Chapter Text
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The tremors started small. First it was the twitch of a finger, then traveled up to the palm. Along with the shaking was numbness at the tips of each finger. You swore it was from the hours of typing at your desk that were the cause — your mother always did warn you to stop playing on computers so much. Not to much surprise, you would have an entire career that was revolved around the computer and now your life.
You had been hunched over at your desk staring at lab reports for several hours now. Blinds were closed at the window behind your desk and the glow from the screen illuminated your face. Tired eyes feverishly scanned the numbers and words that seemed to rattle on forever. The screen of your cellphone lit and a loud buzz shook the tabletop, “CR” flashed across the screen. Your eyes darted down but then right back up. Call ended and seconds after, it rang again.
Your hand reached to pick it up but it froze, fingers locked tight. “Great,” you muttered quietly, “That’s new.” You shook your hand several times in an attempt to wake it up. Nothing. A few more times — and it freed itself.
For now.
Behind the blinds was a different world. The afternoon sun hung partway in the sky as the city buzzed below, not a thought crossed any of their minds of the events that would transpire. You envied them almost. Most of those people probably had a family to greet at home, a spouse — maybe some kids and a pet. But you were tucked away in your office in a quiet government building. Most of the co-workers and management had cleared out by now, which left you relatively alone. Which is why you liked working late. Less interruption and less attention.
You leaned back in your seat and rubbed tired eyes. It was time to take a break from the screen; your feet tapped the floor and spun around to look at the spread of paperwork that littered the table behind. Lab results, emails, and the scribbles of a madwoman. All of them were about the same thing — your blood. Even after all this time—after all the pokes, the prods — the appointment reminders and financial payment plans... it was strange seeing your name listed as subject on clinical reports. Words stood out to you: “Stable. Abnormal. Antibodies.” It was enough to give anyone a headache. You yawned, stretched and rolled your neck as your attention focused on the folder that laid on top. Stamped in bold letters was the entire reason you had locked yourself away in your office — you hadn’t been home in days, even.
AUTHORIZATION
Months had been spent working with a private laboratory to analyze your blood and you were ready to hand it over to them. They were trusted by President Benford himself with breakthroughs in modern medicine. If the reports were correct and you felt that they were — it would lead to a breakthrough in the way the world tackled common ailments. Illnesses like cancer or as one eager scientist told you — the common cold! A cure. Or even just the start of one, a start of something that would better humanity. But where there is good, there also is evil which lurked just beyond where the light finished. Your superiors ensured you that Umbrella and Tricell were a thing of the past. Gone. Dissolved. But when one head is cut off, another will eventually grow back. You’ve heard whispers of a new head, The Connections, but just the whispers in emails or department newsletters. A name and face that still haunted you to this day lingered in your mind — your nightmares. Arvo. He was there in the beginning and you were sure he’d be there in the end but the end hadn’t happened yet. And that is what scared you.
A sharp knock at the door pulled you from your thoughts. Two firm raps, they sounded professional. You panicked slightly as you tucked papers away messily into the folder and spun around, “Uh-ah, come in.” The door opened and Leon Kennedy stepped inside. He looked exactly the same as you remembered. Maybe a little more tired around the eyes and a little more guarded — but his calm presence radiated just the same but possibly even more now. His gaze swept the office, his instincts checked for exits and abnormalities before they settled on you. “Good to see you again.”
You allowed a small smile and tucked a hanging hair behind your ear. “You too.”
Once he felt comfortable, he tucked his hands into his jacket pockets and strolled over to the table where the papers were. “So,” he said as he flipped open the folder and scanned the pages. “This is the famous blood sample that everyone’s been talking about?” His eyes lingered on some photos of you that seemed to be fairly old. You were younger, late teens — maybe early twenties. It was similar to a lineup — the first photo you looked ill. Dark circles held heavily under your eyes and your hair was thin. Next, a later date and you seemed to have improved. Hair thicker and the dark circles were less prominent. Last photo you looked nearly identical as you did now, albeit just a younger age.
”You could say its something like that.”
He leaned slightly against the desk and continued to study. “Hard to believe something so tiny could cause all this hubbub.” Your hand twitched again. A tiny tremor ran briefly through your fingers and you quickly hid it under your desk. Leon noticed — he always does. “You okay?” You nodded quickly, “Yeah. Just tired, y’know?” It wasn’t a total lie. Before he could catch you in a fib, your cellphone rang again. You silenced it and turned your attention back to Leon so he could finish whatever it was that he was going to say. Then it rang again. “Jesus, you’re popular.” He chuckled and pushed himself from the desk to look at your phone. “CR?” He raised a brow. You snatched it from the desk and put it in your pocket, “Don’t worry about it.” He was about to tell you that worrying about it was his job but a familiar voice came from the now opened door.
”You two planning on starting without me?” Chris Redfield stood in front of the two of you, his broad shoulders filled the doorway and an expression that wasn’t too thrilled. He stepped inside and took a seat at the chair to the right of the door. His gaze moved from you to Leon and landed on the files that were in Kennedy’s hand. “You been staying up late again?” He crossed his arms, “I was beginning to think you’d fallen asleep at your desk.” You sighed, “Someone has to orchestrate this whole thing and then understand it.” Chris nodded very slowly, “...Last time we said that, things went sideways pretty fast.” An awkward silence held in the air, that memory clearly still meant something to the three of you. The heaviness was almost too much to bear, someone had to break it —thankfully Leon was the first. “”Well,” he said quickly, “Good news...this mission should be a lot simpler.” Chris raised an eyebrow. “Escort a biohazard sample across the American-Canadian border to a remote research facility in the dead of winter?” His eyes bounced from Chris to you, “Sounds easy as pie.”
“Yeah. Sounds elementary to me.” The testosterone in the air was beginning to become nauseating and you needed to break the obvious tension that was building between the two men. You took the stack of papers from Leon and began to tap them neatly together on your desk, “The organization receiving the sample has been confirmed by the FBI, DSO and Chris’s own resources. Their labs are secure and trustworthy.” Chris wanted his turn with the information, he reached out for it and you handed it over. “It’s not them that I’m worried about...” he paused as his eyes landed on the same lineup of photos that Leon did, he knew something that Kennedy didn’t. “I’m worried about who else could be.”
Your heart skipped a beat which triggered another tremor. This time it was harder to control. Your fingers went cold and the blood seemed to drain from them. Leon noticed as it obviously alarmed you, “That’s the second time since I’ve been here.” He said as he took your hand in his. You quickly snatched it away and tucked it under your leg. “I told you, it’s nothing.” Your teeth gritted. “What’re you talking about?” Chris asked. “Her hand. It started shaking again.” Chris sucked in his lower lip, “I thought the doctor told you that symptoms wouldn’t return.”
You looked down, “They could only guess— but they are now.” The shaking began to travel up your arm to your shoulder and through your neck which then caused sudden head pain. It hadn’t traveled this far before. “I’m telling you. I’ll be fine.” Chris wasn’t convinced but there was no use in fighting at the moment. “Well, we’ll need to wrap up the loose ends and then get ready to head out in a few days.”
You nodded as you gathered your things to leave the building for the evening. Chris led the way and Leon you from behind. But unbeknownst to the three of you, an inconspicuous van was parked on the street right outside the front door. And inside, someone listened to every word that was exchanged in your office — all thanks to one tiny little microphone that was implanted onto pocket of your coat.