Chapter 2: Love and Hate

Months passed since he saw Roxanne. He tried to forget her, tried not to think about how much she was like him. Yet the more he tried, the more Albert failed miserably. For the first time in his life, Albert Wesker felt that there was a woman he wanted without really knowing why he felt that way. Shaking his head he kept walking to the next job. It was time to hunt the yoma. He was completely unaware that he was being watched by the very warrior that he was thinking about.

Roxanne saw the skill with which Albert took out the yoma with pretty much his bare hands. She was surprised at Albert's intense strength and hadn't liked it one bit. She wanted to get close to him, not just because of the power he possessed, but because he was a man too. It was unexplored territory for Roxanne and she was curious to say the least. Either she would have to see in there was a way to gain his power or a way to find out why the men of the Organization had made it crystal clear that the male warriors were to work like the female ones and find a way to be his perhaps earning her place as the powerful warrior that she was. Whatever the case she found Albert Wesker irresistible and wanted to watch him some more. 'Yes I see...by using you strength you humiliate your opponents...I wonder though just how skilled with the blade are you? Would it be possible to tell at all since your yoki is so deep?' Roxanne thought. She left for her normal area having seen enough for now.

A few weeks later Albert was leading another hunt, this time his team were all female. It was annoying as the warriors gossiped like no tomorrow, each chatting about who'd done what damage to the yoma and so on even though it was only two of them it was still annoying despite the youngest of them tailing along quietly and she didn't say that much really. Her name was Rafaela and she was the only one Albert could stand. Her older sister Luciela was a nightmare and he didn't know how Rafaela stood her, especially when he wanted to break the elder's neck as she was such a child for one who was supposed to be older and wiser. When he found a good resting place for the night, he spoke with Rafaela and the girl had a quiet acceptance that while she was the younger of the two, she was the one who did the control work for her older sister. This time talk turned to other comrades and he was surprised when the only other warrior spoke, Elibeth, he thought she was called. All he knew was that she was Number 13, sleek and quite knowing for her age a surprise if there was one. Her short hair was all over the place, unkempt and untidy. Her silver eyes darted around a lot and now it seemed that she was about to say something important so he listened like he had nothing better to do, not wanting to encourage gossip since it was all the females seemed to do at any rate whenever they were bought together.

'So who's the warrior of love and hate that you were talking about anyway?" Luciela asked tilting her head at Elibeth, silver eyes wide and curious,

"They call her Roxanne of Love and Hate, the men say she's troublesome and difficult to handle. All I know is that she's creepy; comrades have died whenever she's been involved, usually once she surpassed them. I heard that not once did she care that they died, or that she was with them when they died. In fact she seems a bit like a copycat really."

"Well she doesn't sound that scary," Luciela said boldly; although the girl had never met Roxanne yet and she would never surpass the older warrior.

Outside in the pouring rain a lone figure stood in the open expanse of what was the base of a young mountain. She was waiting for the fun to begin, hiding her yoki from the warriors below. Roxanne was annoyed that the battle had yet to start, however she was waiting in a good spot. Water ran down her chest, legs and into her amour. She was trained to tolerate it and she did. It would be fun, Roxanne decided when the rain finally stopped and she got to see the action from a little way hidden from the hunting team.

It was near morning when Albert finally realised that Roxanne was there, the latter slipping a bit in her hiding since the awakened being was a little too close for comfort and she had moved a bit in avoiding it. He instinctively pinned her down, and struggled to ignore the fact that her body was now underneath his with only thin fabric separating him from her and whatever he wanted to do to her. Albert kept her there for a few seconds, hissing at her demanding to know why she was there. The being distracted him from her (which was a little welcome, but still he'd not wanted it to just yet a he was enjoying the sensation of her pressed against his body) and Roxanne slipped away as his team helped him to defeat it. After sending them back to their regions he actively tried to find Roxanne. He had no luck and headed to the next town.

Roxanne panted as she fell into the clearing finally clear of Albert. 'Albert Wesker is something else,' she thought, 'that was intoxicating'. He was more interesting to her than any other warrior had been in the time that she'd been a warrior. She grimaced and rested, trying not to imagine what it would be like to have sex with him, trying with little success as the thoughts remained where she didn't want them. Roxanne mused that Albert was truly infuriating her and that she was thoroughly infatuated with him.

Albert managed to sleep reasonably well, but he wondered about Roxanne, why she would be called love and hate. He thought one possible meaning was because she was so pretty and stirred him towards love like a wife, yet so irritating like an enemy that she made him want to hate her all the same token. He was soon to learn that Roxanne was more complex than he'd ever imagined.

As he worked he set about making time to try and practice his sword work. He found life as a half-yoma boring, with very little excitement. He decided to see if he could possibly get some fun out of it and was surprised when Orsay turned up with rather interesting amour. Different to the light amour that Albert had been wearing previously it was black and looked better than his light amour. He raised an eyebrow but Orsay didn't say much other than he would need to be ready for his next job. Albert signed but he put the new amour on. Somehow it was more comfortable to him than before; perhaps he decided it was just his imagination.

Of course he was once again teamed up with Elibeth, Luciela and Rafaela, the three well used to him as they'd worked with him before. As with the last time he'd seen them the three were gossiping yet again. Albert said nothing and they got the task done. He was surprised when he came across none other than Roxanne, the warrior spotting them and slinking off to do her work. Albert knew that something was up; why else would she be there? However he had work to do so he did it. The two girls didn't do too badly and he said so. Luciela decided to play a game with her sister and poor Rafaela had little say in the matter. He rolled his eyes and noticed that the target was too easy to kill and was soon alone again. He walked into a town and for a place to stay the night without passing it on the ground.

He was slowly rising as a new day began. He was told that he was working on his own, not realising that he was going to be face to face with Roxanne. She was killing yoma quite contently and now she had plenty of fun by herself. She was aware that Albert was on his way to take care of the yoma and she decided to continue her work.

Albert noticed that there were some dead yoma, and he killed what he could and looked about him and wondered what was going on. Clearly he wasn't as alone as he thought. Roxanne got one that he would have killed had she not intervened. He'd half gapped at her and then she spoke, "You are such a child," he looked at her opened mouthed. Roxanne looked at him irritably and sighed loudly. It was then that he spoke darkly,

"I am no child," he hissed and Roxanne glared at him. For a moment they both glared at one another and Roxanne left the town bored not looking at him. He sensed her for a short while before she disappeared from his range.

Weeks passed, and before long he once again had to work with Roxanne and Elibeth. It was an easily completed task and without really realising it, he soon found that Roxanne was a hard worker; she pulled her weight and fought hard against the yoma. Eventually he found himself travelling alone in the forest. He hated sleeping on the ground, so he decided to move a bit more to get to the nearest town. It was then that he came across an interesting scene.

Roxanne was asleep, naked and completely unaware of his presence. He had to look the other way, which was difficult since he'd never really seen a naked woman. Sure he knew what a body looked like from a scientific stand point, however he had never really had the opportunity to sleep with a woman. He rolled his eyes and somehow managed to keep walking past the sleeping Roxanne although he didn't know how he managed it. She really looked absolutely stunning in her own way. He sighed and tried to think about fighting the yoma, but failing a little because despite the stigma that she had, Roxanne was beautiful.

It was about then, just as Albert had settled for the night in a bed his amour on the floor; as naked as the day he was born that he felt his own needs. With a sigh he settled to sleep. It was going to be a long night. Especially since he was thinking about Roxanne and wondering what it would be like to have sex with her. He shook his head and muttered, "Sure, why not she thinks of me as a child. I am being too optimistic thinking that she'd have sex with me on those grounds," he sighed as his body wouldn't settle and his yoki hiked a bit. He decided to think about yoma and that seemed to help ease his body to a more relaxed state.

Roxanne woke to a new day. She was soon dressed and headed to the next town. It wasn't fun when she almost came within striking distance of Albert. That thought though was a pleasing one since Roxanne hated Albert as much as she wanted to see what was under that uniform. Roxanne had an idea, and idea that she really liked. She really wanted his abilities that she'd seen, they were useful and she was certainly in the mood for them. How she was going to obtain them however she didn't know. She left the clearing with Albert in her head. She soon found it annoying. She decided to have a large amount of alcohol just to distract her from thinking about Albert. She was giggling and happily and blissfully drunk. As she stumbled about the room that she was staying in, she found herself gradually lying on the bed, laughing and giggling helplessly.

It was three full days before she travelled again; level headed and alcohol out of her system. She found and horde of yoma and proceeded to kill them with the blade of evil, all while thinking about Albert and how unusual he was for a warrior. She rather liked him, as she had all of her other comrades, and thinking about them set the grief bar right up there. She was still so pained about their deaths that it hurt her beyond the ability to even cry. She paused as she sensed Albert not far from her. For some reason it bothered her and she swiftly evaded him with her yoki concealed as much as she possibly could.

Albert had heard rumours that a warrior had been drunk and just about human-like in her way. She didn't hurt anyone, but the town were talking about the scandal, suggesting that it wasn't normal to see one behave like that. Orsay had asked Albert to get to the bottom of it and see if he could speak with the warrior in question. They narrowed it down to Roxanne, and Albert was confused. She was his elder and acting like a little girl? It didn't make that much sense and as he walked it confused him all the more. He became irritated about Roxanne's behaviour and saw the bodies of many yoma in front of him. He stopped in the nick of time as a yoma was right in front of him. As he pulled at his blade, the yoma fell in pieces before his eyes. Albert stared at it and then he saw Roxanne. She was completely clean with not a single drop of blood on her body or blade, "Albert, what a pleasant surprise," Roxanne's girly voice was higher than he remembered and she was being all flirtatious with him. He tilted his head a little and she smirked, "Or should I say a partially pleasant surprise,"

"What the…" Albert muttered to himself and Roxanne grinned, "What are you talking about Roxanne?" He asked,

"Oh fine then," She smirked, her voice going back to normal, "I guess you're just too noble to allow any rumours from the younger warriors about bedding a woman, human or comrade," she went to leave and Albert didn't know what in his life possessed him to grab her shoulder before she walked away, or more accurately her shoulder pauldron and turned her around so that there was a very small gap between them, enough that he could pull her closer if he wanted and that thought alone was enough to drive him mental. He focused on what she was saying,

"Rumours of bedding other warriors?" He asked as levelly as he could, the gap the only thing between him and the thin fabric of Roxanne's uniform and Roxanne's body a gap he was so eager to cross, but restrained himself from crossing just yet. Roxanne was his mirror and the yoma within both of them was responding to the sexual tension between them, their eyes glowing. His blood red, hers molten gold as both seemed to want the other. Albert had to force himself to actually keep his thoughts focused on what he wanted to know, not the tension between them.

"Yes, and juicy ones too, I'm lead to believe," Roxanne said a little surprised that his yoki was jumping like hers. Somehow and she didn't know the how of it a yoma decided to brake the moment up, by clawing a hole in her chest so that blood erupted out of her chest. Roxanne wasn't fazed, just annoyed that the creature was ruining her day. She cut the offending claw and ran after it, Albert following her as she killed the yoma so quickly the beast was screaming for mercy as its head thud the ground. What she didn't expect was pulling out the claw to cause her to nearly fall to her knees. She was disoriented for only a second or so and found herself being kissed by Albert, and leapt back in shock coughing and spluttering as she got herself healed, she was shocked, silver eyes widened and stared at him, "What...what was that for?! I didn't need your help to recover; I would have done that on my own!" Roxanne spat. She had to leave and she turned to leave and paused, she'd never been kissed before and it was a shock. She left with haste Albert staring after her confused, yet knowing he was perhaps a little lucky that she didn't slap him.

Albert sighed, annoyed that his offer of help was brushed off like it was nothing to her and left to his region. He was so focused on working that he almost didn't notice the warning signs that the weather was turning bad and by the time he did, he was well clear of the town that he could have spent the night in.

It was about three months later that Roxanne saw him. She decided to teach him a useful lesson. She walked up to him with purpose. Since he'd shocked her with a kiss, she would return the favour. However she wasn't as forceful, softly kissing him and then retracting.

"That should have been the first one," She said, turning her back on him so that he couldn't see her blushing deeply, "I have work to do, so don't bother following me,"

With that she walked away, heat flooding her cheeks as she walked. Albert froze, shocked and yet as he wiped his mouth he thought about it. Roxanne really did taste like the sweetest of candies.

He didn't know that she was flushed a brilliant shade of red, but when he spoke she stopped moving, "I didn't think you would taste so...sweet." He said and Roxanne paused. Albert meant what he said, "I hate you toying with me and yet, I want you so much I can't even think straight, I guess that's where your nickname comes from,"

"No, that isn't the reason I have that nickname," Roxanne said to him quietly, then she kept walking away shaking slightly as Albert had basically said he wanted her. Albert contained his anger at her, sighing as he considered Roxanne the most skilled at annoying him and pushing all of his buttons. He resolved not to talk to her for a while, least he imagine her without her amour on or something worse. Albert sighed and left the dilapidated town. He loved and hated Roxanne in equal measure.