Resident Evil: Fractured Promises

New York, July 13th, 2022

Brown hair flutters in the breeze as the doors are opened and a pair of crystal blue eyes watches the muscular form of Chris Redfield enter the large church. He nods politely at a few people, shakes a couple of hands, but never hugs anyone, not even the overzealous crying women that men would normally throw themselves over to hug. She sighs as he crosses the entire church, noticing that his normally hazel eyes are leaning more toward blue these days and are fixed on her form.

He shakes hands, nods politely, but hugs no one, no one except for Rebecca Chambers, "Hey, Chambers… How are you holding up?"

"Good," she chokes back a sob as her arms wrap around his waist, "as can be, given the circumstances…"

Chris does what he has always done when they've had a tough mission and he knows Rebecca needs the comfort, he wraps a hand around her neck and pulls her face against his chest, "You can let go here, you know? I'll protect you from their evil, prying eyes." He looks around defensively before offering her a light chuckle, "No one will see the great Rebecca Chambers cry today."

I'll protect you…

-February 3rd, 2000–

The orders were strange, almost like they were spoken by someone else through the man in the nice suit, but she follows them, especially with the offer of 'great leaps in research' on the table. She stares out the window as the car drives her through the narrow streets of downtown Manhattan. Lithe fingers twirl the nylon lanyard around the plastic badge given to her the moment she climbed into the vehicle and it pulled away from her apartment. There is a bit of a bump as the car enters an underground garage, Rebecca cursing herself for not paying better attention to where she is being taken. S.T.A.R.S. trained her better, but here she is, in an unknown location, taken there by unknown people, for an unknown purpose.

"Miss Chambers, a pleasure," the hand that escorts her from the sedan is clad in a black leather glove and wrapped in an expensive dark gray suit, "welcome to our facility…"

The brunette huffs and places her left hand on her hip, "Exactly who are you and whose facility is this?"

"Due time, my dear," the older gentleman smirks and escorts the scientist through the garage and into an elevator, where he then presses a button for one of the lower floors.

The ride is silent, Rebecca knowing that asking any questions isn't going to garner her any answers, "Here we are, Miss Chambers."

Metal doors give way to white walls and bright lights, so bright that she has to shield her eyes from them as the pair navigates the numerous hallways and turns. Eventually she is lead into a brand new and clean laboratory with equipment that looks to be so far beyond state-of-the-art Rebecca swears for a second they have stepped into the future. Robotic arms move around the room, setting up samples, moving them between containers, just moving about on their own with no one to guide them.

"So exactly what will I be researching in this lab, Mystery Man?" her hands automatically slide along the counters and tables, touching the machines, and just taking it all in.

Her mysterious benefactor smiles and crosses his arms, leaning against the doorframe, "The future. There have been some radical advancements that have come into our possession and we would like you to study them, find out what makes them all work and how we may best use them."

Every single fiber of the Rebecca Chambers from S.T.A.R.S. is throwing up red flags, but little scientist Rebecca, the one standing in this lab now, she nods her head without fail, without hesitation, "Alright, you sold me… What am I working on?"

-New York, 2022—

Rebecca watches the crowd move, reshape, bend as people greet other people, men and women shake hands, exchange embraces, and comfort their tears. She watches it all through distant eyes, almost like looking through a telescope, judging the people, trying to determine how many of these 'grievers' actually knew the deceased. Blue eyes start separating the people into two groups: those who knew her, and those that think they did. The ones who actually knew the dead girl resting in the coffin behind Rebecca are obvious, they aren't crying, aren't openly grieving, as they knew she wouldn't want them to.

"What's bugging you?" the voice is so sudden, so quiet, and so unexpected that Rebecca releases a small squeal and almost jumps out of her skin.

Jill Valentine smiles behind the former medic and crosses her arms, "Holy! My G- Oooohhh, Jill! Why must you be so quiet?"

A wave of the thief's hand dismisses her question, "It's a natural talent, I can't just turn it off. Seriously though, Rebs, what's bothering you?"

Out of every little nickname they've given her, Rebecca can't bring herself to stop Jill from using one, "Nothing, it's a funeral, Jill, I'm allowed to be down, sad, and lost in thought."

"Sure, sure," Jill slowly sips the small glass in her hand, "do you think they'll show up?"

A nod, small, but sure, "Of course they will. They meant the world to her. If they don't, I'm sure we'll all have words to share with them…"

"Ain't that the truth," Rebecca finally turns to face one of her best friends and sighs at the black dress she's wearing.

"How can you make anything look gorgeous?"

The taller woman chuckles and holds up her phone, revealing an image Rebecca spends a little too long looking at, "Before…" a long pause, "Wesker… I had to work so hard to keep my body in shape. Now, it's a curse I must bear, as I don't even have to try anymore… Some running, bit of lifting, that's it."

"As if I couldn't hate your body any more, Valentine…" Rebecca sighs and finds herself happy to have both Chris and Jill here; it's like a mini S.T.A.R.S. reunion.

Like family…

-March 15th, 2002—

"Rebecca Chambers, working on skin sample number…" she glances at the label on the dish, "47G. Begging dissection in preparation for DNA breakdown."

The robotic arms move the sample around to the operating table, where a laser cuts a thin layer off the top, "How is my favorite scientist today?"

"I'm doing alright, Gregory. I've noticed the samples are human, barely mutated… Exactly what am I working with?" the layer of skin is moved into a tube filled with a green liquid. "Who am I working with?"

Gregory Tomlin nods and runs a hand through his silver hair, the British accent still heavy, but more tolerable, "You ask that every day, Miss Chambers. I cannot grant you an answer to that right now. Rest assured, my bosses have seen the progress you are making and are very pleased. Keep that up and everything will be yours."

As the layer of skin is dropped into the liquid, it bubbles and dissolves, "Oh, crap… Mister Tomlin, would you be so kind as to grab me a few more skin, blood, and tissue samples?"

She doesn't notice the sick smirk that crosses his lips, "Right away, my dear."

Rebecca looks at the rest of the skin sample as it begins to turn purple, "Just what are you infected with?" the sample mutates and grows in size before finally dissolving away.

-New York, 2022—

Rebecca smiles as Jill saunters over to Chris, dodging the other grievers, Survivors stick together after all…

More gatherers attempt to offer their condolences and Rebecca just nods politely and thanks them before returning to her thoughts. Everything she is looking at has a dark tint to it, even the moments where someone shares a joke and a laugh spreads amongst those gathered. The casket behind the brunette medic is open, but she can't bring herself to look at the face resting within. Rebecca feels more responsible for the funeral they are attending than anyone else in the church, well, until HE walks in.

She gasps at the look on his face, the bags under his eyes showing just how little sleep he has gotten lately, his clothes disheveled but definitely a step up from most of the mourners, "Rebecca? It's good to see you again…"

"Yeah, yeah, good to see you, too…" her blue eyes sparkle with fresh tears and he reaches up to swipe them away, a friendly gesture, "Just wish it was under better circumstances…"

Black sneakers, black jeans, a black T-shirt, and that damned jacket with the vertical stripes, it all is brought together by his dark hair, Why is it getting darker? He can't be dying it, can he?

Leon Kennedy offers a smile and pulls her into a hug, "I'm so sorry… It's all my fault…"

"No, no!" Rebecca wraps her arms around him tighter, sensing just how close the DSO Agent is to falling apart, "We make our own choices. There's nothing to regret, Leon. Everything happened as it needed to!"

Yeah, nothing to regret, right…

-December 19th, 2003-

Rebecca had to be careful, hiding her secret project under windows for other readings and tests, but she finally has her answer; one that terrifies her completely, "I've been experimenting on a fifteen-year-old girl?"

The data doesn't lie, the tissue samples, the blood, it's all from a teenage girl, but that's her age now. When Rebecca first arrived, the girl had to be, what, barely eleven or twelve? She doesn't want to think about it, but she must be working for monsters if they infected a girl with some unknown viral agent. This is why Rebecca finds herself flat against a wall at a hallway intersection, listening for the armed guard to round the far corner. The guard makes the turn and the lithe medic turned scientist quickly shuffles down the corridor as silently as she can, recalling some of the facility layout she memorized from the files she hacked a few hours before.

This is a dangerous game you're playing, Rebecca… Why are you doing this? She knows the answer: there is an innocent child wrapped up in all this.

She has had a large part in this girl's suffering and she will no longer be a part of it. This might ruin any chance she has of being a scientist, or a professor, or saving the world, but saving one life, just one, that makes it worth it. She perches again at an intersection, almost getting spotted by an approaching guard, but he turns left at another hallway, allowing her to breathe once again. One more turn, that's all she has to do and the good medic is at her destination, staring at a large white door.

You can do this, the handle is pulled out and the door hisses before sliding open, revealing a small room adorned with a two-way mirror on the opposite wall.

Rebecca stares at the scene before her and feels her stomach turn; men and women sit in this room and observe the girl as she lives out her life in a room that is only double the size of a prison cell. There is no movement in the girl's room, not until a form shifts under the blanket on the bed. Knowing it's wrong, Rebecca steps into the room and sits right up against the mirror, watching the girl as she slowly sits up and yawns. Blonde hair, even with having not seen the sun for at least three years, her hair is still as bright as the sun itself. Startling ice-blue eyes look toward the wall and for a second, Rebecca swears the girl is looking right at her.

The teenager steps from the bed and walks up to the wall, punching it hard, "What do you want this time? More skin? More blood? How about you take my tears this time!? I want out of here! You should have determined by now that I'm FINE! I'm not infected! The two of them CURED me in Raccoon City!"

Raccoon City!? Rebecca slides back a bit and covers her mouth, this girl is a survivor from Raccoon City.

The news said no one survived the outbreak and nuclear bombing, but she knew that was a lie as Chris reached out to her a couple of weeks later to let her know Jill was there, she survived, she made it out. According to this girl in front of her, there were at least 3 more survivors. Four. Four people out of hundreds of thousands.

"Has your," the blonde survivor before her turns around quickly from the wall, "little lab-rats not figured out I'm not a threat to anyone? How much longer must they poke and prod me before I can get out of here and see the world? Why can't I be as free as you all are!? I'm a human being!"

"No she's not," the British accent startles Rebecca, but she expected him to find her sooner or later, to discover her plans. "Little Sherry Birkin is not a human being. She is a petri-dish for something called the G-Virus, an unstable viral mutagen created by her father, William Birkin. They may have made the virus dormant, her saviors, but they did not remove it. Notice anything odd about her?"

Rebecca gazes over the young woman before her, noticing there are no scars, no bandages, no blood, "Where did the samples come from?"

"Ah," he smirks and it makes her skin crawl, "that's the thing… The latest skin sample I took for you came from her left cheek. Something has happened in her body and she's bonded with the G-Virus. It's given her remarkable healing abilities, you see."

"And you," the brunette spins and glares daggers through him, "want to isolate that and replicate it? Allow you to make unkillable soldiers? You sound just like Umbrella."

Gregory stretches his neck and adjusts his tie, the smirk no longer there, "We don't want to create bio-organic weapons. We want to fix what's wrong with the world. Imagine what can be cured with this healing ability? We can end suffering! There will never be another incident like Raccoon City again."

"Save it," she spits back at him before trying to walk past him, "I've heard enough of sanctimonious assholes hiding their selfish desires behind selflessness. Every word you allow to escape from your bastard lips makes you sound more and more like the company that destroyed my home."

His next words stop her in her tracks, her blood boiling with each and every syllable, "You leave and I'll find someone else to replace you. Someone who won't be so caring about their subject…"

-New York, 2022-

Rebecca is rocketed from her memories to the present situation as there is a commotion at the door, "Just who the hell do you think you are!?"

"Sir, I'm just tryin-" a form bursts through the crowd, the head buzzed short, almost clean-shaven, and a snarled face accented by a decent scar.

Jake Muller… Rebecca feels Leon tense, but she just grabs his arm, her own eyes shaking a bit at what might transpire here.

The son of Wesker looks around the large open room, apparently unsatisfied at what he sees, he sits down in a pew and bites loudly into an apple, "Hmph… Guess I'm still waiting…"

Going against every fiber of her being, the pixie medic walks over to the soldier and sits down next to him. The silence is louder than his original outburst, the two of them just sitting in silence, only interrupted by the snap of the fruit as he eats it and glares at the coffin. She knows what he wants to say, can feel it almost like she can read his mind, but she isn't going to push. They are both fighting their own demons with this gathering…

Leon, though, he won't let the silence stand, so he approaches the younger man, offers a hand out, and says simply, "I'm sorry, Jake…"

"Fuck off," the hand is swatted away as the scarred man tosses the apple-core at it, "Kennedy. I'll deal with you and Redfield's sister when she gets here."

Rebecca looks up at Leon and shakes her head, giving him the go-ahead to walk away, "Jake…"

"Don't, Chambers. I don't need that right now," and with that, he produces a pear from one of his jacket pockets and tears into it.

We all believed that Claire was the heart of our little family… Boy, who knew we'd be this wrong?

-March 10th, 2005-

It's been fifteen months since Rebecca was first introduced to Sherry Birkin, fifteen months of talking to this teenaged girl and seeing what life has done to her, "Do you know of anyone we can reach out to?"

"Nope," the blonde hair is darker now, a product of not getting any time out in the sun, which contrasts well with her pale skin, "no one."

"Not even the ones who saved you from the death of Raccoon City?" Rebecca wants her own answers, but has been requested by her handlers to try to get her to give up some names.

Sherry glares at Rebecca and sips the cup of hot tea before her, "They're probably dead. Just like everyone else in my life…"

"Hey," Rebecca reaches out and places her left hand over one of Sherry's in a comforting manner, "I'm here now. I'm a part of your life… We'll get you out of here no worries whatsoever!"

"Right," the scientist's daughter huffs and absentmindedly squeezes Rebecca's hand, holding on to it for dear life, "as you experiment on me…"

This comes up every single time they are allowed to talk, how Rebecca is taking samples of her body and causing her more pain, "Does it hurt?"

"Oh god yes," the skinny arms are wrapped around the decently-fed waist, "I feel it all… Luckily, I heal quickly. That's the only blessing here."

Brunette hair covers Rebecca's face as she hangs her head, "I'm so sorry, Sherry… If I don't stay and be the one to discover why you can do what you do, they'll bring someone else in, and I don't know if they'll be as caring as I am…"

"What is the diagnosis so far?"

"You, for some reason, have bonded with the G-Virus on a level I can't determine. Even though it's infectious and mutagenic nature have been made dormant by this mystery vaccine, you can heal and recover faster than anyone on the planet. You are, for all intents and purposes, a miracle, little Sherry."

"So," the teenaged wonder smirks and leans back a bit, "I can't infect people. I won't mutate. You can't discover why I heal like I do. So why am I still here?"

Rebecca stares into the 2-way mirror and sighs heavily, "I don't know, kiddo. I don't know…"

A growl is the only warning Rebecca gets as Sherry screams in anger, picks up her chair, and slams it repeatedly into the wall, "ENJOYING THE SHOW!? I HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER YOU! WHY WON'T YOU LET ME LEAVE!?"

"Where would you go, Miss Birkin?" the voice is not one that Rebecca recognizes, and this scares her to her core.

"Anywhere, absolutely anywhere would be better than here… I'll live in a garbage can or cardboard box," she slides down the glass, gripping the chair to keep her from lying down, "if it means I can see the sun again…"

This poor girl… Rebecca quickly crosses the room, drops next to the girl, and wraps her arms around her, "Haven't you tormented this girl enough?"

"Her torment ends when you give us the answers we need. Stop dragging her torture out, Doctor Chambers."

I'm… Causing this? She doesn't believe it, but for some reason, his words echo through her.

-New York, 2022-

Rebecca doesn't realize she has zoned-out until Jake jumps from his seat and glares at the large double-doors of the church. The sound of a motorcycle engine turning off reaches her ears and it's the only clue she needs as to who is about to walk through the door. Last time that Rebecca saw the younger Redfield sibling, it was when she visited Chris after his return from Louisiana. They exchanged pleasantries and stories of her brother's younger days, which embarrassed Chris to no end of course.

"Leon, might want to go warn her who is waiting…" the agent nods and quickly shuffles through the crowd with skill and finesse she didn't know he had.

Jake clenches his fists, smashing what remains of the pear in his left hand, "Jake, no. Not now. Have some respect…"

Claire enters the church, dressed in black leather pants, red jacket, black shirt, and her usual brown cowboy boots, a fitting outfit for the family, given that Rebecca and Jill are the most over-dressed of the bunch, "Redfield…"

Blue eyes dart toward Chris, waiting to see what he will do if Jake does anything to his sister, but the B.S.A.A.'s shining star just maintains his casual lean against the wall and eyes focused on Jake, "Jake, I'm so so sorry…"

"You don't get to say that to me. Not after what you've done," the words are dark and solid, hitting home as Claire turns away from Jake and looks at the floor.

He reaches out, Leon stepping in and dropping a hand on his wrist, "Don't you dare…"

"No!" the arm is tossed away as Jake pulls his arm back, clenching his fists, "You don't get to say that! You cost me everything. The reason I found to continue living lies DEAD in that coffin!"

"Let's step outside," Leon places a hand on Claire's shoulder, but Jake is having none of that today.

He growls and pulls them both to face him, "Isn't this where you are supposed to confess your sins? In church? Then start," he leans in, "fucking confessing…"

Rebecca watches as Chris pushes from the wall and is about to make a move toward Jake, but Jill holds him back and whispers something into his ear that keeps him from moving more, "Jake… We messed up, we messed up bad…"

"That's an understatement, Kennedy," Jake glares into the pair of eyes he's accusing, "she considered you her parents and you got her killed for it! You BETRAYED her love for you both!"

"Yeah," Leon's voice is dark as he replies, "we got Sherry killed. We are here mourning her… Let's get through this and then we can hash it out in the parking lot."

Jake's face softens at the mention of her name, but Leon is hurt and looking to hurt back as well, "I'll even give you the first shot." His eyes flash, "For free."

He lunges at Leon, growling so loud it grabs the attention of the other mourners, especially Chris, "Enough!"

Jake's hand has a goal of wrapping around Leon's neck, but it only manages to bounce off Chris Redfield's chest, "You need to cool it, Jake. Take a seat, grieve, and," the B.S.A.A. Agent pulls another piece of fruit from inside Jake's jacket, "stuff your damn face in silence."

Rebecca leans against the back of a pew and waits for the powder keg to explode, Yeah… Sherry was the heart and innocence…

-August 18th, 2008-

"So, I managed to get a gift for you…" Sherry's eyes light up as Rebecca stands in the door to her little apartment.

Over the past year or two the medic managed to get Sherry moved from that single room and into what could pass for a decent apartment. Fully furnished with a kitchen, bathroom, and a bedroom/living room combo, Sherry has taken to it like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What? Is it that puppy I wanted?" she shakes her head and pushes her hip off the frame, allowing another woman to enter the room.

There is a long second of trying to recognize each other before both women smile wide and jump toward each other, "SHERRY!?"

"CLAIRE!?" Rebecca smiles and feels the tears build up as the two women collapse into a hug and start crying.

Once Sherry was deemed no threat to the Government and they were satisfied with the fact that they would not be able to replicate the girl's healing powers, Sherry gave Rebecca the names of the two people who saved her. Two things interested her about the names: how Rebecca's handlers recognized the name Leon Kennedy, and that the other name was none other than Chris Redfield's little sister Claire Redfield. It took several months to track her down, even with Chris helping locate his sister, but she finally did it, finally tracked Claire Redfield down through TerraSave with help from someone named Derek Simmons, who finally revealed himself to Rebecca as Sherry's legal guardian.

"How have you been? Do I need to kick someone's ass? Do I need to burn this place to the ground?" Sherry just sobs and shakes her head through every question.

Rebecca steps up and offers some answers, "Everything has gotten better since I was able to actually spend time with her and help her more… Do you want more good news?"

"I could always take more good news, Miss Chambers," it warms her heart whenever Sherry calls her that.

"Oh please, I'm not THAT much older than you, it's always Rebecca…" she bends down in front of the two women and says, "I have the official word. You are free to visit Sherry as much as you like as often as you like! I got the official go-ahead from Derek Simmons to sign you in as a permanent visitor!"

Claire and Sherry exchange glances, then look at Rebecca, and finally return their gazes to each other and cry with happiness, "Thank you, Rebecca. Thank you. Hey, Sherry?"

"Hmm?"

The redhead swats some stray hair from her face and smiles behind tear-stained eyes, "I told you I'd find you again. I'm never leaving you again! You got that?"

"I've missed you so much, Claire… I never got to properly thank you for saving me…"

Rebecca chokes back her own sobs at the happy moment, but there is a dark thought in her mind that she can't escape, Was I responsible for this taking so long?

-New York, 2022-

The funeral service started as innocently and normally as it should, but it's when the pastor asks for someone to speak for the deceased that Rebecca snaps to reality, "Um, yes, I have some things…"

All eyes are on the chocolate-haired S.T.A.R.S. medic as she slowly makes her way up to the altar, the pastor smiling warmly at her and offering her the podium, "Hi, everyone… My name is Rebecca Chambers. I first met Sherry Birkin in…"

Almost everyone that is in attendance possibly expects her to answer with some date at max a decade ago, but they are in for a shock, "December of 2003. I was brought in to a Government Facility to help determine the nature of a new virus. In the wake of Raccoon City, the government was overzealous in its desire to prevent it from happening again. For my part in this, I was inadvertently responsible for some of her suffering while she was detained by the very government we all work for… I was enamored by the very virus in her blood, willing to do whatever it took to find the solution. That all changed the day I snuck into the room where she was kept. You all remember her as this happy, hopeful woman, but I met her when she was angry, scared, and alone. That was the Sherry I knew for years."

There is silence as Rebecca takes a second to gather her thoughts and keep the tears down, "I did my best after meeting her to give her a better life. Well, as good as could be in captivity. It was soon after that I first really met the man who claimed to be her guardian," she locks eyes with Leon and frowns, "Derek Simmons. At the time he made me believe he only wanted the best for this teenager, and I believed him, for the most part… He helped me locate the only person that Sherry constantly asked for, Claire Redfield."

Leon scowls at the mention of Simmons while Claire smiles softly at the last part, which spurs Rebecca on to continue, "The only person who spent more time with her than me was Claire, of course, but I kept in constant contact with her, offering my expert medical opinion and also my shoulder if she needed one. I watched her grow from this angry teenager into a wonderfully happy and hopeful woman, my heart filling with pride like a big sister. Because of this connection, I actually have a few letters from Sherry to read to some of you. Now, before you all say anything about private messages, she requested that only a select few of you be in the room."

"The following people need to stay, anyone else needs to leave…" her blue eyes lock with each person as she scans the room, "Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burt- Barry?"

Rebecca looks around the room, easily spotting him amongst the crowd, "I can't believe you made it!"

The grizzled S.T.A.R.S. veteran smiles politely and chuckles lightly as Moira sighs at her father getting spotlight at a funeral, "It was a tough drive, but Moira made it without destroying the truck!"

"I've been driving for years, dad. I'm a fantastic driver," she glances over her shoulder at Leon, "unlike some of us here."

"As I was saying! Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton, Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Jake Muller, and Reb- um haha, myself…" the room is silent as those not named quickly leave, unsure rumblings about what is going on filling the air as the doors close.

Rebecca clears her throat and pulls out seven envelopes, stacking them neatly on the pedestal in front of her, "So, I know this entire service is supposed to be about remembering Sherry, but I figured this will be a good way to send her off…"

"Chris Redfield," the medic opens the letter and begins to read it, "before we met in Edonia, you know we met before, right? It was the same day I was introduced to Barry Burton and Jill Valentine. Barbeque at his home, with his wife and amazing kids. You had a presence that just stole the room and I was in awe of it."

Rebecca watches as Jill ribs Chris in the side, obviously saying that it's adorable that apparently Sherry had a crush on him, "I saw in all of you what laid ahead of me if I chose to battle the darkness. Not that it's a bad thing by any means! I was happy to be able to see that the struggle affected you all just like it did me. Made me feel so much less alone in the world. You may feel like you aren't a hero, like you are just a man who is taking up the fight no one else will, but I got to tell you a secret: that's what heroes do. They fight when others won't and they win. Chris, you and Barry are the shields of our little family, don't forget that… You, the shield on the battlefield, Barry the shield at home. I kept fighting, kept training, kept learning so that I could be even a quarter of the hero you ARE."

There, a flash in his eyes before the cold soldier returns, Sherry actually managed to break a bit of the rock that has made Chris Redfield the Shield and Mountain of their group. Jill smiles and the two of them nod at Rebecca, which obviously means, 'thanks and keep going'.

"Next, I have a letter for Jill Valentine," it's quickly torn open after she folds Chris's letter and returns it to the envelope, "Hi, Jill! I can't believe you kept your original hair color a secret from me all these years! Well, I can't believe ALL of you kept that from me. Brunette must've looked awesome and hot on you! Jealous that you look better in blonde than I do, but that's another rant for another letter." The room grows silent at the last few words of that sentence, "The day you took me under your wing, I was certain I'd never master that kick, let alone learn how to pick a lock. Your beauty in the world is only matched by your ferocity on the battlefield. You move like a hummingbird through enemies with a tactical mind that's always three steps ahead. I've envied that since the first day I got to see it in action, but what I envied more was what you share with Chris. That love and belief in each other is the stuff of legends…"

Rebecca chuckles at the next part, looks around blushing, and reads it aloud, "Legends in the B.S.A.A., the D.S.O., and the N.S.A. of course. Whereas the two of you always were talked about with the utmost respect and occasional joke, Jake and I were met with constant groans and shouts of, "Get a room!" Guess we haven't earned that level of respect… Your grace and ferocity have always been a constant object in my life I've striven for since I met you, never ever lose that. Jill, please, keep Chris close, never lose him. He may be our shield, but you are his home and safe haven."

Silence covers the room, Jill holding back tears as Chris pulls her close, resting her head against his chest and his chin on top of her head, smiling at Rebecca and mouthing a thank you, "Next we have," Rebecca swaps the letters and clears her throat, chuckling as the pastor walks up to her with a glass of water, "Thanks, father. Next, we have, Barry Burton."

"I'm so sorry for this, Barry," the brunette pixie stifles a laugh, "Hi, gramps! This letter is for you and your family, so feel free to share it! One of my fondest memories is the weeks of training with you and Jill. Trying to master that blasted kick Jill does was so much harder than learning all those guns and their recoils… You will not believe how useful the recoil knowledge was in Edonia and China. The days were always full of awesome food, amazing knowledge, and fantastic training. Kathy is the absolute best cook in the world and if you weren't already married, I'd demand you marry her right here in this church!"

Chris reaches up and pats Barry on the shoulder, who just chuckles and scratches his graying beard, "Moira, you have no idea how happy I was when Claire told me that you and your father mended fences and were doing well again. I know that my training with your father was hard for you to deal with, especially with Polly around, but I want you to know that your father is an excellent teacher. So, no holding grudges anymore! Hey, gramps, give Polly and Kathy a fantastic hug for me and let them know I love them dearly and will forever consider them a part of my family! Also, I left the magnum you gave me with Claire, she is to return it to you when the funeral service is over. Thank you, again, for everything…"

Moira smiles and looks up at her father, laughing a bit and reaching up to snag the single tear building at the edge of his left eye, "My father, the teddy bear."

"So, I just noticed that there are two envelopes for both of you, Leon and Claire, but only Claire's has a letter in it. So, give me a second to quickly scan it…" her eyes pass over the letter, finding her suspicions to be spot on, "Yeah, she wrote one letter for the two of you… Ooh, I like how this one starts…"

Leon and Claire scoot closer to each other and keep their heads down as Rebecca starts the letter, "I had parents, Annette and William. They created a monster through their passion. Not me, mind you, but the G-Virus. I look back on my memories of them and for the most part they are lonely, but I knew I was loved, as much as they could love me. Now though, now I know I have a much better mother and father in the two of you. Your strength, will, and caring for me got me through Raccoon City basically unscathed. When my time in captivity and the seemingly endless torture almost broke my spirit, I remembered the two of you, how strong you were in the face of unknown terror, and I worked through it. The two of you saved my life in Raccoon, kept me alive during my captivity, and helped rebuild me into a person worthy to join the world. I can never repay that, never ever. The two of you sacrifice so much for others that I have to make my goodbye letter to you both all about that and yell at you for it."

"Take a second and stop. Stop the fighting, stop the protecting, stop being the guardian, the executioner, and the healer. Focus on yourselves for a bit and each other. You two deserve happiness, either with each other, or someone else, but you need to take the time to find it. Leon, you might think that having someone waiting for you that you care about will distract you, make you weak, but love makes us all stronger, gives us that strength of will to fight and survive. You might think that all you deserve is the cat and mouse game Ada provides, but you deserve so much more, something that I know Claire can deliver, if only you would let her in…." Leon sighs heavily and slinks away from Claire or tries to, before she wraps an arm around him and keeps her best friend close.

Rebecca locks gazes with Claire and smiles before reading the next half of the letter, "Claire, my adopted mother, you are so strong, so beautiful, and the healer for our little family. You have been through more events than the rest of us and have always come out on top, stronger, better, and somehow even more caring about people. Some of us have been jaded by what we've seen, blaming people for the weapons and monsters roaming the world, but not you. Your faith is as unshakeable as my hope that things will get better. I've always dreamed of being as badass as you, even going so far and buying a motorcycle as soon as I could afford it…"

A picture is held up, showing Sherry standing in front of a 1998 Harley-Davidson Super Glide while wearing that red vest that Claire gave her over two decades ago in Raccoon City, "You are my idol and I strive to live like you do, Claire. I love you more than my own mother… Which is why what I am about to say might hurt. Choose, right now. Is he worth it? It's written all over the two of you like graffiti on clean subway walls. Leon has his own demon to battle with, so you need to choose if this fight is worth it. Do you think he can give up Ada? Do you think he'll chase her until the end of time? Do you think you can ever be enough? You've loved other people, I know, but this falls into a whole different category. This falls into the Valenfield Legend category, you know? Leon can only be what you want him to be if you give him everything he needs: you, completely. He's a broken man, Claire, be his healer if you want him…"

Claire looks at Leon with twinkling eyes and he looks at her, but there is something between them and apparently Sherry knows just what that is, "If you are ever going to move on, be happy, and honor my memory, you need to stop blaming yourselves for what happened. Could you have stopped me from going? Could you have gone with me? Was there some mistake you made or something none of you prepared me for? Who knows at this point… What's done is done and I need you all to live on and be happy, for me. Take care of Jake, he may seem tough and immortal, but he bleeds and dies inside just like the rest of us. This part is for all of you: Do not let Jake live on as the son of Wesker, the son of a monster. Help him live on as the man I love, the ever-faithful protector…"

People always speak of the 'loudest silence', but it's not until you actually experience pure silence that you realize just how loud the quiet can be, "I…"

No one says anything, refusing to press Rebecca to read the last letter, all of them resting in silence and the power of the words just read aloud. Chris has moved over to Claire and is holding her as the younger redhead sobs silently into his chest. Leon occasionally looks away from everyone, hands resting tightly in his lap, or draped over the back of the pew, flexing his hands to crack his knuckles in uncertainty and impatience. Jake is watching the two with a look Rebecca knows is one of someone who feels the same pain they do: the pain of loss that could've possibly been prevented.

"Alright," Rebecca swipes the tears from her eyes and opens the final letter, "for Jake… Hey, you… So, I failed you. I always said that since we found each other nothing would take us apart, but yeah… Life sucks, right?" she smirks as she watches Jake nod automatically at the blonde's written words being spoken aloud, "Don't blame yourself, don't blame anyone who was there when it all went down, and definitely don't go off half-cocked blowing up half the world. We already had Chris do that when Jill was declared dead and look what good that did. …She has something written here as a note, "Sorry, Chris…" Work with them to hunt down who did this and make them pay. They all promised to scrub these viruses and the scumbags that make them from the face of the earth. Join them, carry on my quest, cleanse this world of a threat our families have created… Even though we may be the children of monsters, we are not monsters ourselves. We feel, we care, and we love. And love you I do, Jake… Everything about you, every inch of you, especially when y-"

There is a chuckle from Chris and a giggle from Jill as Rebecca turns bright red behind the pedestal, folds the letter back up, and returns it to the envelope, "I think Jake needs to read the rest of this alone…. Thank you, everyone, for listening… Does anyone have anything they'd like to say?"

Barry, Chris, Jill, Claire, Leon, and Jake, not a single one of them move to say anything, leaving Rebecca to worry that they are all taking Sherry's death harder than she originally thought, "I'll say something…"

Dark hair frames a set of frost-blue eyes as Leon stands up and slowly makes his way to where Rebecca now stands. Claire tries to stop him, but he shrugs off the hand and gives her a half-hearted smile.

Trembling hands slowly snake around the top of the podium, a deep, shuddering breath is taken and exhaled, and a deep voice, filled with sadness and regret says, "Sherry is my daughter... She considers herself the daughter of a monster, but to Claire and me, she is the daughter of heroes. Heroes, huh, what a word... Heroes accomplish anything with ease, save everyone, win the day. Sorry," his hands are trembling so hard that the podium itself is starting to rattle, "I'm still trying to gather the courage to sit up here... Before China, the last time I saw Sherry, she was being snatched from my arms by government agents as a man I hold forever as a dear friend offered me a place among them. Adam Benford was the one who recruited me after Raccoon City, he was the one who arrived at that motel and demanded we turn ourselves over as witnesses to the 'Incident'. I didn't know how to raise a kid, I was still one myself in some ways, but even I knew that if I gave her over to them, I'd never see her again. Adam, he... Had a way with words, he gave me his utmost guarantee that she would be well taken care of as I gave them my statement and rested up."

Leon looks over at Rebecca and smiles weakly, his eyes dark, "He was right in some ways, wrong in others... Sherry wasn't well taken care of until you showed up, Chambers. Thank you for that. I left her a scared girl and she returned into my life a confident and brilliant woman among the flames of a plane I crashed... We are gathered in a church, which as someone just reminded me, is a place to confess our sins. My sin, my biggest sin, is regret. It used to be that I missed the most important years of Sherry's life, but now it is that I am the reason she will never get to experience the best years of her life..."

Claire slowly begins to stand, tears staining her face as she reaches out to him, her mouth open to stop him, "My name, as you all know, is Leon Kennedy and I killed Sherry Birkin."

END of Part One