A tall blonde man strode down the hall of the office building. The place was completely silent as his heels sunk into the newly furnished carpet. It was far past his active duty time and he still felt like h wasn't ready to travel home yet. The last few days had been filled with emotions he wasn't sure he could deal with yet. He had never felt anything like this before. The sadness, the love, the anger. He had been able to suppress these feelings his entire life. But this time it was too much for him to bear.
He sat heavily in his office chair and looked over at the S.T.A.R team photo on his desk. He generally kept his desk free of personal amenities but the high ups at Umbrella suggested adding the personal touch to help his cover. He looked the same as he had two years ago, his blonde hair was naturally pushed back and his sunglasses hid his eyes from the camera. Standing next to him was his newest partner. A young woman with long brown hair and soft green eyes. At the time he expected her to be replaced within weeks. She was small and quiet and he was surprised that she was able to hold the guns she had been issued. Looking back now he could not have been anymore incorrect about his initial analysis. Perhaps he had just been so used to having partners who couldn't keep up with him that he couldn't bother to put his faith in anyone knew. Two years they had been together now. Caitlyn...
The man looked out the large bay window as the lights in the building began to turn off. He was enclosed in darkness as the black sky was slowly filled with neon lights from the cities night life. He could still remember that night they had spent together outside of the suspected drug dealers dwellings. His eyes closed behind his sunglasses as he drifted away to a cold spot under an elm tree.
Albert Wesker sat down under the large elm tree that his partner had scouted out before he had gone on the night patrol. They had drawn the short straws of the bunch and would be conducting night watch just outside the doors of the building they were suspected to be conducting various illegal activities. They had never been able to pin any evidence on the premises because all recordings seemed to be damaged with some ranged electronics jammer. Pretty sophisticated technology for a pack of drug dealers.
Caitlyn Daniels was already sitting beneath the tree, her eyes staring ahead of her diligently. Every other female officer he had been paired with would have oogled at him if he came anywhere near their line of sight. When they first became partners he wasn't sure what would bother him more, her being just like every single other female partner he had been given or the fact that she didn't seem to notice him the way the others did. Her hair had somehow found its way out of the tight ponytail she always wore it in. Long brunette waves spilled over her shoulders and for once she seemed feminine. She didn't turn to look at him or acknowledge that he had returned.
Caitlyn was the only partner he had had in S.T.A.R.s that seemed to understand him the way that she did. She didn't speak often and when she did it was always worth listening to. Her words were few and important. She didn't coddle him like a child or fawn over him like a piece of meat. She kept her mind on her work and left personal life out of her professional life. If her moderate chest didn't give her gender away he would have wondered if she truly was a female at all.
Albert turned his attention back to the house they were to be scouting. They were in a rural part of town that was described as an "everyone knew everyone" type of community. Were they aware that one of their "everyone's" was a suspected drug dealer? This type of community meant that someone would recognize a random vehicle they had never seen before parked in the streets. The street lamps also meant that they could not sit and survey in one even if they wanted too. If anyone happened to look out their windows at an odd hour of the morning and saw them watching the house their cover would be busted. So instead they needed a more concealed "up close and personal" surveillance of the house in question. This meant several long cold hours under a large tree with nothing but a camera (that would no doubt mysteriously not work) and a silent female for company.
Neither of the pair said a word as the moon slowly began to descend behind their heads. Albert's eyes were fixed on the windows on the front facing portion of the house. He was hoping to catch anything that could prove the case wasn't a completely worthless endeavor so he could leave and return the heated king sized bed waiting for him in his mansion. But there was nothing to be seen for the many hours to come. The rhythmic clouds of smoke coming into view of his right peripheral vision ceased after a time. Caitlyn was no longer breathing out of her mouth.
Wesker's eyebrows furled, why would she start breathing out of her nose in this weather? It was much more uncomfortable to do so with the weather below freezing like this. If she was anything, it was routinely. It was one thing that he both liked and hated about her as a partner. She was easy to adapt to as her style never changed. He was never thrown off in a fight by her suddenly changing her tactics in the middle of a heated shootout. But if any of their enemies ever started watching her they could also pick up on her as easily as he did. He of course would never say anything to her. If she died, it would be her own fault, and she would be replaced just like all of the others. But he would admit that her sudden change in such a simple behavior snagged his curiosity. Albert's eyes swept off of the house for mere seconds so that he could catch a glimpse of her face. His brow went from pressed to his nose to nearly touching his hairline in surprise. Caitlyn was crying.
Wesker had never seen Caitlyn cry, and he was sure he was more than likely one of the few who had. Her eyes were still glued to the door as the edges brimmed with water. She could still see clearly as her eyes were not covered in tears. Her face wasn't scrunched in the ugly fashion that he had seen most people cry. Her face was stoic and if you weren't looking directly at her you would have no idea that the tears were sliding down the sides of her face. Even if you were looking directly at her you may not have noticed right away either. She was completely silent and she was absolutely still as she continued to watch the front door. If there was ever a photo to describe the phrase "suffering in silence" this would be it.
Wesker's eyes turned back to the windows. What on Earth was possessing her to start crying? He couldn't recall a particularly troublesome mission recently that would have emotionally upset her. Nor had he been aware of any changes in her office routine. No changes in personal belongings, no strange telephone calls, she hadn't even left on her lunch breaks. He mentally shook his head. Why did he care why she was upset? As long as she wasn't on his shoulder or complaining loudly about it to him she could cry all that she wanted. If the mission was in no jeopardy he had no issue. But as he continued to sit there something in his chest began to pull gently. A little push in the center of his heart kept bringing his thoughts back to the crying brunette sitting beside him. He sighed in frustration.
"Fine. Why are you crying?" He whispered harshly and she nearly jumped out of her skin.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Caitlyn's back sat up just a little bit straighter as the tears suddenly stopped. He scoffed. He had gone through all the trouble he was going to for her. If she wanted to feign innocence that was fine with him. He waited for what seemed like days for her to say something... anything. But she never uttered another word. She sat there with her dry eyes on the front door. Wesker's brow furrowed again. He then realized that she indeed was not going to tell him anything. She hasn't been crying beside him, begging for him to notice her and ask her what was wrong s she could poor her heart out to him like any other female would have. She had been crying because she truly thought that he hadn't noticed and once she knew that he did, she stopped. She wasn't going to tell him anything. She didn't even wipe away the wetness from her face to keep the facade that she hadn't been crying at all. And as her tears froze to her cheeks he realized that she was... special to him.
