Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil or any of the characters, and I certainly don't make any money out this! A huge thank you to those of you who have stuck through this story since the beginning. It's quite a commitment to stick with a bit of a behemoth like this, especially when there are so many great fanfics to choose from. Without all of your encouraging comments, it would have been very difficult to finish. I never thought I would ever write something this huge, but it's been fun and challenging in equal amounts. Anyway, I really hope you've enjoyed it, and not found my periods of inactivity annoying! I'm not a writer by trade, this was just a bit of fun about some characters that I have come to love over the many years that I have been playing the games. Who knows, I may carry this story on at some point….

Epilogue

Chris Redfield was sitting alone on a low stone wall in the gardens of the S.T.A.R.S headquarters. He was wearing a smart black suit with a crisp white shirt and polished shoes that had made his feet ache. A slack-knotted tie hung around his neck. It was dusk, and the sun was just dropping below the horizon staining the sky with streaks of orange and red. The sudden drop in temperature made the hairs on his arms prick up, but he was so deep in thought that he didn't notice.

Chris sighed and shifted his position on the wall, knocking loose patches of cement that held the stone bricks together. He leaned forwards and his head melted into his hands. This was perhaps the first time he had been alone in several weeks, and the first time he had to evaluate the events of the last few months in his head. He felt strangely empty, like there was a gaping hole where his emotions should be.

He breathed in deeply and opened his eyes. He looked across at the horizon as the brilliant orange of the sun quickly disappeared beneath the hills. Chris couldn't remember the last time he had watched the sunset.

A bottle of beer suddenly appeared in front of him. Chris traced the length of the delicate hand and arm that was brandishing the brown glass bottle with his eyes to find the figure of his sister, Claire, standing behind him on the other side of the wall.

Chris smiled and patted the space next to him with his left hand before taking the bottle. Claire smiled in reply and winced a little as she lowered herself onto the wall next to her brother. He stood up to help her, but she waved him away.

"I'm just a little sore, that's all." she sighed as she came to rest on the stone seat.

Chris looked at her, concerned. "You shouldn't be up yet. Besides…" he smiled. "Rebecca will give me the lecture, not you, if she finds you sitting out here!"

"Well, that's what brother's do. They take the heat for their little sister!" Claire grinned mischievously in response. Claire's face suddenly turned serious. "Let's make a promise."

"What kind of promise?" Chris said before taking a large swig of beer from the bottle.

"To never fight again." Claire said with conviction. "I don't ever want things to be bad between us. You're my brother. I need you. More than anything."

Chris shuffled along the wall a little to be closer to Claire. He put his bottle of beer down on the floor in front of him and wrapped his left arm around her shoulder, gently squeezing her. Claire instinctively rested her head on him.

"Are you alright Claire? I know you've been trying to put on a brave face on all of this, Leon and everything…"

Chris could feel his sister tense slightly. Claire pulled away from Chris and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. She was staring straight towards the ground.

"I'm sorry Claire. If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay."

"No, it's alright." she replied quietly.

"Really, I didn't mean to push you."

Claire smiled and turned her head a little to face Chris. She could see his concern for her in his eyes. She reached out her hand and placed it on his to try to alleviate some of the worry she knew he always felt for her.

"Honestly Chris, I'm fine." She sighed. "Well, as fine as I can be right now anyway. Don't worry about me."

Chris's lips twitched. He was trying to find the right words to say, but as he usually found in emotional situations like his, he just didn't know what to say that would help.

"You know Chris, for just a minute on that rig, I felt hope. There was a way to get him back. I saw a future for us. A real relationship, with romantic meals in classy restaurants, trips to the movies...maybe even marriage." Claire choked back a tear and shook her head sadly. "Ignore me, I'm just being silly. I know now that I'm never going to have those things. At least, not with the man I chose."

"If there's anyone that can help him, it's Rebecca."

"I know." Claire replied, forcing herself to smile.

"She's doing everything she can." Chris said. "She's sure she can do it, especially now that she's begun to synthesise a new serum with the antibodies extracted from Jill's blood."

Chris wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Claire or himself. Leon was still in a bad state, many weeks after the events on the rig. Every day since then, he'd questioned his decision to bring Leon back, rather than to leave him on the rig to finally rest in peace. But he couldn't let go of his colleague…his friend…not after everything they had gone through.

Claire suddenly slapped Chris on the thigh.

"Anyway, enough about me, what about you?" Her tone of voice was suddenly more up beat.

"The shoulder's fine." Chris replied, a little taken aback by Claire's sudden change. "Rebecca said I have to stop getting myself hurt like this because I'm getting old…"

"That's not what I meant."

Chris smiled. "Everything's…as good as can be expected."

He leaned forward and picked up the bottle of beer. Despite the smile, Claire sensed her brother was troubled.

"Carlos said things didn't go too well." Claire said gently.

Chris shook his head sadly. "Even when faced with the evidence, they won't indict him. But then, I guess if you have as much money and influence as Ephraim Carter, the law just doesn't apply anymore."

Chris felt his grip tighten involuntarily on the beer bottle as he went over the events of the afternoon. Even though they had presented all the evidence they had accumulated on Ephraim Carter over the past few months, a number of high ranking army officials had the audacity to suggest the S.T.A.R.S were, in some part, responsible. That they had 'exacerbated what was a manageable crisis' according to one of the more weasly-looking generals. The only positive from the meeting was the fact that the S.T.A.R.S weren't going to be disbanded, only it was probable that they would be kept on a much tighter leash by the military from now on.

Claire broke the silence. ''I just don't get it Chris. We sacrifice everything but we get nothing. Nowhere.''

Claire knew that they had got through this latest crisis only by the skin of their teeth. Albert Wesker was defeated, dead, but just like Chris, she felt no elation. She felt no peace. This small victory had almost cost her her life. It had probably cost her Leon.

''I know how you feel Claire. I feel exactly the same.'' Chris said reassuringly.

''Then why do we do this? It's never going to end. Why do we do this Chris?"

''Because it's our job Claire" Chris said calmly. "And we've got to finish it.''

The end?