Author's Note: Revised.

|Quintessence|

Everything had worked out perfectly. The testing facility had been set up according to Alex's architectural demands. He needed this to work in order to proceed to phase two. He didn't feel an ounce of guilt as he looked at the limp figure of Harley Desmond strapped to the bed. The sedatives would be wearing off soon, but with a concoction of drugs to induce partial paralysis he only had one thing to worry about…Albert. His brother paced the small, dimly lit room. The anesthesia had worn off a long time ago. A small collection of doctors was attending to the Alex's protégé on the other screen. His brother, however, had healed himself and was now raging inside the new cell. He had muted the sound on the monitor, tiring of the incessant noise and commands from his older brother.

He was counting on her to refuse his offer to pick up the operation that her father left behind. He was more than confident she wouldn't. Her hatred for Spencer was enough to deter her away from the thing he loved the most. If anything, she could prove a danger, but he needed to keep her close and earn her trust. She needed some coercion and this was just the start. With a heavy sigh, he turned on the microphone and began the process. His voice echoed in the small room, interrupting Albert's tantrum as he beat against the reinforced, steel walls. His fiery, reptilian eyes were tinged with black as they scanned the area in search for speakers or a camera.

"I must admit, brother. Your composure has deteriorated over the years. I wouldn't have recognized you had you not been frozen in time by the virus. I've been watching you over the years. I have seen you rise and fall through adversity. I've also watched you bastardize the original work of the honorable Dr. Oswell E. Spencer. But, I must thank you. Hiding couldn't have been made any easier without your little antics. I knew it was a matter of time. Just look at you! You're nothing but the shell of the man you once were. You became more like Spencer than you could ever dream. It took his old age and deteriorating mind to realize that his nightmare was becoming reality. He didn't want that for us, but the night you killed him his burden became yours. I warned him about your creeping madness, but he was so desperate that you were his only hope. Now, you're here. Only because I saved you. I find it ironic that the almighty alpha wolf has suddenly become the intrepid, little beta."

Albert's retort was muffled over the monitor's speakers.

"I was the only one making progress," he roared against the walls of the locked chamber. "It was me who took the project and made something of it. I did what Spencer couldn't!"

Spittle flew from Albert's lips as he yelled, clutching a head that felt like it was being split open. It took too much energy to muster up his next sentence.

"Had it not been for Chris and his meddlesome BSAA, I would have succeeded!"

"Had it not been for your carelessness, BSAA wouldn't have caught you in the first place," Alex said as he glanced over to Desmond's monitor. "Now, if you don't mind. I would like to get started."

"I will not be your guinea pig," Albert hissed as those blackened, fiery orbs scanned the room a second time.

"Oh, yes you will. How did you put it? 'It would be in your best interest to assist me'," Alex said with a chuckle. "The first thing I would suggest that you do, is pick up that small head set to your left."

As he finished his sentence, a small panel hissed as it slid away, revealing a small cubby. Just as he said, there was a small headset. A contraption of sorts with a webbing of sensors lined all over the surface. He had seen one of these before. It was almost the same model as the one he had used before…on a certain young man named Steve Burnside. It was used to monitor the brain as the body went through different exercises. Wesker had used it to track how the T-Veronica virus had affected the brain and its functions. Albert picked up the piece of technology, turning it in his hands for a quick examination before smashing against the wall. With a malicious sneer, he turned to the empty room.

"And if I refuse?"

"You know that's a very expensive piece of equipment…" Albert said before switching over to a small radio. "Drill two centimeters."

Harley, barely conscious struggled to focus on the familiar voice. Bright lights glared overhead as shadowy figures moved around her. The beeps of the machines were annoying as they echoed around her. Their voices were distorted. A small line of oxygen hissed in her nostril, cold and uncomfortable. Her heart raced as anxiety set in. Her head felt hot and her vision was doubled. The room was extremely cold and no one offered a blanket. She felt feverish. Harley had already tried moving, but her body felt like it weighed several hundred pounds. It took everything just to wiggle a finger. She could feel the IV pumping a concoction of something chilled into her veins. The sound of a small rotary engine made her flinch lethargically. This was what it was like on the other end of the table. If this was hell, she deserved it.

A scientist stepped up to the head of the slab. Two assistants placed their hands to anchor her face as he placed the small tip of the drill against the top of her head. Alex turned down the volume of her monitor, saving his ears the trauma. Harley's lips moved as she mumbled something slurred and incoherent, but her protests were cut short by the sound of the drill. Although she was partially paralyzed, he made sure that the concoction of drugs being flushed through her system wouldn't dull her pain receptors. The scientist drilled into the top of her head, producing an earsplitting scream from Harley as the bit ate into the flesh and bone of her freshly shaved head. Alex leaned back into his chair and watched the scene unfold. It literally was only seconds into Harley's scream that Wesker followed in his own vision of pain and turmoil. It was true. The pain of one infected with U-EV23 echoed into another who was infected. The drill stopped and the scientist pulled away.

Harley sobbed, her hoarse voice barely audible as she pleaded for the pain to stop. It was unbearable…something she had never felt before in her life. She'd give anything for it to stop. The assistants released her, allowing her head to lull this way and that. It was then that Alex chose to speak. His voice came over the small intercom in the room. Wesker raged on like a wild animal, Uroboros completely contaminating his eyes with a sheen of black and sprouting in bruise-like patterns on certain areas of his skin.

"Good morning, Miss Desmond!" he said in a sickeningly happy tune. "It's nice to see you with us again. Can you understand what I'm saying?"

She didn't answer, unable to think clearly with a hole in her brain. Tears streaked her face, hot and sticky as they collected in her hair.

"Doctor, I think she needs some more motivation. If you would please…"

The sound of the drill whirring to life once more almost made her vomit. She let out a fearful scream, panting and gulping as she began to hyperventilate.

"Let's try this again," he said, his voice less cheerful. "Can you understand me, Miss Desmond?"

"Y-y-yes!" she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"GOOD!" his voice echoed over the intercom. "Now, I know this is going to be a challenge, but I'm sure we have enough to motivate you. Right now, we're running an experiment. You know when I mentioned a little something about your strain of the Uroboros being fairly similar to what we like to call the hive mind?"

Her head lolled to the side as her brain swam with a warped menagerie of thoughts and emotions. At first, she couldn't answer, but she was easily motivated as the assistants placed their hands around her head to steady it once more. She began to sob as her words came out as a desperate plea.

"Excellent! I'm glad we're on the same page. We've got a lot of work to do. Right now I need you to concentrate. A little redundant to say, I know, but I at least need you to try. You're a key part of this process, Miss Desmond. I'm sure, as you already know, that your body has been going through a lot of changes. Today we're going to exercise some of those changes. We're going to start with what's been going on in your brain right now."

"It…it-it hurts," she tried to say as he teeth chattered against the cold and the pain. "I can't…"

"Oh, I would try a little harder, Desmond. We've got a schedule to keep."

So, she did her best to describe the chaos swimming in her head. That gossamer string that had been ghosting in the back of her mind since she arrived was pulled taught. At the end of it was a wispy darkness that raged like a caged animal. There was something horribly familiar about the beast at the end of that ephemeral rope. She called it an illusion. A fallacy that her mind was making up to cope with the pain she was in. Sweat made her gown cling to her form uncomfortably. It felt like her stomach was clawing its way up to her throat. Urges and motivations that had floated to the surface. The same urges and motivations that terrified her in her nightmares…made her blush when she rolled out of bed. She didn't find much importance in sharing those at the moment. If anything, she couldn't find the words to describe them…because she wasn't even entirely sure if they were her own…

He felt like he had been travelling through this maze of rooms and corridors for hours. It didn't help that Alex was still taunting him over the intercom. His brother was turning this into a game and Albert had caught on a after the first couple of incidents. It enraged and sickened him as Harley Desmond's pain echoed in the back of his head. This wasn't possible, but it didn't take long for him to come to the same conclusion as Zimmer at Tri-Cell. No! Wesker didn't want to accept it. Alex had advised her to use the connection to communicate directions to him. If she passed wrong information, his brother drilled another hole in her skull. It had been a long time since something made him double over. It had taken everything he had to keep control. Uroboros was itching to take over, but he wasn't going to have any of that. Albert Wesker isn't a puppet! It was like the dreams he had where he could see her, hear the whisper of her voice, and feel her…every inch of her. His temperature rose as he thought of those visions. Rounding another corner, he came to a door. It was stronger now. He could feel her presence as if she were right there.

Whatever this connection was, it was getting stronger. It has taken a few hours, but she had nearly mastered the basics…Something Steve Burnside had taken days to do with his T-Veronica infection. Wesker was trapped inside a Hive Mind…and his brother was learning to control the queen. All this time he had been trying to understand the secondary strand of U-α. It was his fault. Had he actually taken the time to look at U-EV23, he might have discovered this little diamond in the rough. He would have had Desmond as a specimen long ago. He would have cultivated a different Uroboros, and he wouldn't be in the situation he was in now. The world would be his and he would be its god. He was going to have to buy his time and play Alex's game. Please hurry. It hurts so much, he heard her plea. Her thought, felt like a broken memory as it passed to him on that ephemeral link. He could feel her growing weakness, exhaustion, ire, and pain. He could feel it as if it were his own. But, to top it all, he felt one thing that he hadn't felt in a long time. Not since he picked up Jill's broken form from the fall at Spencer's Estate.

Was it empathy? He couldn't quite remember the name of this archaic, human emotion. He didn't like having the feeling. How it invaded his mind like everything that was Desmond. He could tell he was close. Because he could feel her excitement, a tight ball of anticipation that swelled in his chest as he loped to the door at the end of the corridor. I'm sorry, he heard in her voice murmur in the back of his skull. With it, she felt her suddenly pull away, as if she had glimpsed that hopeful image of him snapping her neck. Something he had been itching to do when he felt the second drill…if only it would stop the pain for a minute. He growled as he landed a powerful kick to the door, tearing it from its hinges. It was a simple, alloy door with a simple bolt lock. It was too simple…too easy. He thought as he stared at the empty, brightly lit, and open room. He should have known, but he hadn't really had the time to think about the situation entirely…

The pressure lock door had slid open, but instead of Albert standing there, Alex sauntered in with a cocky smile on his face. He clapped sarcastically as he neared the bed. Her stomach twisted painfully as disappointment flooded her. Mentally, she reached out and tugged on that strange link. He was there—barely, but he was still there. The feeling was almost comforting even if she could feel his rage and animosity. She stared Alex's blurred figure down as he came closer. His voice was starting to become annoying. A sound almost the equivalent of nails on chalkboard. He was sadistically happy with her. The man waved the scientists out of the room so that it was just the two of them.

"Congratulations, Miss Desmond. You're first lesson was a success. I hope this doesn't dampen the relationship between us. I think the two of us can become good friends. You know how these things are. I'm just finding motivations that work for the both of you. It seems to help. Now that you're understanding what I want…maybe the next exercise won't be so harsh."

"Please, no more," she cried, hot tears running own her pale cheeks.

"Oh, come now. We're just starting. I promise, the next session will not be so harsh. I also apologize for your new makeover. We needed your head shaved for this process, and the neurosensory device works more sufficiently if there isn't much hair in the way. I assure you, it will grow back in no time…" Alex said as he lifted a syringe full of sedatives from a metal tray nearby.

Wesker raged through the room, pounding his black-stained fists against the reinforced walls. Roaring his hatred to everything and nothing at the same time. He could feel her anguish. It reverberated through him. Albert knew his brother was with her. Somehow he knew. He was taunting her. Threatening her…baiting her as her body used its energy to heal her wounds. Her anxiety rose, her emotions peaking as fear pierced through him like a cold dagger…but it wasn't his. Something was wrong…and then she was gone. The thread was eerily calm once more as if that little, flickering light had been snuffed out. As Uroboros finally began to calm, Wesker felt something he had never felt before…alone…

|Endearment|

Weeks had passed since that first exercise Alex Wesker had run them through. The wounds had healed quickly, but she still remembered the hum of the little power tool…the feel of the metal bit grinding into her skull. Her hair had slowly grown out to a boyish cropped cut, but at least it was growing back. She stared at her reading glasses, cracked and contorted. Alex must have produced them from her old clothes when she first arrived. They had been in her pocket of her lab when Zimmer had asked her to administer to Wesker's stasis tube back in Tri-Cell. They must have been crushed in the excitement on their way to the surface. They sat on a small desk before her, next to a stack of papers. Alex had rewarded her with a job well done. Every time the experiments were a success…she gained a freedom. However nice the gifts were, she still hated him with a passion.

Alex had set her up with a decently sized chamber. It was like a small one room apartment building. Monitored, of course, but she didn't feel like quite a lab rat anymore. She was still a prisoner, no matter how Alex tried to convince her otherwise. She was the man's new play toy. She stood from the small desk, dropping the pair of glasses on its surface and plopped into the bed. Curling herself into a fetal position, she began to think. That strange mental link between her and Wesker had grown even stronger with the exercises. It was like a new muscle she was learning to control at will. Like a child learning to write. Closing her eyes, she gave it a little tug. She didn't expect him to answer after a long and grueling exercise. He was there. She could feel his frustration and pride as he gave her a silent, cold acknowledgment. Harley hesitated for a moment before she finally decided on what she was going to say. She was angry and sick with fear…and she knew that echoed in her thoughts. It took a moment for her to concentrate so the message wasn't broken or worse.

"Wesker, promise me something," her words echoed in her mind, floating along the strange, ethereal bond—yet he didn't answer. "If I can get you out of here, promise me you'll kill Alex. Make him pay for everything he put us through."

She paused, listening to the deafening silence. For the longest time she sat and waited. Mentally, she pulled away, suddenly regretting her bold request. What was she thinking? She had asked a man to kill his own brother. There was a wave of guilt that washed over her. Maybe he didn't hear me, she thought as she pulled the covers over her head and fought to get some sleep…

Her morning began with a wake-up call like every other day. Wesker had demanded that she be the only one to examine and administer his daily serum. Which she did every morning after breakfast. She went through the routine on autopilot. Barely even touched her meal as she tried to prepare herself for confronting the Wesker brothers. She didn't even glance at Alex, or the glass observation window that Albert sat behind, hunched over in a chair while pinching the bridge of his nose. It took everything not to look at the tyrant on the other side of the wall. Alex offered her a bright, and happy morning greeting to her back as she trudged over to the workstation. She pulled one of the specimens from the "fridge" and plopped down into the seat, using the digital microscope to check the serum. Everything is fine, she thought to herself as she inspected it for a second longer. Anything to keep from looking at them.

"We've got a special treat for both of you," Alex began as she slowly stood from her seat.

She didn't like the gleam in his eyes or the smile on his face. The tone of his voice was like a warning. An alarm that notified how much they weren't going to like the "special treat". She took the vial from its cradle and fitted it into the syringe, clicking it into place. She gulped nervously as he motioned her towards the small pressure locked chamber that lead into Albert's holding cell. It added a little reinforcement in case she was rushed at the doorway. The double doors allowed for extra protection for the lab and it's occupants. She would be a sitting duck, however. The only thing protecting her was the fact that Albert needed her to get a message to someone outside of Alex's facility. But, he hadn't told her who she was supposed to contact or why?

She walked through the door, flinching as it loudly closed shut behind her. Her eyes stared at the floor as if it were her lifeline. She could feel him more strongly now that they were barely in the same room together. It was like she was too close to an electrical charge. The emotions that reverberated from his side of the mental tether nearly knocked her on her feet. He was a strong creature. One that felt deeply…dangerously. Those eyes locked on her when she stepped into his chamber. Fiery and predatory, they watched her every move with a droll stare as she slowly made her way to him. She halted when his gaze didn't waver. His intense stare made her blush as he shook wildly at the end of that mental tether like a wild animal. On the outside, he was a calm and calculating creature, but the virus shared between them—the Hive Mind—splayed him open for her to see. This man was dangerous and probably more so than his brother. She wondered if he felt as naked as she with the virus leaving hardly any secrecy between them. He wondered if he could glimpse into her thoughts and her dreams too.

She placed a trembling hand on Wesker's arm, pulling back his sleeve before uncapping the needle. Her goal was to administer the injection quickly so she could leave. As soon as the needle hit his skin his other hand grasped her wrist with inhuman speed. His grip was strong, almost painful. At first, she refused to meet his gaze…but she wasn't the only one learning how to tug on that mental line. He didn't just give it a tug. Wesker gave it an excruciating yank. She involuntarily shuddered as she looked up at him. It made her question who was supposed to be controlling who. The corner of his mouth curved up into a malicious sneer. When he spoke, his lips didn't move. His voice purred in the back of her head as if he were whispering in her ears. It made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and sent chills down her spine.

"Ask me again, Miss Desmond. I want to hear those words again. The same words as last night," he said, his tone so deep and personal that it made her blush.

She felt her face grow hot and a catch in her breath at his demand.

"I…" she stammered loudly.

"NO! Tell me like you did the other night. I want to feel the words again. I want to be sure that I heard you correctly," Wesker's voice echoed once more along the mental current.

His euphoria was almost maddening as it bled into her emotions of fear and…was that desire? His gaze grew hotter, if it were even possible, as his smile grew. How was it that, even fully clothed, she felt so bare and naked around him? She swallowed what little pride she had. Wesker was her only hope and she needed to play her cards just right. If she couldn't get him to taker her with him if his allies came in for a rescue, then she could at least get him to exact some sort of revenge. Surely he wanted justice for all the horrible things his brother had put them through.

"I…If I help you do this…I need you to promise me something," the words slid around in her mind with false bravado.

"And what would that be, dear heart?" he purred as she mashed the plunger of the syringe home.

"Promise me that when you get out, you'll make Alex Wesker pay for everything he's done…" she finished as tears pricked her eyes.

She was less than sure she was going to make it out of here. Wesker didn't owe her a thing, and she doubted him as the type that would go out of his way to do something selfless. But, she liked to think that she could at least have this. If not her freedom, then vengeance. He pulled her wrist back away from him as she still clutched the empty syringe. His other hand came up, to cup her jaw firmly and stood. Wesker leaned in dangerously close, his hot and feverish breath against her lips as he spoke.

"Is that all, my queen," he spoke aloud, making her heart race and her mind reel.

"Y-y-yes," she gasped as he pressed in closer.

He chuckled deeply as he felt her shiver in his grasp. But what amused him the most were her words. They were enough to make his groin ache and his pants tighten painfully around the slight bulge that pressed against the zipper of his trousers.

"As you wish, my queen," his purr reverberated through her thoughts as he slowly released her, noting that sudden giddy emotion flooding through her.

Those moments he had with Jill during their time together, he hand never experienced this before. It took everything to prevent himself from pitching a tent in his pants right there for his brother to see. Its not like he really wanted to hide it. He had other things to worry about. He had tried ignoring their mental connection since Alex had pointed it out. He had no need for her pitiful, human emotions…but Uroboros was more than fascinated with it. It writhed like a happy little puppy when she reached out. Jill was nothing but a brainwashed doll he had used to get back at Chris so many years ago. He may have had something for the woman when he was human, but it was nothing for now. He hadn't known lust for so long he had forgotten what it felt like. It had to be something chemical. She was cute in her own little way…brilliant in her field. But there had to be a logical explanation for this animal attraction…