Chapter 6: No Answers
Wesker entered the underground laboratory later than he anticipated. He made his way through the hallways, passing other scientists to head for William's lab. He checked his wristwatch again just out of spite. He stayed late at the precinct to catch up on some paperwork there, only for Irons to hold him up with needless talk. He left Enrico and the rest of Bravo team there to go home. He changed clothing only to turn around and come back down here.
As soon as he entered Will's lab, he found his partner missing in action. A quick sweep of the laboratory told him that William hadn't even showed up yet. It was still clean, with no coffee cups or paper clutter. The doors slid open behind him, and he turned to greet the person. Wesker was expecting William, who sometimes ran late. Instead, he saw it was Annette.
She gave him a mildly confused look, as if she was surprised to see him here. She had a cup of coffee in one hand, and a file in the other. After a moment, she slightly smiled and shook her head.
"I knew I should've called you. William apparently forgot to call you and say he had to go to the mansion tonight. Spencer wants him looking after the cellular construction for the prototype Tyrant base."
"So I presume it is only you and me tonight?" Wesker asked, sighing. The one day Wesker left the precinct late, letting William go ahead without picking him up to come here, and William up and leaves without a word. Typical Will.
Annette shook her head, taking a swig of her coffee. "Oh, no. You don't get to be so lucky. Spencer wants you there as well. Though, if I remember correctly, he wants you to work with Sergei."
"And Marcus?"
"Training Facility."
Wesker could already tell that his long night was going to turn into an even longer night. He pulled out his keys, the metal jingling against one another. He headed past Annette for the exit.
"You have a good night, Annette."
"You too."
Wesker just knew he was going to pop William one when he got to the estate. There was so little amount of time in a day, and Wesker couldn't afford to be running around. He wasn't particularly thrilled about working with Sergei. On a better note, at least he would have a chance to see Ada.
***
Wesker spotted William as soon as he entered the main hall of the Spencer estate. There were workers cleaning up the mess from last night, but Wesker hardly noticed them. William was talking with Ada while they watched the workers do cleanup. Ada was the first to glance over, having heard him close one of the front doors. She smiled at him, her arms crossed casually. William followed her gaze. As soon as his bright eyes fell on Wesker, his smile faded.
"Oh, crap…I'm in trouble," he mumbled.
"Indeed you are, Will," Wesker stated, setting down the briefcase he had in his hand.
"Okay, look! You were late, so I went ahead and went to the Pharmacy without you. We compromised on that, right? Okay, and then Marcus calls me up and is like-"William, you need to come to the estate for new duties!" Well, you know I had no choice, so then I had to turn around, and I had to call Annette and tell her the new plans. I'm so sorry! I was totally going to call you, but-"
"Are you done yet?" Wesker heaved.
Ada was stifling a smile. William's ramble and impersonation of Marcus was amusing enough, but Wesker had work to do.
"How are you, Ada?"
"Good. Thank you."
William was rubbing the back of his head, this poor, uneasy smile on his handsome face. "I'm sorry you have to work with Sergei!"
"Don't push your luck. Now why aren't you working?"
"I took a break, thank you very much. And I was having this lovely chat with Ada, and you just messed it all up!"
"Hmm," was all that came from Wesker's lips as he picked the briefcase back up. He shoved it into William's arms. "Since it is on the way, can you toss that into our lab?"
William gave him a mild glare, and then sighed. "Fine. I better get going anyways. I will see you later then. You have a good evening, Ada!"
William left through the west door. Ada and Wesker watched him go until the door closed behind him. The workers continued to clean up. There were also some fixing bullet holes in the floor and walls. Even the railings at the bottom of the stairs were getting replaced.
Wesker turned to Ada. "He wasn't annoying you, was he?"
"William? Oh, no. He was fine. He is very good company."
"Yes he is. You don't happen to know where Sergei is, do you?" Wesker asked, smirking softly.
"Actually, I do, considering I've been working with him all day," she answered, her eyes never leaving him.
If that was the case, Wesker found his night finally getting a little better. Wesker walked with Ada upstairs. They headed along the western area of the second floor into the red hallway. They took the door that ended them in the attic.
Sergei was in here, standing before the shackled mercenary who was on his knees. Wesker was surprised to see Sergei alone. Usually he had some of his soldiers with him, especially Nicholai. The Russian Colonel smiled upon seeing them.
"Ah, Comrade Wesker. Do you care to translate for me? This man speaks German and I have no idea what he is saying. It has been like this all day."
"And what exactly have you been doing to him in the meantime?" Wesker inquired, walking over with Ada at his side.
"Nothing much I assure you," Sergei purred smugly. "Though I did get bored a couple of times."
Wesker glanced at Ada just in time to see her roll her eyes. The mercenary was in bad shape. Sergei beat him down all day, and now there was a good chance that the answers were no longer on the soldier's lips.
Wesker stepped up to take Sergei's place in front of the prisoner. The man was bruised and tired, so kept his eyes to the dusty, wooden floor. Wesker kept just out of reach of him. He watched the Colonel back up to stand beside Ada. He crossed his arms, and the snide smile on his lips only annoyed Wesker. Ada, however, beheld him with an almost cautious gaze, like she was wondering exactly what he could be up to. Wesker faced the prisoner once again, and this time, he started interrogating him in German.
***
The darkness of the night was almost soothing to Wesker. He leaned on the railing, looking out into the shadowy Arklay Forest. The stars were bright up above, with only minor clouds that were thin sheets of smoky blue. He kept his sunglasses inside his jacket pocket. He could hear the faint songs of nightlife, but nothing beat the smell of late spring.
The German mercenary told him mostly unknown answers. Wesker wrote his report and sent it to Spencer. He knew it wouldn't be long before the lord would want to speak to him, demanding to know more answers. All Wesker could gather from the prisoner was that they were hired to assassinate Lord Spencer, and steal all the research that was born here at the Arklay Research Facility. The closest Wesker could get to a 'who' was a Mr. Smith. Considering there was an endless list of the last name 'Smith', Wesker wouldn't be able to find a lead very easily. There was numerous competition with Umbrella, and so Lord Spencer had many enemies, even ones he didn't know about.
Wesker found it odd that the mercenary kept the secrets. Most mercenaries would have told the whole story, only caring for their lives when it came down to it. They never held loyalty to anyone. Why would this mercenary be any different?
He heard the door to the second floor balcony open behind him. He was unsurprised to see that it was Ada. She slowly walked over to him, the moonlight dancing on her skin. Wesker watched her with each step, his lips twitching ever so slightly.
"Sergei killed the mercenary. He's disposing the body as we speak," Ada stated seriously, leaning her hip against the railing to face him.
"Why am I not surprised? I told him to keep him alive."
"We lost the answers we needed from him. Now we have no clue," Ada sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing her eyebrow. Wesker could tell she had the same headache that he had.
"Unless we want to interrogate every single Mr. Smith out there."
That made her smile. She looked up at him, shaking her head. "No way. We would never get it done."
Wesker eased a small smirk, looking back up to the stars. "Then I guess Lord Spencer will just have to tighten security and sleep with one eye open for now."
"Easier said than done," Ada murmured, also looking to the stars.
They enjoyed this for maybe a few minutes, before the door opened behind them. Wesker and Ada turned around at the same time to see who it was. They were relieved to see William instead of Sergei or Spencer.
William dragged his feet across the balcony towards them, yawning and rubbing his eyes like he had just woken up. He was grumbling something incoherent, and came to rest as a slump on the railing.
"Are you alright, William?" Ada asked.
"I'm about to freaking kill some people," he growled. He pulled himself up so he could look up at them. "I'm surrounded by idiots down there and it's horrible. No wonder the prototype Tyrant is behind schedule! What the hell did I do to Marcus to deserve this?"
Ada raised her eyebrows slightly, glancing over at Wesker whose expression didn't change at all. William looked over the railing to see the shadowed ground two stories below. He yawned again, but this time he stretched it into an aggravated growl.
"I need coffee."
"You need sleep, Will," Wesker sighed, leaning against the railing again.
"I do not. I'm fine." William then yawned again.
"That's the third yawn in not even two minutes, William. You need sleep."
William eased this tired smirk, and he winked at Ada. "See? He's not really a cold bastard all the time. You have to pay attention in order to realize when he's actually caring."
Ada stifled a smile, only for Wesker to clear his throat. "William."
William held up his hands. "Alright, buddy. Okay."
Just as another yawn was coming out of William's mouth, the door to the balcony opened again. Lord Spencer, who had Dr. Marcus with him, studied the three of them sharply while leaning on his cane. Marcus looked no better.
"What is this? A party?" Spencer growled. "William, because you were able to fix a whole month's failure in just a few hours, you have the pleasure of going home."
"Yes!"
"Ada, Albert, I need to see you both in my study in half in hour. Don't be late."
The lord then turned around and left. Marcus locked eyes with Albert for a moment. Then the wise scientist dipped his head and slipped out of the balcony to follow Spencer.
"Wow, for once you are excited to go home, Will," Ada stated.
"I know. I want away from those losers…and I want my bed…very bad." William seemed to dream about his cozy bed for a moment, then he refocused upon his partner and the beautiful agent. "You two sound like you are in trouble."
"Only because of Sergei," Ada snorted.
"I'm sure we will tell you all about it tomorrow, Will. Good night."
"Geez, you don't have to be pushy about it." William turned and headed for the door. "You two have a wonderful night!"
"Bye, William," Ada softly laughed. Wesker didn't say anything, just watched his partner leave.
"Lord Spencer wants more answers that we cannot give him."
Ada nodded. "I guess we will have to improvise."
"I guess we will have to. We aren't privy to any other answers," Wesker snorted.
"Then let's go," Ada replied, walking with compelling grace for the balcony doors. As she walked with a slight sway, she glanced back at him with a cute smile. Wesker smirked, and, after sliding on his sunglasses, he followed her into the mansion.
***
"Albert, I am so disappointed. You are one of my best interrogators, and these were all the answers you were able to get? There is nothing here we can use to find out who did this. Mr. Smith tells us nothing!"
"Then I suggest you better demand some answers from your precious Colonel. There is no use getting answers out of a man that has already been broken," Wesker retorted coldly while standing in front of the lord's desk. Ada stood to his left, also staring at Lord Spencer.
Spencer glared up at Wesker, in which he was unfazed. Wesker wasn't afraid of Spencer, nor did he care about how he addressed the lord or what he did. Spencer needed Wesker, and so Wesker played it to his advantage.
Before Spencer could snap something, Ada was there to defend Wesker. "I worked with Sergei all day before Wesker got here. Sergei repeatedly tortured the prisoner, even though he couldn't understand his words. So, by the time Wesker got here to interrogate him, most of the legit answers were gone from the mercenary."
Spencer heaved a sigh, rubbing his temples in a stressed motion. Wesker knew exactly how easy it would be to kill Spencer right now. However, as perfect as it seemed, it would be a mistake. Wesker still had many other things to fulfill before he could kill Lord Spencer.
"Okay, I understand now, but we are back to square one. I'm tightening security around here, and from now on, everyone will need to be careful. All scientists are to change their passwords, and to double check security before they leave. I'm going to be bringing in some more of Colonel Vladimir's men just in case. Whoever is behind this is behind letting the dogs loose. I'm sure of it. " There was a long moment of silence as the old man was looking down on his desk. Papers were cluttered everywhere, and it seemed to take him awhile before he focused back on Ada and Wesker. "On a further note, from now on, you two are to work together in these types of situations. That is all."
Wesker found it odd that Spencer wanted them to work together. He knew the risk that was between Ada and Wesker, a risk that the lord wanted to avoid. Now he was making them work together. Wesker glanced over at Ada, and noticed that she was openly surprised.
"I said that is all. Albert, you can go home for the night. Don't forget that tomorrow is your day off. I don't want to see you here, and I don't want to see you in the underground lab. Do you understand?"
"Of course, Lord Spencer," Wesker snorted, turning and walking over to the door. He turned the knob and opened the heavy oak door. "I know what a day off is. I'm not like William."
Lord Spencer lightly chuckled. "Sometimes you are. Oh, and you can thank your mentor for the day off. It was his idea."
"How courteous of him," Wesker stated, feigning a smile. He gave one last look to Ada, who caught his eyes. "Good night."
He started for the exit of the estate, getting his keys out and glancing at his watch. It read a little after ten o'clock. Wesker was getting off early. He had to be at the precinct at six in the morning, and after that shift, he had no idea what he was going to do. To have no answers to this stressful situation made Wesker want to search for some. There were many things that made no sense, but Wesker was sure this was only the beginning. It was going to be a long summer.
***
Ada didn't know how long she stood before Lord Spencer in silence after Wesker left. Spencer watched her for awhile, and then the old man clasped his hands together.
"Ada, you may go as well. Or do you have something on your mind?"
"Yes, why are you making us partners? You are always complaining how you think he is distracting me. If you are worried about the two of us getting distracted with one another, with an affair or whatever, then why the hell did you put us together?"
"Good question. You two work great together. And, as far as distraction goes, I really don't care as long as it doesn't get in the way of your work. I have no care in the world what you two do on your personal time."
Ada clenched her jaw. She nodded at her boss. She then left to go to her room. As she was walking that way, she couldn't help but to growl out of frustration. It was going to be hard to work with Wesker. John would not like it at all, and Ada knew it wasn't going to help her situation. She was trying to suppress her feelings for Albert Wesker. This was only going to make it harder for her to do just that.
Hmm, not much going in that chapter, lol! Sorry bout that, but I promise it will get better! Now Ada and Wesker are partners when it comes to certain situations. Wonder how that will work out, hehehe...John might be a little jealous, I don't know. Wesker is liking it I'm sure, but Ada knows exactly what is going to happen! Sorry for the lateness, this last week was really, really, really hectic! Jeans, jeans, jeans, birthdays, birthdays, jeans, dogs, summer heat, jeans, family, friends, jeans....oh ya and jeans! I'm picking so many jeans at work, that I'm dreaming about it, lol! Anyways, hope all of you enjoy the chapter! XD
