…of course he was, he probably predicted I’d make an attempt for Alex. “We have enough of the drug that puts you down to keep you unconscious for a century.”
I didn’t know if he was bluffing, but I only growled and continued toward the next set of gunfire. If they were planning to use my sister as bait, then I’d just kill all the fishermen. I felt more bullets find purchase under my skin, and hissed in a mix of anger and pain. I was forced to duck behind a door in the unclear halls so I could start picking out more bullets. Unlike the last time when I was hit with this serum, I knew what it could do. I would heal faster if I just plucked them free and took the damage. If my blood got everywhere and started a bio-event, then that was on the so-called ‘good guys’ attacking me.
“Where is Claire?” Chris called out. He didn’t mind losing his men then? Still playing the oafish big brother protector card?
“She’s perfectly safe.” I called back, amused it earned me a large bullet where I’d been when I’d spoken. He was still the crack shot with that rifle…
I got free the bullets I could and headed back into the maze of halls to hunt for other men, knocking them out wasn’t a possibility now as far as I was concerned. I couldn’t have them waking up and coming after me if they were using this poison. I had to duck to the side when I rounded a corner, deflecting a rocket just before it exploded nearby, sending shrapnel everywhere to the refrain of ongoing gunfire. I tore through another row of men, faster when I wasn’t trying to just knock them out. At least Claire didn’t have video with the audio, but she had already figured out I wasn’t pulling punches.
“Just get out, Wesker!” She was yelling on the headset. I ignored her, rounding another corner. There was another guard, this one though, had a real reason to give me pause. The frightened thing was probably barely twenty, he was shaking a little as he held Alex against him, holding a gun to her head. She looked disoriented, and barely conscious, they must have heavily drugged her…
“Stop, stop right there.” The kid’s voice broke. “You don’t move or I’ll shoot her.”
The room still had particles slowly falling through the air where pieces of the wall and insulation had been destroyed by the battle. The area around us was covered in smoke, but that was beginning to clear. I didn’t hear many other combatants, so I must have already finished several of them. The bodies littering the floor definitely set the stage in my favor.
“You have my attention…” I remarked, narrowing my eyes on the boy. He’d definitely die for this…
“Smith.” It was Chris’ voice on the kids radio. “We don’t use prisoners as hostages. Stand down. I have Wesker in my sights.”
“Put her down and I won’t rip you in half” I hissed at the boy. My fingers twitched, wanting to move…but the kid already had the trigger slightly pressed, he was likely to shoot her in an accident if I grabbed him…
“No, no way…you can’t see him in this mess, Captain.” The boy only held her closer, and she was too drugged to do more than comply. I grit my teeth, wincing as a bullet dug into my leg. At least the kid hadn’t shot when I took the damage…
“I have him in my sights, stand down, Smith.” Chris repeated coldly as the sensation of acid flushed through my leg. They could fit more of the serum in his sniper rifle ammunition. I couldn’t risk leaning down to rip it out either…
“He’ll never stop Captain…look at him.” Smith stated, clearly all the more afraid now that he’d witnessed me take a .50 cal to the thigh and not flinch “If his sister gets out, isn’t that worse? She’ll hurt more people…that’s all they do…the way Umbrella killed my family…”
“Smith…don’t…”
The protest by Chris died with the gunshot…
I ran, but even with my speed I was too late. The damned kid got Alex in the skull twice before I could reach him. I made good on my promise…’Smith’ was dead before he could have pulled the trigger a third time. A second large projectile tore into my shoulder, then a third into my calf. I growled at the pain, trying to ignore the burning…the almost fire that seemed to be at the edges of my vision. I reached over to pull Alex up, I wouldn’t leave her here, not to these insignificant mortals.
Then I stumbled, another bullet took out enough of my knee that I couldn’t stay standing. I wanted to run, and I could hear yelling…but I couldn’t keep moving. I was poked more, the bullets not registering as they should to my nerves at this point. Alex was dead, I could tell her body was cool…it felt extremely so considering the inferno in my own blood.
“Wesker!” Claire’s voice was still in my ear. I opened my mouth, but I didn’t get any words out. A final shot from the sniper, and the world exploded into black agony.