Chapter Four! Woo!
Fandom: Supernatural / Resident Evil, with some traps that I ganked from Saw.
Title: Cat and Mouse
Rating: Well, there's graphic violence and possible future smut, so I'll go with a safe NC17.
Author: Lizi
Pairing: Dean/OFC, Sam/OFC (mostly Dean/OFC centric this time around)
Warnings/Spoilers: If you're up to date on the show, you should be spoiler free (plus, the fact that I'm a recently hooked Supernatural fan, so Wikipedia has been my friend when it came to this fic). As for warnings, there's gratuitous violence and Resident Evil style gore. And cursing. And smut. I'm a bad girl. =P
Author's Note: The follow up to my original story, Project Mayhem. All character are still around, plus I'll add a couple in later.
Words: 3,704
Summary: Dean disappears and mass hysteria ensues, Sam and Anna find a ride to Townsend…
Falling asleep in an Umbrella facility was one of the worst mistakes a human could make, because you never know how or where you're going to wake up. That was a lesson that Raina and Dean had yet to learn, but they'd learn it soon enough. They'd been laying in the grass, sleeping, for hours, and Raina wasn't awakened until a rustling in the trees dragged her from her sleep…
Raina's eyes opened, and she looked around, biting her lower lip. Where in the hell was she? Oh. The indoor woods. Right. So, Dean was right beneath...Dean was...not right beneath her? She panicked for a moment, springing up from her spot, noticing that there was no one, nothing in the room. "D...Dean? Dean?!" she looked around, then reached to the floor and grabbed the flashlight, walking toward the windows on the sides of the room. She didn't see anything. At all. No sign of Dean. "DEAN?" she screamed, tearing through the entire room, her gut getting the same feeling she'd had when they were on their way down the fifth floor hallway that led them to the room they were in. "Oh God. Dean...where are you?" she looked around where she was standing, seeing that there was a door ajar in the distance. She ran for it, ignoring any sounds that she heard behind her, then closed and locked it behind her. "Fuck. Where is he?" she bit her lower lip.
Jessi looked through the window to see Raina heading toward her, and she ran a hand through her hair. She was alone? What had happened to Dean? She swallowed hard and approached the other Umbrella project. "Raina?" she saw the panicked look on the other female's face and she frowned. Something had happened. She had a feeling that he was still alive, though. "Where's Dean? Did he..." she didn't want to say the words, because if so, Raina was probably not ready to talk about it. But when she shook her head, Jessi showed her a relieved look, then ran a hand through her hair. This wasn't like her, to disregard what she had said before, just to help someone else. But Raina...she owed it to her. If not for Jessi, Raina would not be in this position. "I'll help you find him. I don't feel so bad turning on just you, because we're evenly matched. You have a chance in a fight. But, well, Dean...wouldn't. So, when we find him? We split up again, okay?"
Raina looked at Jessi when she called out to her, then bit her lower lip when she asked about Dean. "I don't know if he...I...don't know. He fell through this trap door and was surrounded by these...really creepy looking...creatures. So, I took them down and, like..." she shuddered a little. "I decided to let him just sleep off the pain he was in, and I fell asleep..." she saw the look Jessi was giving her. Kind of a shocked and disgusted expression, mixed with sympathy. "I know. I'm smarter than that. But, I..." she ran a hand through her hair. "I just...felt like nothing could touch us, you know? My powers or whatever are supposed to make me stronger and smarter. They didn't, I guess. I woke up and he was gone. I just don't get how someone could take Dean from underneath me and not wake me up...I mean...I don't sleep soundly. Never have since I started hunting..."
Jessi frowned and put her hand on Raina's arm, watching as the usually strong, steady zombie hunter was on the verge of tears. So, this Dean Winchester really had her, didn't he? She felt even worse for having ever worked for Umbrella. "We'll find him. Let's use that fuse I gave you to turn on the generator, okay? I think having light will help us out..." she kept a light hold on the brokenhearted girl's arm and guided her to the generator. It was sad, that Umbrella had put the two of them through so much. Raina wasn't as bad of a person as Cathryn always said she was. She was a human, and in her personal file, which Jessi had found in a cabinet in her travels through this laboratory, she saw that the poor girl's parents had been killed by Umbrella, as well as her first boyfriend. She had a vendetta against the corporation, which was why Cathryn always wanted her eliminated. This woman was fierce normally, so with an emotional vendetta, it must not have been pretty.
Raina nodded and followed Jessi's lead. "Thank you..." she spoke softly, following her out the door of the indoor forest's monitoring facility, and to the door which lead outside. "A third of this code is missing, though. I mean, what are we supposed to do about it?" she asked, an eyebrow raised as she looked at the paper. "177, blank, blank, blank, 201. We..." she shrugged. "We need a miracle..." she felt her eyes welling up. "We...aren't going to find him. This whole freaking facility...this whole...FUCKING UMBRELLA! I HATE ANYONE WHO EVER HAS AND EVER WILL WORK FOR THIS FUCKING CORPORATION!" she looked at the camera in the corner of the hallway. "You hear me, fucking Cathryn or Wesker or who the fuck ever you are? YOU FUCKING HEAR ME? YOU BROKE ME! ARE YOU HAPPY?" she felt her fingernails digging into her hands.
Jessi heard Raina beginning to panic. "Raina!" she grabbed hold of her companion's shoulders. "Raina! Calm down! Listen to me, okay? I'm really good at hacking into systems like this!" she lied. She remembered the pass code from when Cathryn had trained her on how to operate the system. "Listen. You just stand guard while I activate it, okay? Make sure that nothing comes in and makes me it's lunch..." she tried to calm Raina down, but it seemed like Dean being MIA was making her lose her mind. She felt it, though, the guy was okay. He was alive. He may have been in trouble, but he was alive. She watched as Raina seemed to be a little calmer, at least, and opened the door, walking back outside into the rain. She pretended to be studying the mechanism, then took the paper from Raina's hand, examining it closely. She grinned inwardly as she looked from the paper to the terminal. "I think it has..." she paused, then beamed wide. "Something to do with...the 177 is the date that the new Umbrella lip balm was supposed to be released...I saw that on the news. January seventh, of oh-seven. And...if I remember correctly, 201 is...Albert Wesker's birthday. February first. So, Lavalee's birthday...A29. April twenty-ninth..."
Raina put a hand on her hip as Jessi seemed to be working through a formula to get the password. She seemed to know a lot about Umbrella. And the pass codes they used, for that matter. But she wasn't about to argue or anything, because it seemed to her that the more Jessi knew, the more likely she'd be to find Dean. She listened as the generator kicked on and ran up to Jessi, hugging her tightly. "You're a fuckin' genius! Thank you!" she almost screamed, releasing Jessi from the hug and rushing inside. "But...I have no idea where we're supposed to go from here...I mean...where would Umbrella take Dean? Are they going to try to...they can't. I mean, they can't turn him into one of..." she bit her lower lip, hard, and looked at Jessi. Maybe Jessi knew something, since she seemed to know everything else.
A memory surfaced in Jessi's head, and she frowned deeply. So, Umbrella did have control over her. They could, at least. Because she remembered grabbing Dean...and taking him to the basement. She remembered a green door, and a device...a timed device. She bit her lip. "Follow me," she spoke simply, leading Raina through the now re-lit facility, to the elevator which led to the basement. Raina didn't seem to ask questions, which was good, and they got into the elevator, riding it down to the basement and exiting slowly and cautiously. She looked down the hall and saw a green door, trying to look inconspicuous. "I just...got a feeling about the basement..." she lied, running a hand through her hair and pretending to check all the doors on her way. She knew where he was...
Dean's eyes opened, and he expected, for a moment, to have Raina laying against his shoulder and to still be in the indoor forest. But expectations were foolhardy when in an adventure like he was. Because when he opened his eyes, he saw...a brown, mechanics-filled room, with a bucket of acid hanging over his head. The bucket of acid was...dripping? And slowly tilting over? And he was cuffed to the chair, hands and feet, and his mouth was gagged, so he couldn't move. His head snapped downward again as a drop hit him in the hand, and he screamed. Well, as well as he could with the gag in his mouth. He panicked. But that was to be expected. He had no idea where he was, or where Raina was. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep beside her. He screamed again as another drop hit him in the hand, and the two drops began to eat away at his flesh. But, as hope was rapidly depleting, the door burst open, and in ran the very woman who he'd come here for, Jessi a couple of steps behind her. He was about to try to show his gratitude, when another drop of acid fell and hit him in the hand, and all he could do was scream.
Raina was helping Jessi check the doors, and as she was about to grab the handle to one, she heard a muffled scream from across the hall. She whirled around and ran to the door, Jessi right behind her, and she pulled it open, her eyes widening when she saw Dean there, cuffed and gagged. She was about to say something when she heard him scream again, and further assessed the situation, gasping when she saw the tipping bucket of acid over his head. She ran toward him, using her increased strength to try and move the chair from below the bucket, but her heart sank when the bucket came right along with, seemingly connected with some really screwed up metal mechanism. She leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I won't let you down, okay?" she promised as she looked around the room, then back at Jessi. "J--Jessi, what do we do?" she asked in a panic as she stayed close to Dean.
Jessi thought quickly, then looked around the room for a key, or something to set Dean free. And her eyes fell upon a set of keys hanging in a Plexiglas case. "Got it!" she rushed to the case, assessing the situation, standing offside the case, then looked at Raina. "Just..." she looked from Raina to Dean. "Try to be calm. Okay?" she asked as she reached a hand into the case and started to untie the keychain from the fishing line. But it was giving her a hard time. She didn't want to make a wrong move, because heaven knows, any wrong move could cost her life. She was almost finished untying, but she heard Dean scream, and both her body and hands slipped, so her head was out in front of the Plexiglas...
Before Raina knew it, both she and Dean were splattered with Jessi's blood and grey-matter, as the shotgun had gone off, and she was in front of it. She swallowed a lump in her throat and approached her companion's limp body. "Oh...my god..." she shuddered, realizing that the blood all over her hands and body belonged to the woman before her, and that Jessi wasn't going to be so lucky as to make it through...she swallowed hard and a tear fell from her cheek, and she was about to say something softly to Jessi's body, when she heard Dean scream again, and the scream was a little longer. The drops of water were a little more frequent, and were landing all over his hand. She grabbed the keychain from Jessi's hand, then rushed back to Dean's side, trying all four of the keys on the hand that was being most abused by the acid. She unlocked the other hand next, so he could move from the seat, and he practically leapt, just in time for the acid to fall all over the chair...
Dean rocketed off the chair and fell to the floor, just in time for the acid to spill over, and he couldn't help it. He just cried. He didn't cry a lot. Only when the situation called for it, but when he was laying on the ground, his hands in massive pain, with Jessi's blood covering him, he figured that was the breaking point for any human being to cry. So, he did. He just burst. When Raina unlocked the cuffs from his ankles, he simply curled up and cried some more. He felt Raina's hand on his face and looked up, looking her in the eye. "I...I'm sorry..." he looked from Raina, to Jessi's limp body, laying on the floor. Another person had traded their life for Dean's. And this time, it wasn't even intentional. He dried his eyes and tried to stop himself from crying, but it wouldn't work. Seconds later, in the wake of the tears he'd just dried, another streaked down. This was...too much.
Dean and Raina had no idea how dire the situation truly was, however. Yes, they knew that Jessi was dead. And yes, they knew that she had died to save Dean's life. However, what they didn't realize was that in the second that her blood hit Dean, the open wound in his hand began absorbing the Nephthys virus into his bloodstream and his when the blood got back to his heart, it would begin bonding with his muscles. In other words, in a split second, Dean had gone from Dean Winchester, to Umbrella Project 219-C, codename: Dean. Sooner than later, he would begin exhibiting strength, speed and endurance increases, as well as an ability to do the same martial arts as Raina and Anna did. His senses would also heighten. He'd be able to hear more, see in darker areas and smell zombies coming. Those were the sensations going on in Raina's body as well. What was unknown, however, was how he'd respond to the psychological aspect of Nephthys.
Also, unbeknownst to Dean and Raina, Cathryn had seen the blood hit his open wounds, and glanced ecstatically at the camera. "This is...spectacular!" she beamed as Ezekiel made his way into the room. "I'm assuming that Sam and Anna are in place, and won't be a threat to this operation..." she watched as Ezekiel nodded, then pointed at the camera, which was zoomed in on Dean. "Fantastic. Well, Mr. Grizwald, things are proceeding better than planned, and your shotgun/acid trap was a smashing success..." she pointed at the scene on the screen. "As you can see, Project 219-B is dead. Leaving Project 219-A...and now..." she watched Ezekiel's face lower. "Project 219-C. When the shotgun hit Jessica, the blood splattered everywhere. And got into one of Dean's open wounds. Meaning as we speak, Nephthys is bonding with his blood. We'll have to see how he reacts. Though, I get an unfortunate feeling that his reaction will be more along the lines of Miss Morenez's..."
Ezekiel eyed the pathetically blithering guy on the screen as he clung to 219-A, sobbing in her shoulder. Emotions were truly useless. If that were Ezekiel, in Raina's shoes, have unlocked the cuffs and then just pulled him from the room. But because of stupid love, she was waiting with him and holding him. He frowned when he heard that McArthur was dead. There was supposed to be a battle-royale between she and Morenez at the end of this adventure. Some people weren't worthy of the power Nephthys exuded. But, as Cathryn further described the situation to him, he smiled a bit. So, Winchester could possibly become their puppet? That would make the battle-royale even better. Between two lovers. "Isn't that a fun twist..." he quipped as he made himself comfortable next to Cathryn. It was a good thing Ezekiel didn't feel love. He'd probably have fallen in love with Cathryn by now...
Hearing Dean cry brought tears to Raina's eyes, too. Not that the situation wasn't enough to do so on it's own. Jessi had been trying to help her. It was Raina's own fault that her companion was dead. If she'd been able to stay awake, Dean would have never been taken by Umbrella. But she held it together, until Dean started to cry. Then, she lost it, and she leaned into him, crying alongside him. "I...I'm so sorry, Dean. This whole fucking disastrous mess is my fault..." she looked into his eyes. She had to tell him. She had to let him know everything. But...right now wasn't the time. No. Dean had just gone through emotional hell, and he didn't need Raina's guilty conscience to bog him down even farther. But she was going to go crazy. She just...needed to say something. "Dean, I..." she was going to. Really. But Dean gave her this look, and she could see in his eyes that one more spoken word of bad news would just kill him. "I'm sorry..." she covered her ass.
Dean sat up when Raina started crying. His moist, bleary eyes looked into hers and he shook his head in shock and dismay. "No, you don't have anything to be sorry for, Raina, okay? You didn't do anything. Why don't we..." he used his non-injured hand to wipe some of the tears from Raina's cheek, then from his own. "...just get out of here..." he looked into those intense brown eyes. Neither of them deserved this. He didn't understand why Umbrella had targeted them in the first place, but now, it was his personal mission to see Cathryn Lavalee and Albert Wesker pay for everything they'd done to he, Sammy, Anna and most importantly, Raina. Sure, the three of them had been through a lot. But Raina...her body had been turned into some Umbrella project. "We have a vendetta to fulfill..." he half-smiled, then touched her cheek.
Raina looked at Dean in shock when he mentioned still wanting to put an end to Umbrella, not just leave it alone and get the hell out of dodge. "R-really? You still want to...I mean...they-you just..." she watched as he nodded, showing her a sure and secure look. He'd meant every word. "Good. I swear, Dean, so long as I'm still breathing, there will be no peace for the Umbrella corporation. Me and my superpowers are gonna make sure that Cathryn Lavalee has nightmares about her own creation for the rest of her natural life," she smoothed his hair back. She didn't care that Jessi's blood was all over him. She just...wanted to touch him. To show him that she was by his side, that she was not going to let him down again. From then on, there was no sleep for Raina Morenez, until this hellish adventure was over with.
~*~
Things were looking much better on Sam and Anna's behalf. They'd been walking for only two or three hours, and they came across a semi-rural area, with a used car lot in the most secluded part of town. Sam looked at Anna, who's face lit up again. "I can't believe you get so excited about car-jackings..." he spoke softly, following along as Anna's speed picked up, the nearer they got to the lot. He loved that expression that she got on her face, though. Like she was going to a candy store. Yes, when Dean finally felt well enough to start hunting again, Raina would fit right in. Except, she'd need to get past her pride and start picking up weapons. He smiled as he watched her pick up a rock and use it to break the window of the car of her choice, a 2003 Mitsubishi 300 GT, bright blue. "So, I take it I start out as a passenger again?" he asked as he watched her lean over to unlock the door.
Anna laughed and nodded, leaning beneath the steering wheel and fiddling with the wires and trying to start the car. It was terrible, defiling such a gorgeous vehicle, but she wasn't up for walking a distance that would take them an hour by car. She heard the car start and sat up straight. "Yeah, but only because the car is so beautiful. I'll tell you what. The rule Dean taught me? Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole? I'll nix that. How does that sound?" she asked as she flipped the radio on and allowed Sam free reign of that. It wasn't going to be a long, winding trip anyway, and plus, Sam's taste in music was somewhat similar to hers. At least it wasn't going to be the best of eighties hair, like it always was when Dean drove, or even before that, when Raina drove. They made thier way toward Townsend again, hoping more than anything for no distractions this time...
Title: Cat and Mouse
Rating: Well, there's graphic violence and possible future smut, so I'll go with a safe NC17.
Author: Lizi
Pairing: Dean/OFC, Sam/OFC (mostly Dean/OFC centric this time around)
Warnings/Spoilers: If you're up to date on the show, you should be spoiler free (plus, the fact that I'm a recently hooked Supernatural fan, so Wikipedia has been my friend when it came to this fic). As for warnings, there's gratuitous violence and Resident Evil style gore. And cursing. And smut. I'm a bad girl. =P
Author's Note: The follow up to my original story, Project Mayhem. All character are still around, plus I'll add a couple in later.
Words: 3,704
Summary: Dean disappears and mass hysteria ensues, Sam and Anna find a ride to Townsend…
Falling asleep in an Umbrella facility was one of the worst mistakes a human could make, because you never know how or where you're going to wake up. That was a lesson that Raina and Dean had yet to learn, but they'd learn it soon enough. They'd been laying in the grass, sleeping, for hours, and Raina wasn't awakened until a rustling in the trees dragged her from her sleep…
Raina's eyes opened, and she looked around, biting her lower lip. Where in the hell was she? Oh. The indoor woods. Right. So, Dean was right beneath...Dean was...not right beneath her? She panicked for a moment, springing up from her spot, noticing that there was no one, nothing in the room. "D...Dean? Dean?!" she looked around, then reached to the floor and grabbed the flashlight, walking toward the windows on the sides of the room. She didn't see anything. At all. No sign of Dean. "DEAN?" she screamed, tearing through the entire room, her gut getting the same feeling she'd had when they were on their way down the fifth floor hallway that led them to the room they were in. "Oh God. Dean...where are you?" she looked around where she was standing, seeing that there was a door ajar in the distance. She ran for it, ignoring any sounds that she heard behind her, then closed and locked it behind her. "Fuck. Where is he?" she bit her lower lip.
Jessi looked through the window to see Raina heading toward her, and she ran a hand through her hair. She was alone? What had happened to Dean? She swallowed hard and approached the other Umbrella project. "Raina?" she saw the panicked look on the other female's face and she frowned. Something had happened. She had a feeling that he was still alive, though. "Where's Dean? Did he..." she didn't want to say the words, because if so, Raina was probably not ready to talk about it. But when she shook her head, Jessi showed her a relieved look, then ran a hand through her hair. This wasn't like her, to disregard what she had said before, just to help someone else. But Raina...she owed it to her. If not for Jessi, Raina would not be in this position. "I'll help you find him. I don't feel so bad turning on just you, because we're evenly matched. You have a chance in a fight. But, well, Dean...wouldn't. So, when we find him? We split up again, okay?"
Raina looked at Jessi when she called out to her, then bit her lower lip when she asked about Dean. "I don't know if he...I...don't know. He fell through this trap door and was surrounded by these...really creepy looking...creatures. So, I took them down and, like..." she shuddered a little. "I decided to let him just sleep off the pain he was in, and I fell asleep..." she saw the look Jessi was giving her. Kind of a shocked and disgusted expression, mixed with sympathy. "I know. I'm smarter than that. But, I..." she ran a hand through her hair. "I just...felt like nothing could touch us, you know? My powers or whatever are supposed to make me stronger and smarter. They didn't, I guess. I woke up and he was gone. I just don't get how someone could take Dean from underneath me and not wake me up...I mean...I don't sleep soundly. Never have since I started hunting..."
Jessi frowned and put her hand on Raina's arm, watching as the usually strong, steady zombie hunter was on the verge of tears. So, this Dean Winchester really had her, didn't he? She felt even worse for having ever worked for Umbrella. "We'll find him. Let's use that fuse I gave you to turn on the generator, okay? I think having light will help us out..." she kept a light hold on the brokenhearted girl's arm and guided her to the generator. It was sad, that Umbrella had put the two of them through so much. Raina wasn't as bad of a person as Cathryn always said she was. She was a human, and in her personal file, which Jessi had found in a cabinet in her travels through this laboratory, she saw that the poor girl's parents had been killed by Umbrella, as well as her first boyfriend. She had a vendetta against the corporation, which was why Cathryn always wanted her eliminated. This woman was fierce normally, so with an emotional vendetta, it must not have been pretty.
Raina nodded and followed Jessi's lead. "Thank you..." she spoke softly, following her out the door of the indoor forest's monitoring facility, and to the door which lead outside. "A third of this code is missing, though. I mean, what are we supposed to do about it?" she asked, an eyebrow raised as she looked at the paper. "177, blank, blank, blank, 201. We..." she shrugged. "We need a miracle..." she felt her eyes welling up. "We...aren't going to find him. This whole freaking facility...this whole...FUCKING UMBRELLA! I HATE ANYONE WHO EVER HAS AND EVER WILL WORK FOR THIS FUCKING CORPORATION!" she looked at the camera in the corner of the hallway. "You hear me, fucking Cathryn or Wesker or who the fuck ever you are? YOU FUCKING HEAR ME? YOU BROKE ME! ARE YOU HAPPY?" she felt her fingernails digging into her hands.
Jessi heard Raina beginning to panic. "Raina!" she grabbed hold of her companion's shoulders. "Raina! Calm down! Listen to me, okay? I'm really good at hacking into systems like this!" she lied. She remembered the pass code from when Cathryn had trained her on how to operate the system. "Listen. You just stand guard while I activate it, okay? Make sure that nothing comes in and makes me it's lunch..." she tried to calm Raina down, but it seemed like Dean being MIA was making her lose her mind. She felt it, though, the guy was okay. He was alive. He may have been in trouble, but he was alive. She watched as Raina seemed to be a little calmer, at least, and opened the door, walking back outside into the rain. She pretended to be studying the mechanism, then took the paper from Raina's hand, examining it closely. She grinned inwardly as she looked from the paper to the terminal. "I think it has..." she paused, then beamed wide. "Something to do with...the 177 is the date that the new Umbrella lip balm was supposed to be released...I saw that on the news. January seventh, of oh-seven. And...if I remember correctly, 201 is...Albert Wesker's birthday. February first. So, Lavalee's birthday...A29. April twenty-ninth..."
Raina put a hand on her hip as Jessi seemed to be working through a formula to get the password. She seemed to know a lot about Umbrella. And the pass codes they used, for that matter. But she wasn't about to argue or anything, because it seemed to her that the more Jessi knew, the more likely she'd be to find Dean. She listened as the generator kicked on and ran up to Jessi, hugging her tightly. "You're a fuckin' genius! Thank you!" she almost screamed, releasing Jessi from the hug and rushing inside. "But...I have no idea where we're supposed to go from here...I mean...where would Umbrella take Dean? Are they going to try to...they can't. I mean, they can't turn him into one of..." she bit her lower lip, hard, and looked at Jessi. Maybe Jessi knew something, since she seemed to know everything else.
A memory surfaced in Jessi's head, and she frowned deeply. So, Umbrella did have control over her. They could, at least. Because she remembered grabbing Dean...and taking him to the basement. She remembered a green door, and a device...a timed device. She bit her lip. "Follow me," she spoke simply, leading Raina through the now re-lit facility, to the elevator which led to the basement. Raina didn't seem to ask questions, which was good, and they got into the elevator, riding it down to the basement and exiting slowly and cautiously. She looked down the hall and saw a green door, trying to look inconspicuous. "I just...got a feeling about the basement..." she lied, running a hand through her hair and pretending to check all the doors on her way. She knew where he was...
Dean's eyes opened, and he expected, for a moment, to have Raina laying against his shoulder and to still be in the indoor forest. But expectations were foolhardy when in an adventure like he was. Because when he opened his eyes, he saw...a brown, mechanics-filled room, with a bucket of acid hanging over his head. The bucket of acid was...dripping? And slowly tilting over? And he was cuffed to the chair, hands and feet, and his mouth was gagged, so he couldn't move. His head snapped downward again as a drop hit him in the hand, and he screamed. Well, as well as he could with the gag in his mouth. He panicked. But that was to be expected. He had no idea where he was, or where Raina was. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep beside her. He screamed again as another drop hit him in the hand, and the two drops began to eat away at his flesh. But, as hope was rapidly depleting, the door burst open, and in ran the very woman who he'd come here for, Jessi a couple of steps behind her. He was about to try to show his gratitude, when another drop of acid fell and hit him in the hand, and all he could do was scream.
Raina was helping Jessi check the doors, and as she was about to grab the handle to one, she heard a muffled scream from across the hall. She whirled around and ran to the door, Jessi right behind her, and she pulled it open, her eyes widening when she saw Dean there, cuffed and gagged. She was about to say something when she heard him scream again, and further assessed the situation, gasping when she saw the tipping bucket of acid over his head. She ran toward him, using her increased strength to try and move the chair from below the bucket, but her heart sank when the bucket came right along with, seemingly connected with some really screwed up metal mechanism. She leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I won't let you down, okay?" she promised as she looked around the room, then back at Jessi. "J--Jessi, what do we do?" she asked in a panic as she stayed close to Dean.
Jessi thought quickly, then looked around the room for a key, or something to set Dean free. And her eyes fell upon a set of keys hanging in a Plexiglas case. "Got it!" she rushed to the case, assessing the situation, standing offside the case, then looked at Raina. "Just..." she looked from Raina to Dean. "Try to be calm. Okay?" she asked as she reached a hand into the case and started to untie the keychain from the fishing line. But it was giving her a hard time. She didn't want to make a wrong move, because heaven knows, any wrong move could cost her life. She was almost finished untying, but she heard Dean scream, and both her body and hands slipped, so her head was out in front of the Plexiglas...
Before Raina knew it, both she and Dean were splattered with Jessi's blood and grey-matter, as the shotgun had gone off, and she was in front of it. She swallowed a lump in her throat and approached her companion's limp body. "Oh...my god..." she shuddered, realizing that the blood all over her hands and body belonged to the woman before her, and that Jessi wasn't going to be so lucky as to make it through...she swallowed hard and a tear fell from her cheek, and she was about to say something softly to Jessi's body, when she heard Dean scream again, and the scream was a little longer. The drops of water were a little more frequent, and were landing all over his hand. She grabbed the keychain from Jessi's hand, then rushed back to Dean's side, trying all four of the keys on the hand that was being most abused by the acid. She unlocked the other hand next, so he could move from the seat, and he practically leapt, just in time for the acid to fall all over the chair...
Dean rocketed off the chair and fell to the floor, just in time for the acid to spill over, and he couldn't help it. He just cried. He didn't cry a lot. Only when the situation called for it, but when he was laying on the ground, his hands in massive pain, with Jessi's blood covering him, he figured that was the breaking point for any human being to cry. So, he did. He just burst. When Raina unlocked the cuffs from his ankles, he simply curled up and cried some more. He felt Raina's hand on his face and looked up, looking her in the eye. "I...I'm sorry..." he looked from Raina, to Jessi's limp body, laying on the floor. Another person had traded their life for Dean's. And this time, it wasn't even intentional. He dried his eyes and tried to stop himself from crying, but it wouldn't work. Seconds later, in the wake of the tears he'd just dried, another streaked down. This was...too much.
Dean and Raina had no idea how dire the situation truly was, however. Yes, they knew that Jessi was dead. And yes, they knew that she had died to save Dean's life. However, what they didn't realize was that in the second that her blood hit Dean, the open wound in his hand began absorbing the Nephthys virus into his bloodstream and his when the blood got back to his heart, it would begin bonding with his muscles. In other words, in a split second, Dean had gone from Dean Winchester, to Umbrella Project 219-C, codename: Dean. Sooner than later, he would begin exhibiting strength, speed and endurance increases, as well as an ability to do the same martial arts as Raina and Anna did. His senses would also heighten. He'd be able to hear more, see in darker areas and smell zombies coming. Those were the sensations going on in Raina's body as well. What was unknown, however, was how he'd respond to the psychological aspect of Nephthys.
Also, unbeknownst to Dean and Raina, Cathryn had seen the blood hit his open wounds, and glanced ecstatically at the camera. "This is...spectacular!" she beamed as Ezekiel made his way into the room. "I'm assuming that Sam and Anna are in place, and won't be a threat to this operation..." she watched as Ezekiel nodded, then pointed at the camera, which was zoomed in on Dean. "Fantastic. Well, Mr. Grizwald, things are proceeding better than planned, and your shotgun/acid trap was a smashing success..." she pointed at the scene on the screen. "As you can see, Project 219-B is dead. Leaving Project 219-A...and now..." she watched Ezekiel's face lower. "Project 219-C. When the shotgun hit Jessica, the blood splattered everywhere. And got into one of Dean's open wounds. Meaning as we speak, Nephthys is bonding with his blood. We'll have to see how he reacts. Though, I get an unfortunate feeling that his reaction will be more along the lines of Miss Morenez's..."
Ezekiel eyed the pathetically blithering guy on the screen as he clung to 219-A, sobbing in her shoulder. Emotions were truly useless. If that were Ezekiel, in Raina's shoes, have unlocked the cuffs and then just pulled him from the room. But because of stupid love, she was waiting with him and holding him. He frowned when he heard that McArthur was dead. There was supposed to be a battle-royale between she and Morenez at the end of this adventure. Some people weren't worthy of the power Nephthys exuded. But, as Cathryn further described the situation to him, he smiled a bit. So, Winchester could possibly become their puppet? That would make the battle-royale even better. Between two lovers. "Isn't that a fun twist..." he quipped as he made himself comfortable next to Cathryn. It was a good thing Ezekiel didn't feel love. He'd probably have fallen in love with Cathryn by now...
Hearing Dean cry brought tears to Raina's eyes, too. Not that the situation wasn't enough to do so on it's own. Jessi had been trying to help her. It was Raina's own fault that her companion was dead. If she'd been able to stay awake, Dean would have never been taken by Umbrella. But she held it together, until Dean started to cry. Then, she lost it, and she leaned into him, crying alongside him. "I...I'm so sorry, Dean. This whole fucking disastrous mess is my fault..." she looked into his eyes. She had to tell him. She had to let him know everything. But...right now wasn't the time. No. Dean had just gone through emotional hell, and he didn't need Raina's guilty conscience to bog him down even farther. But she was going to go crazy. She just...needed to say something. "Dean, I..." she was going to. Really. But Dean gave her this look, and she could see in his eyes that one more spoken word of bad news would just kill him. "I'm sorry..." she covered her ass.
Dean sat up when Raina started crying. His moist, bleary eyes looked into hers and he shook his head in shock and dismay. "No, you don't have anything to be sorry for, Raina, okay? You didn't do anything. Why don't we..." he used his non-injured hand to wipe some of the tears from Raina's cheek, then from his own. "...just get out of here..." he looked into those intense brown eyes. Neither of them deserved this. He didn't understand why Umbrella had targeted them in the first place, but now, it was his personal mission to see Cathryn Lavalee and Albert Wesker pay for everything they'd done to he, Sammy, Anna and most importantly, Raina. Sure, the three of them had been through a lot. But Raina...her body had been turned into some Umbrella project. "We have a vendetta to fulfill..." he half-smiled, then touched her cheek.
Raina looked at Dean in shock when he mentioned still wanting to put an end to Umbrella, not just leave it alone and get the hell out of dodge. "R-really? You still want to...I mean...they-you just..." she watched as he nodded, showing her a sure and secure look. He'd meant every word. "Good. I swear, Dean, so long as I'm still breathing, there will be no peace for the Umbrella corporation. Me and my superpowers are gonna make sure that Cathryn Lavalee has nightmares about her own creation for the rest of her natural life," she smoothed his hair back. She didn't care that Jessi's blood was all over him. She just...wanted to touch him. To show him that she was by his side, that she was not going to let him down again. From then on, there was no sleep for Raina Morenez, until this hellish adventure was over with.
~*~
Things were looking much better on Sam and Anna's behalf. They'd been walking for only two or three hours, and they came across a semi-rural area, with a used car lot in the most secluded part of town. Sam looked at Anna, who's face lit up again. "I can't believe you get so excited about car-jackings..." he spoke softly, following along as Anna's speed picked up, the nearer they got to the lot. He loved that expression that she got on her face, though. Like she was going to a candy store. Yes, when Dean finally felt well enough to start hunting again, Raina would fit right in. Except, she'd need to get past her pride and start picking up weapons. He smiled as he watched her pick up a rock and use it to break the window of the car of her choice, a 2003 Mitsubishi 300 GT, bright blue. "So, I take it I start out as a passenger again?" he asked as he watched her lean over to unlock the door.
Anna laughed and nodded, leaning beneath the steering wheel and fiddling with the wires and trying to start the car. It was terrible, defiling such a gorgeous vehicle, but she wasn't up for walking a distance that would take them an hour by car. She heard the car start and sat up straight. "Yeah, but only because the car is so beautiful. I'll tell you what. The rule Dean taught me? Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole? I'll nix that. How does that sound?" she asked as she flipped the radio on and allowed Sam free reign of that. It wasn't going to be a long, winding trip anyway, and plus, Sam's taste in music was somewhat similar to hers. At least it wasn't going to be the best of eighties hair, like it always was when Dean drove, or even before that, when Raina drove. They made thier way toward Townsend again, hoping more than anything for no distractions this time...