"who's not dead? sound off!" his voice was staticky through comms but clear none of the less.
There's a ringing in her ears and she's not sure where it's coming from.
She's pinned down by something - debris most likely , and her visibility's lost to shit . The explosion had caught all of them completely off guard , and she could feel something warm trickling down the side of her head , her ribs are screaming every time she draws in a breath , and everything hurts . The lights in the facility had been completely shot out by the explosion , which didn't help .
There's dust swirling in the air and rough coughing escapes her throat, something heavy pressing down on her chest and the taste of dust in her mouth , burning her throat . The world is spinning and she can't pin anything down through the darkness as she comes to - she'd been lucky not to have been in the center of the blast . She'd been standing on the fringe of it , but when she was knocked back , it had sent her into the path of the ceiling caving down .
A trap laid by the bioweapon dealers they were chasing , the rational part of her mind surmised . Her breathing is shallow and sharp , but Jill grits her teeth as the static comes through the radio , pressing into the earpiece with a bruised , bloody hand . ". . Sparrow here . . The hell just happened?"
Jill gathers herself for several long moments after , before she gripped the edges of the concrete rubble on top of her , grinding her teeth together and heaving with the effort as she moved to lift it . The slickness of her blood didn't help , but she tried anyway , even when her hand slipped against the rough edges . She tried once more , lifting it just enough with her enhanced strength to pull herself out , coughing through the dust again as she covers her mouth with her arm.
Her weapons are shit knows where , and she's waiting for the rest of the team to sound off . The noise of the explosion had already died down , but her ears still rang and her eyes still stung from the debris that had been dropped . Jill's exhausted with the effort , but she pulls herself out enough so that she's not directly underneath the rubble , and braces herself against the ground , breathing heavy as she composed herself .
Mission briefing held the previous evening mentioned a familiar name. Steve Burnside. He first heard of the kid ( not so much a kid anymore ) from Claire after her escape from the Ashford arctic base. He'd been taken into government custody before he made a run for it. Then the agent came across the name again in past records he had worked his way up to being able to view. And throughout his career as an government dog, his name has been tossed about numerous times. Wasn't necessarily trouble ( with Steve's unspoken they've been able to snuff out several facilities and given millions worth in data ), but for legal matters, he needed to be taken back into custody. Lacked proper training, proper authorization, and he was at a constant risk of getting caught. Not by the right people at least.
So that's when Agent Kennedy is sent out off a tip from a more than reliable source. They're all hoping it was Burnside's next stop. The objective isn't to start anything akin to a fight. They weren't enemies. Far from it if Leon was able to help it. But he's warned to proceed with caution. He doesn't take the warning lightly either. If it wasn't the target he had to be weary of, it was whoever was hanging around at the old lab their reliable tip informed them of.
Leon had finally reach his destination. Rental vehicle he was provided with parked a good ways off to lower any suspicions. They suggested escorts. He declined them. The agent is pleased to find the place looks as if it hasn't been touched in years. Still locked up tight. Suggesting he made it before Burnside did. Exactly what he was hoping for. With a quick with Roost, informing her of his arrival on location, the agent lies in wait. Listening for any sound and eyes scanning the area constantly. Only an hour dragged by before steely blue hues caught movement in the darkness. It takes some squinting, but once the clouds in the sky breaks enough, it almost perfectly illuminates the target. Here goes nothing.
"You're pretty slippery. They gotta give you that," hands hovered out at his sides as he steps out of the darkest shadows. Silent wave of a white flag to the younger man, "Names Leon Kennedy. Not here to start anything with you. If you give me the time to explain-- I think it'll aid the chances of us getting along here."
@infecdead asked: "so you're ashley, huh?" the redhead greeted the other with a small smile. "i'm steve. steve burnside." he held out his hand towards her. "we share the same therapist, they suggested that we should meet."
Ashley gave the man a slightly awkward smile in return...before shaking his out outstretched hand.
"Hi, y-yeah. I've heard about you ... sorta a weird way to meet someone but it's a pleasure nonetheless"
Were they really that similar? -- on the surface it didn't seem likely but who knew what the man was dealing with on the inside. "Did you want to grab a coffee somewhere before we begin?"
jill valentine worked like clockwork . she's always done so , she knows how situations work and she knows exactly how to deal with whatever's thrown at her, after being in the fight this long. that was the reason behind the ex-cop somehow being quick enough to grab the collar of finn's uniform and drag him out of the way of a collapsing building - there hadn't been any reports of unstable buildings on their recon op as far as jill had been concerned , but she'd spotted the flaw in the integrity in enough time to save the other. rubble lay where finn had been just a few seconds earlier , and jill let out a long and heavy breath at the sight of it , offering a hand and pulling him up from the ground .
I don't mind the dirt. I do mind unannounced visits to my office. ( for leandro from mikhail @ infecdead ! )
@seekschaos
Leandro hadn't meant to disturb Mikhail at this hour, but the technology he'd been working with for the better part of an hour worries him. usually, the skilled hacker can puzzle out what exactly's going on with a laptop. it's a fucking laptop - that's so basic. he looks ridiculous for coming here, and the mud his boots are tracking in isn't helping things.
and yet.
"uh, good evenin', captain," Leandro greets. he's trying to be professional, but he doesn't know how great he's doing. people don't go through such intense security measures if they have nothing to hide, and the classification of umbrella's files has him rocking back and forth on his heels. everything is usually available to him. what's up with all these missing scientists that he's not supposed to know about? "sorry for the mess. can we talk about u.b.c.s. tech for a minute? won't take much of your time, i swear. gimme five minutes, tops."
❛ the monster left you to the wolves, yet you prevailed. ❜ ( from arias @ infecdead uwu )
"Wolves. These people are rich, nothing else."
The monster in question left her nursing a thicket of relationships that weren't her marriage. He should've seen it coming, and maybe he knew already and was just waiting for the right moment to do something about it. Derek relied too much on his ability to sniff out secrets. People he considered "secondary" by virtue of his power over them were and are his blind spot.
So she sits side by side with Attreppo, and his charge Maria, the view below the box seat in the theatre open to a classic: Carmen. The men in their accompanying party chortle at intermission amongst themselves. Arias had to make deals with them at her behest, and she does her part by being a simple beautiful set piece and every now and then speaking with him to hash out agreeable terms for property.
"Tell them we'll buy the property for half, and we'll follow up at their estate for dinner to discuss why it's beneficial for us both as an investment."
If they didn't sell for half the inflated price, she'd kill the entire bloodline and make it look like a tragic accident. What better way to say it clearly than to do so in their comfortable estate?
that's what people say right before they do something really stupid.
jill knows what she's doing . stupid decision or not , she manages to turn things into her favour more often than not , even when she's not supposed to have done so . this whole situation here isn't a by-the-book usual occurrence either , so all protocol and sense of smart and strategical had been thrown out of the window hours ago , and someone like mikhail would have known exactly that .
❝ i admit - you’ve done well to stay alive this long. ❞
jill knows this is what her mission has come to . she never planned on confronting the supposed holy mother like this so soon, not when chris was actively hauling ass with the rest of the team to her position . just her luck she came across the other when she did, her sniper rifle is in her hands and her pistol is at her side, easily accessible should this turn violent — knowing jill, that was far more likely than anything else.
wasn't this such an ironic thing , encountering yet another who placed themselves as divine and as holy beings that were untouchable and powerful above all but what false gods never quite realized is that they bled the same color as every mortal did . the blood that stained jill's winter coat would be the same blood that would spill from miranda , given a chance.
jill was sick and tired of the mortal masquerading as the holy and she would bow to no self proclaimed being of power, she would not temper her fire for another god ever again, she was the stone in david's sling and the one to bring down this figure of malevelonce hidden behind benevolence with or without the rest of the team there.
