Authors Note: Welcome Back! Team Light had been disbanded a while back, but due to recent events we are rising from the ashes to live again! In this Co-Writer Undead Light and I saw fit to begin a new saga in the adventures of Team Light! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: We do not own Resident Evil or any video game referenced in this fan fiction.

The single crack of a Halo 3 sniper rifle and AJ's SPARTAN avatar fell to the dirt, a gaping hole blown through his skull. "Game Over" said the automated game announcer as the round ended and the crowd cheered on the winners. The people on his left and right –the people that filled the roles of team members—set down their controllers and sulked away from their stations. It was yet another loss for the nameless team AJ was a part of.

How could he have fallen so far in two years? He often asked himself this question as he had much alone time to think. Team Light had fallen apart after the stressful events two years back, and its members all dropped off the map. He hadn't seen head nor tail of them since then.

Leaving the tournament without so much as a word to his "teammates" he headed to the parking lot. He stared off into space as he lost himself in thought on his walk back to his jeep. He spun the keys on his finger, trying to remember the last time he was happy. Eventually he reached the old '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee, its normal white color was almost gray from the neglect AJ had paid in keeping it clean. Jumping into the vehicle he shoved in the key and started it up.

Pulling out of the event center parking lot he made a left and began to make his way home. After about forty five minutes he remembered that he needed to pick up some groceries –which was odd because he hadn't even thought about that before he left this morning.

Listening to his instincts he pulled into the parking lot of some small run down convenience store in the city. Stepping out from the car he locked the doors and headed off to the storefront. As he rounded the corner he noticed an old gypsy woman sitting in front of the empty storefront beside the convenience store. That was odd he was sure that she had not been there when he pulled in.

"Young man, you have an aura of fate about you. Though it is not the first time you have been touched by destiny is it? No… not at all" She called to him in her low and scratchy tone. There was a smile on her face that left AJ feeling uncomfortable. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had met this woman before.

"Oh yeah. Fate, destiny, karma, they touched me plenty. You might say it was a regular gang-bang, getting raped by life usually is." He replied bitterly, trying to brush off the eerie feelings this woman was inspiring.

"Ah, resentful you are. These events have conspired to create the hero you are and the hero you will become. The heroes you all will become" she mused. AJ stopped dead in his tracks; though he had his back to her he could tell she was smiling simply by how she had spoken.

"What do you mean all of us?" he whipped around, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What is all this hero business? I'm no hero." He retorted harshly to what he believed to be rubbish.

"You are embittered by the loss of that which was dearest to you, and perhaps even more by someone dear to you. Beneath your hardened exterior a strong heart still beats. Find your vigor and relight the fire for you and your companions' journey is not over." She said, the smile still smugly in place amongst her wrinkly and weathered features.

AJ stood there in momentary slack jawed shock, was it just coincidence that his mind happened to recall images of Team Light when she spoke about companions? He shook his head once to regain his composure.

"Listen lady I don't know what you're talking about." He said turning his back to her and heading toward the convenience store. He did however catch her final words.

"We shall see, a test of fate is never to be unexpected…" she said in quite the foreboding character.

Glancing over his shoulder quickly he neglected to grab for the door handle and crashed his face into the glass.

"Gah! Why do I have the feeling this has happened before…" he mused as he pulled the door open and stepped inside.

AJ wandered the aisles for a while collecting the groceries he needed into the basket he had picked up on his entry into the store. The bell on the door jingled as another customer made their way into the store. AJ paid it no mind as he looked through the chips behind the display on the other end of the store.

"Alright bitch gimme all the money in the register and clean out the safe!" yelled a gruff voice as the female cashier screamed. AJ peeked his head slightly out from his cover, a man held a pistol to the cashier. His hands were steady, the pistol aimed at her head with stoic composure. The man was standing still, his expression easily controlled and perhaps even invigorated. It was obvious he had done this before.

'Damnit he just might kill her.' AJ thought to himself as he clenched his jaw. He could let the man kill the cashier and let the villain escape. That way he would stay safe and not even have to pay for his groceries. After all, if he tried to stop the man he could get shot too.

AJ took another look around the corner at the scene, more specifically the terrified look on the cashier's face –tears and all. 'I can't let it happen…' he resolved himself. He looked around the store; he needed plan if he was to keep them both from getting shot. Ok a three part plan was in order: distraction, disarm, dispatch.

He picked up a moderately sized jar of pickles, he could sneak behind the man and throw the jar at the wall on the other side of the store to throw the robber off. Ok he needed to disarm him after that, how? The man had the gun in his left hand, his back to the door. AJ could use the distraction to slip around the other end of the aisle and deflect the man's gun arm away from himself and the cashier. If he could land another disorienting blow he might be able to wrench the gun from his hand. If all that went correctly he could finish him off with a knockout blow.

The plan had its unknown variables, but on the fly it was the best he could do. Taking the jar of pickles he crouched and made his way to the other end of the aisle in the small convenience store.

"Bitch I'm gonna give you one more chance! Quit screwin around and gimme the cash!" the man yelled at her but the girl had frozen and all she could do was cry. AJ had to act now or that cashier was dead.

He wound up and threw the pickle jar with all the strength he could muster to the other side of the store. It exploded with a loud crash and the robber's head snapped in that direction. All the while AJ had bolted out from the other side of the aisle and was quickly closing the distance between himself and the robber's blind side

Drawing back his arm he struck the man's gun arm with an open palm, deflecting his aim away from himself and the cashier. The robber was caught by surprise allowing AJ to grip his gun hand and strike him in the back of the head with his other elbow.

The robber's grip on the gun loosened and AJ was able to wrench the weapon from his hand, but AJ fumbled the pistol as well and it skittered to the floor a few feet away. Cursing himself for slipping up the robber recovered and began to fight back. The robber jawed AJ and he stumbled back, unable to recover right away he received another blow to the ribs that knocked him flat on his back.

The robber hovered over AJ, raising his foot to crush his head. AJ rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed. Using the brief reprieve he pulled himself to his feet, wiping the blood from his lip.

"Oh, now I'm gonna kick your ass." AJ spat angrily. AJ still being between him and the gun, the robber said nothing as he simply decided to try and break through to his weapon. The villain attempted to deliver a kick to at least get AJ to move, but to his obvious surprise AJ caught his kick.

"Game over asshole!" AJ growled as he drew back his own leg and let loose a devastating kick to the robber's knee; the joint broke backwards and the man howled in pain. Letting the man's leg go the robber fell to his knees, screaming again in pain as pressure was applied to his damaged knee.

AJ grabbed him by the head, not allowing him to fall to the floor. He drew back his knee and drove it into his face in a forceful knee strike. The robber flew onto his back like a ragdoll tossed by an angry child –he was out cold.

AJ huffed some before he turned to the still crying cashier. He walked over to the open side of the counter while giving her a sympathetic look.

"Hey are you ok? Are you hurt?" he asked her concernedly.

She couldn't speak through her sobs but her actions were clear; she threw her arms around him undoubtedly viewing him as her savior. AJ –taken aback as he was—slowly responded by patting her on the back.

"It's ok, you're alright now." He told her with a slight sigh. He knew he shouldn't leave her here by herself until the police came.

---

Two hours later after the police showed up and all the reports were filed, AJ finally left with his groceries. Once outside he heard the words of the gypsy woman echo through the now empty streets. "…a test of fate is never to be unexpected" It cooed and AJ felt a shiver run up his spine.

Finally making it back to his jeep, AJ unlocked the doors and put the groceries in the back. Hopping into the driver seat he started the jeep up and pulled out of the parking lot.

Another fifteen minutes of driving went by before he pulled into the driveway of a rundown old townhouse. Parking the jeep he got out and grabbed the groceries before locking the jeep and heading inside the door on the right.

He took the time to put the groceries away but all the while the sever state of unhappiness tugged at his thought process. When he had finished putting all of his groceries away he simply plopped down on the couch in the middle of his dark living room. Eyes set on the wall as he spaced out.

Why couldn't things be simple like fixing a program you just broke? Go back to the thing you had just changed and try that first, then keep going back from there until you find your problem.

AJ blinked at that thought. That's it! It was simple! The last time he was happy was when the team was together. Sure things were crazy and could be outright stressful but that made life exciting! Back then he had been happy and carefree! They were his family, the only people he could truly consider family.

That was it, he had to get the team back together. He watched them fall apart the first time and stood idly by just hoping that things would work themselves out. AJ never just stood by and watched, and the one time he did he lost all the people closest to him.

As if someone had lit a fire in his chest AJ ran into his room, and in failing to turn on the lights in the dark apartment he tripped over some miscellaneous object and put his head through the drywall… right next to the other three.

"Damnit why does that happen everywhere I go!" he raged as he pulled his head out in a puff of drywall dust –little bits of drywall still in his hair.

Sitting down at his desk he began typing away furiously, his searches took him numerous places as he scoured the net looking for information on his dispersed teammates. He searched Facebook and MySpace for hours looking for possible leads and connections. He even called in a few favors from people who owed him.

Eventually he had a list in front of him of the last known locations of all his teammates. Taking a deep breath he could feel a small smile creep onto his face, he wasn't going to let the team down this time.

AJ looked at the clock; the crimson colored numbers read 12:02 am. Good there was still time… after all a true gamer doesn't go to bed until 3:30am at the earliest. Without a second thought AJ pocketed the list and snatched up his keys.

Making his way back out to the jeep he unlocked it and got inside. After starting the car AJ looked at the first priority name on his list and nodded. Jamming the jeep into reverse he gunned it out the driveway and off towards his destination.

Traffic was exceptionally light that night, even lighter than usual being that it was not too late for a people to be out on a Friday night. Thankfully this included police as AJ was not exactly driving the speed limit right now.

Words could not truly describe how much better he felt already. How could he have been so stupid? How could they all have been so stupid? Bad things happen, life gets rough and things get tough but that's what close friends do! They stick together through thick and thin and help each other stay on their feet. They were not just a team but closer than that, maybe even closer than family in some ways (no homo).

AJ's jeep pulled up in front of the apartment complex that was supposed to house his former teammate. Looking back down at the list he made sure before he parked the jeep and walked into the building.

Examining the paper again he took the elevator to the proper floor and began to search for the right room. Reading all the door numbers as he went, he finally came to apartment 117.

AJ knocked loudly and prayed that his teammate was in. He could hear movement inside and slowly it got closer to the door before the lock clicked and the door swung open. The inside of the apartment was mostly dark save for the light of the TV and a monitor or two and maybe a light in the bathroom. Even still AJ could still clearly see the face of his teammate.

"Ben!" AJ exclaimed smiling widely at his former captain.