Jill looked around curiously. They were in a nondescript, very homey suburb in Rhode Island where, according to Albert, a "trusted acquaintance" was keeping Sherry. He hadn't told her how Sherry had gotten there, only that he would explain to everyone at once when they had gotten to the AUM headquarters. She was willing to accept that – sometimes one could never be too careful when dealing with groups like Umbrella or the Organization.

Their footsteps crunched through a thin crust of ice that had formed from yesterday's snow that had half melted in the sun and refrozen overnight. She followed the tyrant up to one house in the line of cookie-cutter homes and stood to one side on the porch when he knocked. After a few moments, a woman somewhere between the ages of forty and sixty opened the door and smiled at the two visitors. "Oh, there you are, Albert. Come on in." She stood aside to let them in. "And who is this you've brought?"

Jill heard an edge in the woman's voice and noticed well-concealed, wary tension in her posture until Wesker spoke up. "Jill is a friend, Karen. She's with the AUM." Karen nodded in understanding, and the smile magically reappeared on her expression.

"Well then, shall I go ahead and call Sherry down? I'm sure you want to be on your way as soon as possible."

"Please do."

Karen nodded and went over to the foot of the stairs. "Sherry, dear! Albert is here, it's time to go!"

Jill heard footsteps clatter down the stairs. Karen stepped back with a smile, just in time for a short, slender figure to swerve around the corner and barrel at full tilt toward them. Surprise stamped itself on her face as the little girl collided with Albert and promptly latched onto his waist. "Uncle Albert!" Sherry squealed, beaming excitedly up into his sunglasses.

Jill bit her lip to keep her expression in place as much as possible. Sherry seemed overjoyed to see him, something Jill hadn't expected in the least. Wesker's camaraderie with the children from his apartment complex was one thing, but this was another. Those kids didn't call him Uncle Albert. Uncle Albert. If she hadn't been biting her lip almost hard enough to draw blood she might have laughed. He was just full of surprises lately.

Albert chuckled and ruffled Sherry's hair fondly. "Hello, Sherry. How have you been doing?" He gently pried her arms from his waist and crouched so he was on her level.

Karen came up beside Jill and cast a motherly eye over Sherry and Albert. "They're cute together, don't you think?"

"Adorable," Jill agreed. "Do you know how they know each other?"

Karen shrugged. "Not really. I've known Albert for some time, but I never knew anything about Sherry until he brought her to me a few months ago and asked me to take care of her. I didn't ask because in situations like hers, the less said the better." She exchanged a saddened look with Jill.

Sherry scampered back upstairs to retrieve her bag and Wesker stood back up. "Thank you, Karen, for taking such good care of her," he said sincerely.

She waved airily. "It was nothing, Albert, truly. She's been good company for a misanthrope like me. I'll miss her, but it's good that she'll be going somewhere safe."

With bag in hand, Sherry came back down the stairs. She dropped in to confront Karen. "'Bye, Karen," she said mournfully. "Thanks for everything."

Karen knelt and pulled Sherry into a hug. "C'mon, Sherry. Buck up, girlie. We'll keep in touch. You take care of your Uncle Albert, hmm? Keep him in line for me."

Sherry accepted a kiss on the forehead from her caretaker and nodded, picking her bag up, and went to stand next to Wesker. The tyrant leaned forward and, in another move that caught Jill by surprise, embraced Karen affectionately. "You too, kid. Be safe."

"Yes, mother," he retorted, earning himself a chuckle and a mock swat on the head.

"All right, you lot, get outta my house," Karen ordered, making shooing motions with both hands. Albert chuckled and, after reaching down to pick Sherry's bag up, ushered the little girl out in front of him. Jill followed them out to where Albert's Audi was parked in the driveway. Karen stood in the doorway while they put Sherry's bag in the trunk, got arranged in the car, and pulled out into the street. She waved after them until they were out of sight.

Sherry dozed off in the backseat. "So, how do you know Karen?" Jill asked, burning with curiosity after their show of affection before leaving.

He watched the road thoughtfully for a few moments. "It's a private joke between us that she's like my second mother." He chuckled at a fond memory. "She's actually my older sister. There's no blood relation since I was technically an only child, but when my parents died when I was a child, Karen's parents took me in." Jill inclined her head and regarded her lover sadly.

"Wow, I never knew…" She realized that she knew next to nothing about his early life. "How much older is she?"

"Six years. I was seven and she thirteen when her family adopted me – you can imagine the sibling rivalry. We were both used to being only children, which made it all the worse." He chuckled again. "We drove our parents to distraction for a while, but once we got used to each other we were inseparable. Since I was so young when they took me in, I began to think of them as my real family. I don't remember much of my biological parents, but it never bothered me."

Jill meshed her fingers with his, as he had one hand draped on the armrest. "I don't remember much of my mom either," she remarked distantly. "I'm sure I've told you this story, but she died when I was in high school. She was never much of a parent so it didn't affect me that badly. My dad did most of the raising – he's the one I'll miss when he dies." Albert leaned over to press his lips to her temple.

"Ew, kissy-face," Sherry protested playfully from the back.

"I thought you were going to sleep?" Jill asked, turning in her seat to raise an eyebrow at the girl.

But Sherry's eyes were already closed. "I can't hear you, I'm asleep," she said, trying valiantly and failing not to smile. Jill chuckled and Sherry shifted to get more comfortable, pulling the collar of her jacket up around her face. She gazed at the pink fabric sadly, though her expression was hidden from the two adult.

Jill went into the meeting room ahead of Wesker and Sherry, curious to see who had gathered to greet the new member. The core of their group: Chris, Barry, Claire, and even Leon. The others apparently were still a little wary, though Jill could hardly blame them. Chris waved to her and grinned. "Hey Jill! Where'd Wesker get to?"

Jill sat between Chris and his sister with an enigmatic smile. "He'll be in soon, he just needs to take care of something. Barry, Leon and Chris caught that smile and had to suppress their own. They all knew that Sherry was due to arrive, but by common consent they'd kept it a secret from Claire.

Just down the hall, Albert was escorting Sherry into the meeting room. He put a hand on her shoulder to stop her – Sherry looked up at the tyrant with wide eyes. He crouched down so they were eye to eye. "What's wrong, Sherry?"

She looked down at her shoes. "Nothing."

He curled a finger under her chin and lifted her head up. "No, it's something. You can tell me, Sherry. What's bothering you?"

The little girl sighed heavily. "I don't wanna meet anyone new. I don't wanna make any more friends – everyone I love ends up leaving me. First Mom and Dad, then Claire, then Karen…" Her eyes were slightly glassy when she looked back up at him.

Wesker's face softened sympathetically. "Remember what Karen said, Sherry? You can still keep in touch with her. Now that you're here, you're safe – you don't have to hide out." Hope crept back into her eyes.

"So I can still talk to Karen? Can I visit her?"

"Yes, you can talk to Karen. I'll be around here a lot and I have her number. You might not be able to visit very much, not at first, but later on you could go see her." He paused for a moment. "And I wouldn't say Claire left you. Didn't you tell me she promised to find you someday?" Sherry nodded. "Then I'm sure you'll see her soon. In fact, you might see her sooner than you think."

Perplexed, Sherry started to ask what he meant, but then Albert stood and urged her forward with a hand on her back. "Come on then, at least say hello to everyone. I'll be there and so will Jill, so you won't be alone." Jill and Sherry had quickly struck of a friendship in the few days since they'd met.

Sherry heard a few unfamiliar male voices coming from the meeting room and hesitated at the door. Albert glanced down at her. "Do you want to wait out here for a minute?" Sherry nodded wordlessly. "All right. Come on in whenever you want." The poor girl was rather traumatized after the events of the past year, so he didn't entirely blame her for being so wary of going into a room full of strangers. So he went into the room and let Sherry linger out in the hall until she worked up the courage to come in – he had a feeling that as soon as she heard Claire's voice she would come running.

The only one who didn't turn her head to watch him enter was Jill, who'd been listening for sounds outside the door and had heard him talking to Sherry. Chris and Barry both grinned, while Claire and Leon both widened their eyes. He'd foregone contacts and sunglasses for this initial meeting, reasoning that the ones who hadn't already seen them would hopefully not react too strongly with the ones who had seen them as an example. Thankfully, both of the two younger members had been through enough that red eyes didn't bother them too much. They'd seen far worse.

"Chris, Barry," he greeted mildly.

"Captain Wesker," Barry rumbled. Albert quirked an eyebrow.

"Haven't I asked you not to call me that?"

"We didn't listen," Chris commented wryly. He stood up and went to throw an arm over Claire's shoulder. "This is my sister, Claire – I don't think you've met."

"Not for lack of trying," Claire added, rolling her eyes. "He kept babbling to me that I needed to meet all his friends at the station the next time I was on break." She extended her hand as he approached and shook it.

Albert chuckled. "He did the same at the station, babbling that we all needed to meet his baby sister."

Jill and Barry joined in the laughter, since it was all true. Chris huffed indignantly. Leon stepped forward and offered his hand. "Leon Kennedy," he said solemnly. "I'm probably the only one in the room with no connection to S.T.A.R.S., but I was a police officer in Raccoon."

Claire snorted. "A rookie on his first day, you mean."

Leon narrowed one eye at her. "Hey, it's not my fault I got caught up in that outbreak the first day!"

Wesker grinned. "Your first day on the job and you got caught in the outbreak?"

Claire patted Leon's back. "Guy's just got no luck."

Hearing shuffling noises on the other side of the door, Albert paused to listen. He smiled slightly. "That's unfortunate. What's also unfortunate is that someone is being a huge, sissy coward," he remarked emphatically, turning to face the door. "We know you're out there, sweetheart, you might as well come in."

Claire looked at Leon for clarification, but he just shrugged. He knew but he wasn't about to spoil the surprise. He knew just how worried Claire had been about Sherry.

"I'm not a sissy!" came the protest from outside. Claire froze solid in shock.

"Then get your butt in here!" Jill called. "There's someone here who really wants to see you, Sherry."

The door eased open and Sherry peered through the opening – but all vestige of shyness was lost when she spotted Claire, whose expression of surprise hadn't faded. The little girl shoved the door all the way open and bolted across the room, right into Claire, who nearly fell over from the force of the impact. Chris caught her and tried to help her stand up, but the young woman fell into a kneeling position the better to hug Sherry. Grinning, Leon crouched down next to them and was pulled into the fierce embrace as well.

Jill went over to Albert and leaned against his side. "You were right," she murmured.

"Of course," he replied smugly. Chris and Barry chuckled.

Eventually, Leon pulled Claire and Sherry to their feet and sat them down at the table. Sherry grabbed Albert's hand and pulled him down next to her, while on her other side was Claire. Before he could do much else, she pointed accusingly at him. "You never told me she was here!"

He raised his eyebrows innocently. "You never asked."

Everyone laughed, with the exception of Sherry, who pouted cutely at him for a moment. But she couldn't keep it up, and soon enough she cracked a smile.

After that, the conversation entailed introducing Sherry to Chris and Barry, then she and Claire monopolized the conversation for some time, catching up after over a year of wondering where the other was. Sherry told the group about staying over at Karen's house and getting periodic visits from Uncle Albert – that term made grins appear on everyone's faces – and it wasn't long before the girl was starting to doze off against Claire's side. Jet lag was hitting her hard.

"Hold on, let me get her to bed," Claire said at length. "Then we can talk business. You," she turned to Albert, "have a lot of explaining to do." The tyrant smiled mildly. "Where is she staying?"

Jill offered to take her there, and off the two women went with Sherry in tow. Once they were out of earshot, Chris grinned. "You have to tell us where the 'Uncle Albert' came from."

He chuckled. "I'll tell the whole story when Jill and Claire get back. Patience."

Soon Claire and Jill returned and took their places around the table. Claire turned to Wesker and crossed her arms firmly. "All right, spill it. Where did you find her?" Chris put a hand on her shoulder, but she didn't seem to notice. "I thought she was safe with the feds. What happened?"

Albert leaned back in his chair and sighed. "The government is no safe place for someone Umbrella has an interest in. She was lucky that they got what they wanted from her and had no further use once they got that locket. As it was, since the sample the Organization had sent their operative in to get was taken by the U.S.S., that didn't give them much of a choice. The agent managed to get a sample from William's body, but that wasn't enough to satisfy some. They knew that Sherry had been given that G-embryo and, naturally, they were curious." Claire's hands clenched into fists.

"They kidnapped her?" she hissed.

"Essentially."

Everyone's mood darkened. This news wasn't surprising – the Organization was just as odious an institution as Umbrella, but that didn't make it any easier to swallow. "So, what then? Did they experiment on her?" Claire asked, obviously dreading the answer.

"They sent her and the sample to the only researcher in their midst who'd had any experience working with the G-virus," he answered darkly. Claire and Leon, who hadn't known that he'd been working for the Organization, eyed him warily. Under the table, Jill squeezed his hand. "And believe me when I say that Sherry is supremely lucky that I was there. If it had been anyone else, she would be just another test subject."

"How do you know her, though?" asked Leon curiously.

Albert leaned his head back against the headrest of his chair. "I knew her father for years. William and I were partners for over a decade – we first started working together in the Training Facility when I was eighteen and he was sixteen, and Marcus singled us out to be his apprentices. We got to be close friends through the years. I was the best man when he married Annette, and once she got back from the hospital from giving birth to Sherry, Will came to the lab and forcefully dragged me over to his house to show me his new daughter." A faint smile tugged at his lips, and Claire wasn't the only one in the room who looked moved. "It was only two years after that when he started working on his G-virus project – I'd left Umbrella and started at the R.P.D.. Annette helped William with his project, and the two of them were at the lab as often as not. Even though my hours were sometimes erratic, I was home more than they were – more than a few times, one of the would call and beg me to pick Sherry up from school or to watch her until they could get home. I'm sure I was around as much, maybe more than they were." He sighed. "That didn't surprise me. Will had a one-track mind and was absolutely fascinated with the viruses – if Annette or I didn't remind him the man would often forget to eat or sleep. So while Sherry's parents got more and more involved with the Gene virus project, she was left to her own devices half the time. Sometimes she would even call me on their house phone and ask me to come keep her company. That's why she calls me her uncle, since you're all so curious."

Claire was regarding the tyrant thoughtfully. "So you were as much of a figure in her life growing up as her parents… that explains a lot. And when she was kidnapped by the Organization…"

"She was sent to me. They didn't know that I knew her, of course – or at least they didn't know we were so close. They just gave her to me since I'd worked with the creator of the G-virus and if anyone in their ranks could figure out if there was anything G-related still in her it was me." He half growled. "There isn't, by the way. I tested her for it and it came up negative. They wanted me to do a whole range of different tests – the normal procedure when they get a new virus and a host who's probably compatible." An expression of disgust was traded around the room. "Needless to say I had no intention of following through. The first time they brought Sherry to my lab she was absolutely petrified, but as soon as she recognized me she seemed convinced that everything would be all right." He chuckled bleakly. "Her Uncle Albert was there, so of course she wasn't as frightened. And, after that, there was no other option – I had to get her out of there."

"How?" Claire breathed.

A smirk tugged at Albert's lips. "Well, think about it. The sort of environment she was brought into every time she came to my lab was beyond even the Biosafety Level 4 in facilities like USAMRIID – a lab containing pathogenic agents more deadly than Ebola is no place for a twelve-year-old. I was lucky to escape the room with my life," he explained wryly. "And as soon as the alarm sounded, it's standard procedure to completely shut down the affected wing of the facility. The hot areas are immediately sterilized, and the policy is shoot first and ask questions later. By the time the fuss was over, my lab was destroyed beyond recognition. It set me back by months." They all chuckled appreciatively at his cleverness. "All my samples were gone too – even the one they got of the G-virus. The only thing left was the data I'd backed up onto a disc from my computer, and most of that was useless stuff on some obscure virus that no one recognized." He flicked one hand dismissively. "They didn't question that since they were more concerned with the loss of the samples, and either way I was too valuable a resource to run the risk of driving me off from too much snooping into my business. As long as I did what they told me to do they were willing to let me toy around with a side project in my free time."

"And so you got Sherry out in the confusion, and took her to Karen?" Jill interjected.

"Not directly, but yes. Karen knows quite a lot about my career with Umbrella, having been my confidant more than once when I was still new to the business. More than that, she's every bit as clever as I am, and she's discreet. I wish there had been another place I could've taken Sherry but Karen was the only one I trusted enough." He shook his head. "Really it would have been too easy to figure out if they hadn't thought Sherry was dead. I couldn't have picked a more obvious place to take her and I was constantly paranoid that they would be found out. That's why I brought Sherry here as quickly as I did – both of them are far safer now."

Jill could easily imagine how worried he must have been. With his adoptive sister and quasi-niece in jeopardy, he had every right to be paranoid. The Organization had only to snoop into his history to find out about Karen, and right there they would have him. At least now Sherry was no longer in Karen's custody – though that didn't necessarily mean she was completely safe. Being a loved one of someone on the hit list of the Organization or Umbrella automatically put her at risk. Just like Jill's father and Barry's family were at risk – the ones with the least to worry about were actually Chris and Claire, who had no other family and were both in the AUM.

Claire sucked in a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Well, I'm glad you did. Now there's at least one person I don't have to worry about as much." Chris put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

A pensive expression overtook Wesker's face as he contemplated revealing something else. It wouldn't be received well, but it would be more cruel to keep the information to himself. He cleared his throat. "The other person would be Steve Burnside, correct?"

Claire's head snapped up. "Steve! Do you know where he is? Is he alive?" The emotion in her eyes was heartbreaking.

Chris frowned. "Hold up, how do…?"

"How do I know?" Albert snorted. "Where do you think those H.C.F. operatives who started the outbreak came from? The Capture Force is the Organization's version of the U.S.S.." He looked at the two Redfield siblings grimly. "I was asked, initially, to lead the force up to Rockfort, but since I had no intention of having anything else to do with Umbrella I managed to find a way out of that obligation. Now I almost wish I hadn't, but it would have been easier said than done for me to have offered any assistance with the Organization breathing down my neck the whole time." They both nodded in understanding. "But even though I'd escaped taking part in the mission, that didn't excuse me from my usual job of having a look at the samples and data they brought back. I was… rather disgusted, truth to tell… when the sample they gave me to work with was still living."

Claire gripped her brother's arm fiercely. "He was alive?"

"For the most part. He was in a coma. Long story short was that once I did the tests that I was comfortable doing to a still living being, I went to pull the plug – believe me, with the shape he was in, death would have been a mercy – but before I could he spontaneously woke from the coma." He shook his head slightly. "I would have helped him end it if he so desired, but he refused, even after I made it abundantly clear that he was facing a fate worse than death. And after what happened with Sherry, the Organization didn't want to risk another 'accident' like that, so he was transferred to a different researcher."

"So he's still alive somewhere, being experimented on?" Claire asked, her voice choked with tears.

"The last I heard, yes." Albert looked at her somberly. "I did all I could while he was still in my custody, but once I was taken off his case, there wasn't much I could do at the time." Claire's eyes flashed, but before she could speak, he continued. "That says nothing about now, though. My hands were tied then because I was trying to keep my job, but now that I've cut all ties with the Organization, I have more freedom. Which brings me to this, before I forget…" He fished around in a pocket of his coat for a moment and withdrew an unmarked, ordinary-looking compact disc in its jewel case, which he placed on the table. "Before I left the lab for the final time, I took the liberty of hacking the mainframe and raiding it for all it was worth. Everything I could get my hands on is on there. A lot of it is probably useless for our purposes, but somewhere in there should be more than a few nuggets of information that you don't already have but could definitely use. Including the location of every Organization lab and the specifics of every experiment currently in progress in those labs."

The humans all stared incredulously at the unassuming CD. Then, Barry looked up at Wesker, whose expression was particularly smug. "Damn. I'm glad you're on our side!"

Chris looked from the disc to Claire, then to the former S.T.A.R.S. captain. "I think I know what we'll be doing next," he remarked, glancing back to his sister.

Claire grinned fiercely. "Damn straight."

Albert cleared his throat again. "I already pinpointed the location of the lab where Steve is being held – there's no need to go through that disc just yet, at least not for information necessary for this mission. I've already got it all up here," he tapped the side of his head, and the smug smirk only widened. "I had a feeling you would want to go rescue your friend so I went ahead and did the research. All that's left really is to arm up and head out."

Chris, Jill and Barry exchanged grins. This was the Albert Wesker they had all grown to admire in S.T.A.R.S., and all three of them were intensely glad to be working with him again. Leon looked quite impressed, while Claire was too busy staring intently at the CD on the table, lost in her own thoughts.

Not long after that the group disbanded. They would meet up again the next day, with the entirety of their AUM 'family', in order to get everything planned out for this mission to rescue Steve. They bid each other good night and went to their rooms – Jill had of course suggested that she and Albert share a room, and he had agreed readily. Jill went to take a shower to wash away the day's traveling grit, while Albert simply changed clothes and dropped onto the bed.

"Tired?" Jill asked wryly when she emerged from the bathroom to see her lover splayed out on the bed with one arm draped across his eyes.

"You have no idea," he muttered.

She finished pulling on clothes and crawled into bed next to him. He was taking up most of the space, but she didn't protest, since it gave her an excuse to cuddle up against him. They were quiet for a while, until Jill spoke up. "Do you realize how much you've done, not just for the movement but for our group personally, in the short time you've been here?" She asked.

"I eased their minds about Sherry and Steve – and I know Claire wasn't the only one concerned about them – and I dropped a probable goldmine of valuable information right into their laps, all in the space of a few hours." He snorted. "I just hope they don't start to expect things like that from me all the time. I don't want the effort I put into making sure I'm accepted into the group to backfire."

Jill lifted her head slightly the better to look into his face. "You didn't have to do all that just to be accepted, Albert. Chris, Barry and I have vouched for you, we're glad you decided to join. More than glad, really."

He opened one eye. "I knew the three of you would do that, but the others who don't know me as well would be harder to convince. Especially the former Umbrella employees, because anyone who works for them ends up developing a healthy suspicion for other employees. You never know when you'll be backstabbed in companies like that. I have to make a positive impression from the start to earn these peoples' trust."

Thoughtfully, Jill lowered her head again to rest her chin on his chest. What he said made sense, and he had a point – the few members of their group who used to work for Umbrella were rather suspicious. They had every right to be suspicious of him given his past record. "I'll give you that. And either way, whether it works how you want it to, you very effectively brought Claire over to your side. Leon too, probably. You've got the five of us as advocates in case the others aren't convinced, and between us we're pretty much the leaders."

"And among the five of you, Chris is usually the one to take the reins," Albert added. He didn't need to ask, he knew the former marksman well enough to make that assumption.

"Yeah. I have a feeling, though, that now that you're here that you'll end up saddled with that role, like it or not. Barry, Chris and I are used to taking order from you, and I'm sure Claire and Leon will follow our example," Jill remarked, smiling slightly.

He sighed. "I suppose I'll just have to deal with it. All I ask is that you don't start calling me Captain again."

She laughed. "No promises."

Okay, so I lied about that not updating thing. I wrote this in the space of a night, though why I haven't slept I dunno. Probably it's pre-exam jitters. Well, now I'm gonna sleep for the remaining hour I have until I have to be up.