Interpreting one's self is, in a way, an indication of egocentrism. Wesker did not like putting labels on himself, so, appropriately, he refrained from doing so. On the other hand, people freely put labels on him so he didn't even need to lift a finger to do that by himself.
S.T.A.R.S. called him Captain. In a way, that one word made him prouder than anything else somebody could call him, because unlike with people at Umbrella, it wasn't said with disdain (usually).
There was something about the way that Rebecca Chambers said it, especially the first time, right after he had hired her. She'd given him a smile that seemed to spread into her green eyes. "I won't disappoint you!" she had promised, so incredibly eager.
"As long as you show up on time for work and put further your best work ethic, I don't thinks we should have any problems," he explained to her, trying to but a subtle emphasis on the late part. She'd shown up an hour late to the interview, flushed from embarrassment and stuttering as she explained her car had run out of gas or else she would have been here early.
"Of course! It's the least I could do. Thank you, again, really, Captain. Have a great night."
He had managed a smile at her. "You as well, Miss Chambers."
She sighed as she sat down in the diner booth. The vinyl seating squeaked as it rubbed against her mostly exposed legs.
First of all, she had had no idea that Captain Albert Wesker looked like he had walked straight out of a magazine ad for a Dolce & Gabbana perfume or something. Secondly, she knew that her car had had a full of tank of gas last night and she'd only driven a few miles since then-she couldn't figure out why it was empty this afternoon. Thirdly, on top of being late, her tan pants had some how gotten grease all over them, prompting her to switch into the only other thing that was clean-a pair of denim pants. She probably looked like a harlot.
A waitress set a cup of tea in front of her. "Sweetheart, you look like you need to relax. Here's a cup of chamomile, on the house."
She blushed; this was only further evidence that she looked like an absolute wreck. She held back a groan, choosing to smile instead. "Thank you, really. I appreciate this."
She out off ordering for another ten minutes, trying to decide whether to go the cheaper route of a hamburger with fries or splurge (after all, she'd have a steady income now) and get a fried chicken sandwich, which would cost even more to get fries with. She'd be honest in telling anyone that she was so sick of low quality beef that at this point she was more likely to throw it out the window then eat it, but at the same time, she had higher expectations for this joint.
In the end, her taste buds won out over her wallet and she ordered the chicken. As she waited, she plotted out a plan on the back of the mat. Now that she had a job, her life would get easier-sort of-and she could start to relax.
First? Get a decent place to stay. Rebecca hated to admit it, but currently she was living out of her car. At this point, even a no star motel would break her wallet if it were for more than a night.
Second was a more appropriate wardrobe. While she gathered that it was actually a pretty lax office atmosphere, she was pretty sure that no one wanted to seem her scrawny legs a on a daily basis.
The pen hovered above the mat as she chewed the inside of her lip. There should be more to her life than this, there had to be.
3. Put weight back on.
Before everything had happened, she'd been a decent weight. Currently though, she was underweight and it probably wouldn't do for a team medic to faint or something in the middle of a mission.
"I'm so hungry!"
Rebecca's head jerked up to see that a young blonde had just walked in, followed by none other than Captain Wesker. The nineteen year old wished that she still had the menu to hide behind. Unfortunately, the waitress had taken it after she'd ordered, so all she could do to try to avoid detection was look down and drink her still too hot tea.
"Miss Chambers?"
Like a scared dog, she raised her head again. "Good evening Captain! Fancy seeing you here... At the only diner close to the station... At dinner time." Her cheeks were probably as red as the lights on top of a police car.
He gave her a small smile showing that he had dimples. "I come here every Friday night. May we sit with you?"
He asked as if she really had a choice-which she might, maybe, but Rebecca didn't want to mess up with him already. While he might not be the captain of her team, he was the head of S.T.A.R.S.. "Yeah, of course."
The younger girl plopped down on the vinyl, smiling. "I'm Sherry Birkin, Wesker's goddaughter." She smiled like it was the best thing in the world as she held out her hand, nails painted a baby pink, maybe to match her little stud earrings.
She couldn't quite picture him as a caring godfather, but the girl seemed at total ease around him. "I'm Rebecca Chambers, the new medic for Bravo team."
"Please to meet you!" she was able to say before the waitress came over.
Wesker made polite conversation with her before ordering-without a menu!-and then Sherry ordered. As Hilda walked away, Wesker turned his attention to Rebecca.
"I didn't ask you earlier, what brings you to Raccoon City?"
"My old professor heard about the position and thought that it would be a perfect fit for me. If he hadn't called, I'd probably still be..." She paused, considering what to say. "Bumming it in Arizona, I guess."
A brief background check and a look at credit card usage had told Wesker that she had been on the other side of the country-Georgia-but he didn't contradict her. He, of all people, understood what it could take for a person to keep their past a secret. "South Dakota* is quite a bit of a change from Arizona," he commented as Hilda set down their drinks.
"It's not like I was completely devoted to Arizona or anything," she explained before taking a sip of her tea. "I've lived in every region in the continuous States."
Sherry gasped. "Have you ever lived in a big city? Like, bigger than Raccoon City?"
She nodded, smiling. "I've lived in Baltimore and Atlanta." Her answer prompted a string of questions from the twelve year old. Wesker listened to them, admittedly interested in the girl-she was, no doubt, a genius, and it was intriguing to see her relaxed and outside of a work environment.
He looked down at his cola, only to have his eye caught by Rebecca's turned over mat. He could easily read the surprisingly pristine handwriting-a fact that was catalogued so he could have her do reports for the time being-and felt something in his stomach sink. She didn't have a place to stay? He had assumed that she was staying in a hotel of some sort, but this... It didn't sit well with him.
Their dinners came and went, and those ended with Sherry begging to have some lemon meringue pie. Remembering the third item on Rebecca's list, Wesker offered to buy her a piece of pie or cake. She blushed, glancing down and eyes widening with embarrassed horror as she realized her list had been available for anyone-for Wesker-to see. "I'll split something with you," she counter-offered. He nodded and ordered them a slice of cherry pie.
"You won't be disappointed!" Sherry swore, "They have the best pies in all of South Dakota here. Well, Mrs. Burton makes the best peanut butter and chocolate pie, but they make the best with flakey crust here."
Wesker chuckled. "The Burtons-Barry is in. Alpha team-throw a dinner party every two weeks for the teams. I usually bring Sherry since I don't have any blood relations and her parents are always busy."
Sherry hugged him suddenly, with enough force behind it that he let out a low grunt before hugging her back. "Wesker is the best!" she told Rebecca as she returned to her previous position. "He's really smart, strong, and also super handsome! All of my not married teachers ask me if he's single."
"Sherry! That's-that's not true."
She hummed and rolled her eyes. "It so is! And if people didn't think you were a vampire, you would have a gazillion dates all of the time."
Rebecca giggled as he winced. "Do people honestly think you're a vampire?"
Before he could answer, Sherry was nodding and already talking. "Totally! It's mostly because of his sunglasses-which he actually wears because his eyes are crazy sensitive to light, by the way, don't listen to Chris and his cat eyes theory-but also because he wears a lot of sunscreen and dark clothing. And rarely eats his vegetables! Mom is always telling him that he should eat his veggies and then he'd feel better but nope! He's more stubborn than my dad."
Feel better? "I can imagine that."
He smiled at her, causing an unfamiliar feeling in her stomach. It bubbled and up and caused her to smile back before casting her eyes down again.
"Rebecca, you should totally stay with us tonight!" Sherry said, reaching over the table to take her hands into hers. "It would be totally awesome and we can stay up with movies and popcorn-right Wesker?"
"Sherry... I'm her boss. It wouldn't look right."
She sighed. "Exactly! You're the boss so you don't have to listen to what other people say. Plus, you're like, way older than her. Who would think that the two of you were a couple or anything?"
"Would you like to come over?" he asked Rebecca himself. She was blushing like crazy but managed a nod.
p"If it's okay with you, sure."
As they left the dinner, Rebecca paused before opening her car door. She felt like someone was watching her, but a quick sweep of the area didn't reveal anything that looked out of the ordinary. She tried to shake it off as she got into the car. Wesker noticed her hesitation and looked around himself before starting his car just in time to see someone disappear behind the diner. It gave him the same uneasy feeling that came whenever someone got too close to his research.
"Is there something wrong?" Sherry asked she buckled herself in.
"No, not at all."
Notes: First of all, I'm so sorry that this took me so long to put up on here. It was posted in the beginning of August on AO3 (I have the same username over there) but because of the way I wrote it I had to delete stuff that would have been annoying to do on an iPad (which is what I had available at the time). But, it's up here now! And I have school starting soon but I will try my best to update this relatively frequently haha.
It would mean a lot to me if you reviewed! Thanks for ready so far :)
~HolleringHawk65