"On the ground now!" One of the officers yelled as Wesker and Ilia along with the other's knelt on the ground.

The officers walked towards the group, guns aimed and ready to fire. One of the officers that approached Wesker took a look at his face.

Dark bags under his eyes suggested he had not been sleeping well, his unkempt beard also meant he hadn't bothered brushing up on his physical appearance.

The officer leaned into his radio and spoke "We've found him sir" Wesker could only imagine why the Schnee Military would be looking for him.

Well, he knew the answer to that and knew they would find him eventually. You don't just hack into a Schnee owned security system and get away without any repercussions.

The military waste no time in arresting the four White Fang members.

Wesker was escorted outside of the caves, where several officers stood guard, parting away to reveal a man with white hair and a white suit to match.

"So. This is the man who hacked into my security network?" His tone was cold yet somehow to Wesker, his voice felt almost warm to hear.

"What of it?" Wesker barked, a glare as cold as ice staring back into the face of the man who he knew to be Jacques Schnee.

"Before we discuss that, let me ask you something about these four" Jacques walked forward as the four teenagers were brought to their knees.

Jacques snapped his fingers and his guard brought him a briefcase, after opening it. Jacques took out a weapon, it was nice and clean.

Dark in colour with white accents and bearing the Schnee insignia. Jacques offered the weapon to Wesker.

"You have two choices. The first is to walk away. Let my men deal with these scoundrels and I'll give you a job that's fitting of your skills" He paused as he eyed the weapon carefully.

"The second. Take this and put a bullet through each and every one of them," Jacques faced Wesker, "However, you'll be just like them" The way Jacques had spoken, sent chills down Wesker's spine.

Wesker took the weapon, it looked like a shotgun, but more akin to something straight from a science fiction movie.

He looked at this switch on the side, Wesker assumed this was the safety. Flicking it off and aimed the weapon at the four of the people.

Which in the meantime had been restrained with handcuffs and anchored to the floor with heavy weights strapped to their ankles.

Wesker's fingers began to itch the trigger, every time he tried to pull, he felt as if his index finger became heavier.

Wesker began to shake, he looked into their eyes. He saw fear and terror, if only they could see themselves as they slaughtered innocent people, he wondered.

Wesker pondered on the words Jacques had told him "You'll be just like them". Eventually, Wesker lowered the weapon.

"I won't be like them. I don't want to be like them" Wesker began to sob as he thought of his wife and daughter.

"YOU BASTARDS TOOK MY FAMILY AWAY!" Wesker cried out as the tears flowed freely from his eyes.

"What gave you three the right to do such a thing?" Wesker's statement caught the attention of Jacques.

"Three? One of them isn't a member of the White Fang?" He asked.

"The girl with auburn hair and freckles. She saved my life. She was a mole so to speak, but she didn't expect to run into me here and now" Wesker lied, he owed Ilia, whether he liked it or not.

He knew her allegiance was wavering, so Wesker took advantage of that.

"Release the girl immediately" Jacques demanded and the officers obeyed, releasing Ilia who slumped to the floor.

"You said you needed my skills?" Wesker inquired.

"Yes, it's incredible that you hacked into the worlds most secure system. I want you Mr Lowbell for your skills"

"Mr Schnee, I've lost my family. I'll accept but can you give me time to grieve?" Jacques placed a hand on Wesker's shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear you lost your wife and daughter. I can give you some time to grieve. It's only natural as they were family" Jacques had a warm and gentle tone to his voice, Wesker found it to be sinister yet soothing.

"My daughter is on life support. She doesn't have much time left" Wesker handed the weapon back to one of the officers as he watched the other three teens being hauled into an armoured vehicle.

"If that's the case. We can have her transferred to Atlas Headquarters. She will receive the best medical care in the world" Wesker knew that for something like this there was always a price.

"But I have to work for you right?" Jacques gave an affirmative nod as he held out his hand.

"When do I start?" Wesker took Jacques' hand and shook firmly, "I will keep my daughter alive. Don't care how so as long she gets to wake up again"

"Then we are in business Mr Lowbell" Jacques smiled as he pulled out his mobile. Hitting speed dial to call someone.

"I need you to go to Mantle. A high priority patient by the name of Anna Lowbell, see to it she gets to Atlas. Alive"

Jacques put down the phone and turned to Ilia. "I hear you were a mole for Mr Lowbell. Would you be so kind as to elaborate on the reasons why you risked your life?"

Ilia froze, she hadn't expected Jacques to speak to her directly.

"He saved my life, I infiltrated the White Fang years ago. I had to take part in their atrocious acts in order to gain their trust. I can tell you who their high ranking officials are and how they choose their temporary campsites" Ilia remained strong.

Trying to remain strong, she didn't want to end up like the others who were unfortunate enough to get caught.

"I see. Come, I bet it saddens you to see so much bloodshed but if you gained such high-value information then we can stop these vile acts again. What is your name young miss?" Jacques throughout the entire time he spoke to Ilia not once did he suspect a thing nor did he treat her with any disrespect.

"Ilia Amitola" She replied with uncertainty in her voice, shaken from being handled roughly by the military.

Jacques ushered Wesker and Ilia away as a helicopter came down into view. "Let us discuss this elsewhere" Jacques stated calmly as he ushered Ilia and Wesker onto the helicopter.

Soon after taking off, Wesker received a phone call. "Mr Lowbell, we are ringing to inform you that Anna is being transferred to a hospital in Atlas for treatment"

"I'm on my way there" Wesker ended the call but rang Steve to let him know of the situation. He went straight to voicemail, Wesker left a voice message for Steve.

"Steve head on home. I've got things to sort out"

Wesker hung up his phone, he looked out at the town below him as they flew high.

It looked like a war zone, destruction had been left in its wake. A large tarp had been put up over the market since some houses overlooked the market square, so they would have been able to see all those who tragically lost their lives in the attack.

"Some of the fires haven't been put out yet either, the White Fang really made us suffer. They took and destroyed what we had left when that was only enough to get by" Wesker spoke out loud.

Ilia knew he wanted her to hear it, but she couldn't shake this feeling. "Why did he save me? Does he plan to make me suffer even more? Torture?" Ilia was scared, she couldn't return to the White Fang.

She left her brothers and sisters to be arrested. Ilia turned her gaze to Wesker, instead of the fire in his eyes he had earlier they were replaced with a sullen grey.

Lifeless and cold, as if he lost any semblance of will to live. He'd seen too much and it changed him.

After answering Jacques questions, Ilia would later board a ferry to Mistral where she would meet Sienna Khan who brought her back to Menagerie to work for her at Paradise Breeze.

Present Day, Paradise Breeze, Menagerie

Yang sat there, in utter silence as tears trickled down her cheeks. Wesker glanced her over but quickly fixated his gaze towards the briefcase.

"Why did you spare me that day?" Ilia inquired. She had always been curious as to why Wesker vouched for her.

"Two reasons. The first was so you owe me and I'll be back to collect on that debt one day" His dark expression and lifeless tone spoke volumes about what Ilia would owe him.

"The second?" Sun asked, still emotionally choked about the whole ordeal.

"Killing you is the easy way out. It's far more painful for you to have to live every single day when it comes to regret. Especially when it's blood on your own hands"

Ilia stood to leave. "If I knew that the White Fang planned to murder hundreds of innocent people. I would never have taken part in the operation"

"Remember how you felt that day when you lost your family. That's how I felt when I lost Carol and nearly my own daughter"

"I'm sorry to ask this, considering you are here in Menagerie and all. Whose files are in the briefcase?" Sun wondered who Wesker could be interrogating for information on behalf of the Schnee Corporation.

"This is more of a personal job" Wesker patted the briefcase twice as a devilish grin swept across his face.

"You two need to head back to your hotel and don't worry. My intel tells me Adam tends to avoid tourist attractions here in Menagerie since he's famous for being, well, Adam" Wesker added.

Yang dried her eyes and stood to leave along with Sun, as Sun left the bar he double checked to make sure Ilia was feeling alright.

Yang decided to speak with Wesker on more friendlier terms.

"Wesker?"

"What is it Miss Xiao Long?"

"If we sort out the whole Adam thing, could, I come see your daughter?"

Yang's request took him by surprise, he hadn't guessed she would want to see his daughter.

"Why would you want to?"

"It's because I know what it's like to lose family"

"You lost someone too?"

"Yeah, my mum" Yang gave him a smile and extended her fist towards Wesker.

Wesker figured this was what the younguns called a "fist bump" in which he did the same and their fists met.

"Take care Wesker"

"You too. Yang"


I do not own RWBY, the show belongs to RoosterTeeth.

A/N: I found that writing Wesker's backstory with his daughter Anna to be a bit depressing, but I also found that this was a good opportunity for Wesker to be "Recruited" by Jacques.

So, you've had Ilia's side of the Atlas attack and Wesker's. Both tragic when you view it from either perspective.

I found that through this it created a dynamic between Wesker and Ilia.

Well, let me know what you thought of this chapter and I'll be back with more later!

Take care!