Their Last Escape

by antihero276

Former S.T.A.R.S. Officer Jill Valentine unexpectedly meets U.S.S. Special Agent HUNK at the R.P.D., his extraction overridden. Pushed to their limits, they are forced to work together to survive. With only days to escape the T-Virus infested Raccoon City before it is destroyed, they are stalked inexorably from the shadows by a deadly Pursuer, intent on carrying out its mission.

49. Chapter 48: Loose Ends

CommissarDaniel: This chapter is set a couple months before Claire infiltrates the Paris Facility and is caught by Agent Raval.

Jinero: Not sure about slappings, Jill isn't exactly the hysterical or naive type, quite matured for her age, so no "You bastard! I thought I was the only one!" *splashes glass of water in HUNK's mask* Lol. But she'd probably be rightly peeved on some level, especially at HUNK for (understandably) not saying anything. Just as she was over Doctor Radames making off with him. She's only human, has emotions. Though if she was willing to let him get away with delivering a bioweapon despite her misgivings, I'm sure she'd forgive that. Knows he's carrying many secrets he didn't tell her. People who love someone will forgive damn near anything. Especially when that person saved their life. She knows he's a 'bad boy' type though already, knows the animal she's dealing with, a sexy, troubled, dangerous corporate murderer, so wouldn't have much ground to stand on complaining about it, would realize it is hypocritical. The irony is that Jill the hero is the 'other woman' of the situation, not Christine the villain. He's been with Christine for a couple years as of this story.

Good guess. Something like that. As for Nikolai getting the Plaga... I don't think he will. I think he'll be a somewhat physically impaired Badass Normal, as TV Tropes calls them. I don't see Nikolai as the sort to be biologically enhanced, his threat is his cunning, sick mind more than being a physical threat, capable of being one as he is. And it would make him a good contrasting partner of Krauser, who was crippled and does get biologically enhanced. A brains and brawn villain duo of sorts. Maybe bickering over the Plaga. "You should get one, Nick, it's awesome! Can grow an arm blade and everything!" "My knife is sufficient. I would prefer not to host an abomination, Krauser. You do you." Lol.

Magd305TLC: Thank you. Princess Rosa works well, and was certainly one of the motivations, though visually in my head it was a combination of those two actresses. But there were other inspirations, who will be noted in my notes section/afterward when the story is completed.

As for Jill talking to the S.T.A.R.S. and telling them all about her complicated HUNK situation... I think that's going to take place at some point after this story. I don't think she has the courage to explain it all to her friends/co workers yet. It's still raw, awkward and complicated. She needs time to think it all over. She's been to hell and back herself, and needs to recover physically and mentally. And the others aren't liable to pry, despite being curious. But fret not, there is someone she will share it with before the story is over, have a long overdue heart to heart with.

NULL will indeed play an important part if I make the Code Veronica sequel. Though I cannot at this time state how important it is going to be. Alpha Team would indeed feature, a smaller one than the one in this. In universe because of how many HUNK lost, how unwieldy it was to have so many men, and because I'm sure as hell not writing each character of a twenty five man and woman Alpha Team xD wouldn't be able to characterize them all much, would be a lot of red shirts. I prefer the less is more approach to writing and a cast of characters. The universe already has a ton of characters to work with as it is.

As for Carla, if I did an RE 6 adaptation I would have an internal tug of war between her evil Ada Doppelganger side, and the good hearted young, curious doctor/woman we see in this story. Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde scenario of sorts. A sad descent into madness that Simmons drives her into, make her more sympathetic and layered, even as she is trying to destroy the world. I don't intend to remove the Ada Doppelganger plot, because that's simply too damn important and interesting to the character and game, would be ripping her character out by the roots if I did. There is potential character exploration there that Capcom dropped the ball with. I would make it more complicated and detailed, like maybe have Leon meet her, among other characters who didn't. Meeting HUNK again after many years of thinking he is dead. The turmoil and conflict that would create. Believing in what she is doing, but delusional as well. And her actually feeling remorse even as she feels wrath. What TV Tropes calls the Woobie Destroyer Of Worlds. It would be her in conflict with herself as much as she is with the rest of the world.

I'd say Jake Wesker is the only character of Resident Evil 6 I'd seriously consider excluding from a story adaptation. Not just that I don't like him, but he seems pointless beyond a plot device, and sabotages Wesker's personality. I don't see Wesker as ever really having been sexually interested in women, he was more focused on the pursuit of knowledge and world domination. Man's a born supervillain, and while not gay, certainly saw Birkin more as his partner than anyone else. A rare person he cared about... as much as a megalomaniac can care about anyone. They were a great mad scientist duo. Jake was a shallow and shameless attempt by Capcom to cash in on Wesker's popularity and be a plot device, little more. Shoehorning him together with Sherry because their fathers were friends. Silly. But maybe I'll think of something for him. I have for damn near everyone lol I didn't even originally like Leon, but came around on him over the years. And I try not to let my personal bias, preferences sabotage a character... I try not to be that petty, it's just difficult for me to see Jake as much of a character as presented in Resident Evil 6.

Not a problem, friend, thank you kindly for the review, as ever.

Echo Five: It will play out exactly the way it did in the Code Veronica game. HUNK will be absent from the facility though, away on a couple missions in North America. He would find out about her when he completes them and returns to the Leviathan bound for Rockfort Island, with her in the brig, Agent Raval transferring her to the island. Among others present and headed to the island. He will hear that they caught a Redfield, think it's Chris at first and head down to visit Redfield in the brig, will be curious. Cut to Claire's POV in a cell on the Leviathan shackled and with a bag over her head, being questioned by a mysterious man's voice ;). Then he will visit her cell on Rockfort Island, among other things he'll do around the island, leading up to the H.C.F. attack and assault. Including visiting Nikolai... and someone else staying on the island who wasn't in Code Veronica ;). There would be character and world building at Rockfort Island, before the shit hits the fan and war comes for it.

HUNK and Alpha Team, among other surviving Umbrella personnel, will be present during the siege of Rockfort Island, holed up in a research facility of Ashford's under the island. Basically serves as a bunker. They will battle the H.C.F. and fight to repel them, hold on to the island, though of course be outnumbered and outgunned, between the T-Virus spread and the H.C.F. Along with Alfred being a military and leadership incompetent and going batshit insane and sabotaging the island. HUNK would have to take over as Commander of Rockfort Island, assume authority over all surviving Umbrella employees. Hopefully they get some reinforcements at some point, lest the island falls permanently into Wesker's hands.

As for when he finds out about Agent Raval's treason to the company in letting Claire go, along with his subsequent fate? Conflict and sympathy. As he does over Rodriquez escaping Umbrella. The two hims fighting with one another, his duty to Umbrella, and his growing humanity. He walks a tightrope. He too has betrayed the company, but has covered it up and continues to serve them. He is in a tough, complicated position. Caught between a rock(fort Island lol) and a hard place. Though he might say something along the lines of "Damn. Worm food. Literally." lol just kidding, it would be a solemn scene. He likes Raval. Another character he wishes he could be more like, more of a rank and file employee, with far fewer eyes on him. HUNK is not a happy man, as my writing over this story has likely indicated by now lol.

Spartan: I would say Bella had a strict upbringing indeed, military school and such, raised to be the best. Blue blood through and through, the elite. Represent the family name. Lord Oswell Emhyr Spencer demanded nothing less, especially after her mother died when she was young. She wanted to make her father proud of her, earn his recognition, just as Vladimir desperately wants Spencer's approval. Think of them as a sister and brother competing for their father's favor. She was cheated out of a good deal of her childhood and teenage years, hence how she ended up becoming. The way she was with HUNK, trying to catch up on lost time, despite the consequences. Lots of family drama and baggage, a good deal of it she ended up adding in the process. She is a tragic Anti Villain character for sure, compared to her overtly Supervillain father.

She was quite skilled martially, hence designing that fighting style with HUNK... carried out a number of successful military operations. I don't have all her skills quite nailed down. But I think as the years went on she became far more a leader than field agent, making that transition within the U.S.S. and company in the years before she left. Especially as she got older and became a mother. HUNK in time far surpassed her in skill as a field agent, exceeded her, as did her two other enigmatic proteges. Her code name is DEN MOTHER for a reason, she raises and trains her proteges and students strong, and eventually they have to surpass the teacher and leave the DEN. Whether they like it or not. We already know, sadly, that at least one of them, Death, the Grim Reaper she created, did not like it. And carries that resentment and conflicted feelings with him to this day.

Akira-Hayama: That was indeed one my goals for this story lol to deliver a screw you to Capcom, by actually expanding on and making use of their characters they let fall by the wayside. Characterizing them, giving them a personality and dynamic. I can never understand when writers for games or books do that. So much wasted potential. So it's always satisfying to me when someone actually does let them be expanded. So much Capcom could be doing, and it wastes its time on that awful looking Village, Resident Evil in name only. I liked taking both Bella and Comtesse Henri and making them fully fledged, where before they got minor mentions at best. I like working within canon while adding my own ideas. Characters just seem to come together for me when I spend awhile at it, as GHOST and Ada have in my other upcoming story.

Well, Christine was the one who gave him the HUNK codename lol seems only fitting. And yes indeed, character development takes a good while, he didn't become the way he is overnight.

Princess Diana was of the real life House Spencer ;), I know a fair bit on the royal topics and such, so I weaved the real life family together with the fictional one. Made her and Bella cousins, her father and Oswell brothers. Noble houses are big, many members, yet Capcom only ever had Oswell of the Spencers, never got into any of his relatives. Just seemed like the thing to do, adds more to the story and more dynamics for HUNK, flesh out the universe further, reveals more of his mind and opinions on things. Being the extremely biased and understandably bitter fellow that he is lol, especially on the matter of royals and blue bloods, given he has spent so much time among them, the elites of Umbrella and fancy parties. Oh yes indeed, so many theories. As for who really killed Diana... HUNK cut the brake line at Lord Oswell's behest. She was making a mockery of the Spencer name with her antics. Lol just kidding. HUNK does corporate assassinations mostly. And even if that were his job, Comtesse Henri would never let him leave her side at the party long enough to go do it. Driver was intoxicated, nuff said, HUNK doesn't much care either way, apart from sympathy towards her bodyguard, a human touch I wanted to add. HUNK sees the Royal Family is just a figurehead. No real power worth respecting, just an old institution that has overstayed its welcome, and becomes increasingly irrelevant, corrupt and worthless. Weak. The reason Oswell didn't wed Bella into that family. Not enough for him to gain from the match.

I like writing about the way he sees things, subjects and people, what's going on inside his head, mundane day to day life outside the battlefield. Considering to most of the rest of the world he's a silent killing machine of badassery, scary. Death. Most people at Umbrella judge HUNK for superficial things, without bothering to delve deeper for some reason or another. We've seen over the course of this story there's who he seems to be on the outside, and what he is on the inside. A deeply flawed human being, not a robot. I think he wishes on some level he were back in Raccoon City instead of doing the day to day shit, just like he would swap places with Raval or the Undertaker Commander if he could. He can be more himself during a mission, as he was with Jill. And was relatively away of the prison that is Umbrella. Like a prisoner getting some time out in the sun. Horrific as Raccoon City was, it was honest. Simple. That said, not all the other characters are awful, and HUNK does appreciate them, the ones who make Umbrella more bearable. An inmate makes friends or doesn't survive.

With the action over post Raccoon City I figured it was important to flesh out the rest of the world, the universe, lay some more groundwork. Delve into the relationships and establish other important characters through HUNK. Can't always be action packed unfortunately lol I try not to make it slow and plodding, so I have actions if not outright action of gun battles. Wars of words happen at Umbrella, politics, intrigue. It's another battlefield, in some ways more dangerous than out in the field for HUNK. One of my goals was to take HUNK and place him into Umbrella with a cast of characters, a world, a network, instead of the faceless, robotic entity of the games. He's going to take over the role of protagonist from Jill if I do stories set after this one, so it was the perfect time to highlight him, his world, and write the aftermath for him and Jill. A protagonist needs a world to inhabit, and a place in it.

Thank you kindly as ever, friend ;).

Sandwiches in da box: Glad to hear you came back and got a welcome surprise ;) and even more glad you have enjoyed the nearly completed story. Few more chapters left, then my afterward/notes... then on to my short side story. Very flattering ;) always nice to be seen as the best by someone, thank you kindly friend. I try to have a good deal going on in this story, and for it to flow together. Didn't want to make just a straight up adaptation of 3, but to add new things, dynamics, etc. If one wants the same old experience, just play the games lol.

If I get around to a Resident Evil: Revelations adaptation, HUNK and Jill will first reunite there. Though won't be able to stay together, will, sadly and amusingly, be on opposite sides still. HUNK as the head of U.S.S. for Wesker's Red Umbrella faction and Jill with the B.S.A.A. Though there would be a short term team up to defeat the Il Veltro, who in my adaptation would be more of an actual legitimate threat than the somewhat red herring they were in the game. The Mysterious H.C.F. Leader (I know who he is) would have a deal with them, his PMC backing the terrorists up covertly to have access to the T-Abyss for a certain important client of theirs ruling Sejm Island ;). Albert and the H.C.F. would have cut ties by then, be on opposite sides in 2005. Red Umbrella would be going after Il Veltro to gain their T-Abyss Virus and other knowledge for Wesker, while pretending it's out to protect the world from the bio terrorists, pretend they are the good guys for image politics, the B.S.A.A. will genuinely be trying to stop them from unleashing it on the world. A temporary 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' situation, an overlap of goals. On the Red Umbrella side of the cast I can see Wesker, Comtesse Henri (A co leader, the money, as well as taking over as the ship's main Virologist/Medical doctor from Carla, who is working for Simmons at this point in time after the dissolution of the original Umbrella), HUNK, Ada, GHOST and Alpha Team being involved. The crew of the Leviathan as well, old SHIPMASTER, NIGHTHAWK, FLY GIRL, QUARTERMASTER, SENTINEL... most of the old Umbrella gang being put back together, basically. On the B.S.A.A. cast there would be Jill, Chris, Carlos, along with the other characters of that game of course. Can imagine HUNK ordering Rachel to zip up her damn wet suit and tie her hair back, act like a goddamn professional, while Carlos ogles her lol. HUNK and Jill would be forced to sadly part ways again though after defeating Il Veltro... ever the star crossed lovers... at least until my version of Resident Evil 5. Where by the end after much time and suffering, they will finally be together in full. Happily ever after. Not that that means no further adventures are possible. And Carlos will indeed get his tropical vacation at some point I'm sure lol, about time the 'ladies man' caught a break.

Anyways, I ramble on too much. I really do have too much time on my hands to plot out all these stories that likely won't even get told. Alas lol. One story at a time. Thanks for the review, and hope you continue to enjoy it.

Vong: 3 more chapters to go after this one, two chapters and the epilogue. Then one for the notes/afterward. Nearly there, folks.

Haven't decided, that's a long way off, assuming I even get to it. C-Virus will still happen, just could be different circumstances, maybe Sherry is the vaccine, or I could include Jake under different circumstances, turn him into a Wesker clone instead of a son. Would make a hell of a lot more sense than Wesker sleeping with someone, at least in my opinion xD. No shortage of creative options are available. Don't intend to make everything exactly like the games in this universe, if people want the game story/experience they can always play it lol.

I just had a thought. The Jake thing doesn't even make sense... Wesker wasn't biologically enhanced by the Virus until 1998, and he supposedly had Jake in 1992... so how the hell did Jake inherit Wesker's super regenerative anti bodies and become a plot device? The only mention of his genes being special pre enhancement is that he inherited intelligence genes from his parents, why Spencer selected him in the first place. He had a high IQ. Capcom blunders again. Could make more sense if Jake is fast grown from a tissue or blood sample post 1998, someone (Simmons/The Family perhaps) gets their hands on a sample of Wesker and Jake is created in a lab. More angst and character and soul searching for him too, the "Am I even a human?" Thing. Existential crisis clones go through, like the Replicants in Blade Runner. Maybe he was brainwashed to believe he was like the Jake Muller of the game, a false identity foisted on him so he could cope. Simmons will be more desperate to create the C-Virus in my universe, for a reason that will become clear in the epilogue of this story. Would resort to cloning to get his way, and be out to get as much research and experiments as he can. Even try Wesker's blood for his experiments. Perhaps they are partners, and Wesker does consent to allow him some to test on, in exchange for something he requires. Anything's possible. See what I mean about creative options?

117: HUNK will want to kill Simmons much sooner than Resident Evil 6, of that I assure you. A bit by the end of this story, a fair amount in a Code Veronica adaptation, a great deal in a 4 adaptation, and extremely so in a 6 adaptation lol. On the same level he'd want to kill Wesker in a 5 adaptation.

Christine will think he is dead until 4, but I can see her being a benefactor in him creating Blue Umbrella. Who knows, maybe they'll get some donations as well from certain Spencer heirs. I can see HUNK and SENTINEL and/or another former agent being the main guys behind the founding, the leadership aspect of it anyways. Though HUNK would take off before long, go to the wandering mercenary life, and SENTINEL and others take over from there.

Kingalastor1: Capcom has lost the plot, forgotten what made their series Resident Evil. At this rate a reboot would be preferable to the path they are on, need to get back to the basics. Survival horror, viruses, biological monsters, evil corporations. Umbrella and Spencer should have featured more in things, but they were just tossed aside and forgotten. Countless characters are forgotten and wasted. The RE3 remake was a disaster, hacking apart the original game, excising content that could have been awesome. No respect for probably the best RE game. I agree entirely, their characters just aren't fleshed out properly, heroes and villains alike, so much more could have been done with them if they were patient and took their time. The RE2 Remake was pretty much the last good thing out of them. It showed they could do it, but they refuse to follow up on that success properly. And are skipping a Code Veronica remake to jump straight to 4. Such incompetence is tiring.

LyKaiosK: The Comtesse is not a good person. In fact she is an awful person, a villain... as I hope to make clear by the end of this story. Her one sympathetic aspect really is HUNK, her genuine feelings for him, who we are biased towards liking, so if she's good to him she must be good, right? Wrong lol. Jill would be among the first to arrest her for her crimes, of which there are many, given the chance. That said she's cunning, I can see her finding a way out of taking the fall with Umbrella. A villain with good publicity, vast wealth and connections. She'll likely escape, but not with HUNK. Most people including her will think he's dead, or a legend, until he resurfaces in an adaptation of 4, when the feds finally track him down to where he is hiding out and give him the deal of 'help find the President's daughter for a pardon or jail/execution'. Likely she will scapegoat most or all of her activities on to Director Owens of Umbrella HQ. There's a reason why the upper echelon of the Inner Circle isn't running Umbrella Europe/Headquarters hands on, and they chose him. Really Christine is our villain, which is sort of the angle I was going with for her. A villain firmly on our Anti Villain protagonist's side. Glad to hear you're enjoying it though, and liking the characters, even my awful ones lol.

Arkham Knight: I think Rebecca and/or FOUR EYES will come up with the test, but Rebecca might be one of those tied up during the test. Can imagine that scene told from her POV, where she knows who the Thing is but nobody seems to believe her. Great horror potential there. Paranoia building. HUNK will likely carry out the test, like MacCready... but I'm just throwing ideas out there, nothing is fully nailed down at this point in time. And yes indeed, shame on Capcom for not coming up with ideas like this, living up to the potential of their universe. All the material they have. Throwing it out in exchange for Village.

Guest: Thank you kindly, the human aspect of the characters was important to me in this story. Something often glossed over in the games. Hope I do them justice.

Storm: HUNK has a strong instinct on whose father the Spencer kids are, most do, but he doesn't have any confirmation. Putting him in a strange limbo state on the matter, fairly certain but not knowing the truth. Yet. They're another factor that helps reflect his character, personality and state of mind.

Guest: Well well well, what do you know. My first troll. *waves*

Thank you all for the reviews, as ever. On with the show, the Comtesse has three wishes to keep:

---

October 5th, 1998, 6:52PM

Facility Director's Offices, Underground Area of Umbrella Paris Facility, France

"Director Henri... told me to expect you, Agent HUNK. Doctor Frankl and the rest of the science team are inside with her now. She told me to send you right in... but I didn't realize..."

The German secretary girl in a white dress stared back at his exposed eye with trepidation... alarm, from where she sat behind the neatly kept front desk. Accented voice trailing off, clearly startled, though fighting to keep it under control on the surface. Looking at him the same way many of the other employees... security and otherwise... had while marching up the corridors of the facility. A number of them still around the area, watching him from the sides and afar, keeping their distance. Looking over the damaged, battle scarred bodysuit, armor, mask and helmet. To Matilda locked and loaded at his side holster, and the sheath of the combat knife. Employees who had been chatting and drinking coffee or at water coolers outside their offices stared at him when they thought he didn't notice. Watched him from their own desks. Pretended to be conversing with one another or reading reports while observing. He had almost missed the effect he had, out in Raccoon City... but knew it would quickly overstay its welcome. Grow tiresome. He had enjoyed it back in the day, the effect he'd had on others, the intimidation or awe. But all that was long gone. The rest and food alone had helped recharge him to be able to bear it again, the attention of others. Well... perhaps not only the rest and food. There was also his reason for being here. Ignoring the blonde girl for a moment, he heard the Sixth Laboratory inside the Director's closed office nearby... laughing and chatting away in French. Patting themselves and one another on the back. None the wiser to what was coming through the door behind them. It was all too easy. They had them like fish in a barrel... as Jill might have said... one of her silly sayings. Or the Comtesse's for that matter. His gloved hand tightened into a fist at his side... looking forward to this... feeling a pulse of anger at their laughter...but a tempered one all the same. Especially now that he was rested up for it. Ready for what was coming. He looked back down to the staring girl carefully... assessing her. This one was smarter than most... had good sense enough that she clearly feared him much more than she was attracted to him. It was usually one or the other or both, in his experience. The previous secretary had been both. He couldn't recall her name... not a surprise, with how many of them the Director went through. Likely she wouldn't be here long anyways... so HUNK saw little point in asking.

Still, he respected that she was not drawn to dangerous, bad men, as so many women were. Too many. Playing with fire seemed to be part of most of their nature. He spoke up through the gas mask again calmly at last.

"Didn't realize...?"

"Uh... never mind.", Her accented voice spoke up again hurriedly, looking away from his gaze evasively, gesturing back down to the door. "Just go right in, Agent HUNK."

"Thank you."

Turning from the desk on that note of gratitude and a nod, HUNK marched past her and down to the door, feeling her stare, and those of the other employees and security teams. He didn't look back... but knew some of them, especially the girl, would breath a bit easier when he was gone. Though probably fear potentially hearing gunshots ring out. He felt his pulse quicken in anticipation... had been waiting quite some time for this. It was a wonder he had even managed to fall asleep, earlier. Grasping the door handle, he opened it, another burst of laughter and chatter carried through the door... and he stepped inside the familiar spacious, well furnished office. The team... over a dozen scientists in their long, pristine white lab coats, sat in chairs pulled up around the front of her desk, the men and women sipping champagne and still laughing and joking. Blissfully unaware. The lead designer of Project Nemesis sat directly before the Director's desk... perched upon which was Nikolai's laptop, playing for them all the combat data of Jill battling the Nemesis, the volume muted. She fought against the giant blob of malformed biomass in the Dead Factory... by now they must have viewed all the rest of Nikolai's footage, as planned. Only one alone of them did not laugh and joke. There was a look of genuine satisfaction in Senior Fellow Doctor Anton Hugo Frankl's genial blue eyes beneath his spectacles... his wrinkled face silently pleased as he watched Jill's struggle against his ultimate creation. Silently marveling over the transformation it had undergone by this point of the footage. The culmination of his years of effort finally on display. The perfect Tyrant and the success of the Nemesis Parasite in one. HUNK was reminded of the nickname Carla had said existed regarding him among the Umbrella virologists. 'The Abominable Doctor Franklstein'. It was an apt nickname if ever there was one... as apt as Grim Reaper was for him. That look alone made HUNK consider shooting him right then and there as an opener. Splatter his brains all over the Director's desk and the screen of the laptop. He maintained his discipline, despite the temptation. Director Henri watched them all with a fixed smile from behind her desk... her red designer jacket, white scarf and white fashionable handbag were hung up on a nearby rack, exposing her revealing, fine red velvet, backless mini dress with white lace trimming that had been hiding away beneath. Her smooth, bare legs were crossed, quite relaxed in her seat, simply studying the Sixth Laboratories array of self satisfied, gloating faces.

The instant he appeared in the doorway, the young blonde woman looked past the science team and down to him, the smile on her pale face only deepening. Growing genuine instead of a false mask. Her lovely, thick accented voice greeting him over the chatter.

"Ah! 'ere you are. Right on time, for a change. I knew you would be, for this. Come een, come een... and be sure to close ze door behind you. And kindly close ze blinds as well."

"Gladly, ma'am."

The chatter and laughter began to die away when his voice issued through the mask... as one head after another turned to look at him standing at the door. Scientists nudging others who hadn't noticed yet. Pretty soon... none of them were laughing or talking any longer, nor smiling. One could hear a pin drop if it fell. Doctor Frankl was the last of them to catch on... looking away from Jill's battle, the satisfaction in his face slowly replaced by something that pleased HUNK when the bald old man turned around and saw him. Quite the opposite of smiling or laughing. They stared at him, champagne and footage forgotten, stinking of shock, fear and dawning realization. The color draining from their faces. They had come here to celebrate their project... had already known about his involvement... had watched him on some of the footage... but had believed he wasn't at the facility. Had probably thought him away on to another assignment, or back aboard the Leviathan after delivering the sample. They had already known of him, from testing him against their earlier B.O.W. and Tyrant creations, at Rockfort Island. But never had they all met in person... until here and now. At last. They had genuinely believed the Director had called them to her office to be congratulated... to celebrate. Likely having heard of the party she had attended earlier. It was always amusing when even scientific geniuses could be so goddamn stupid. And look it too. Deluding themselves. Genius might have been in high supply among them, but common sense was not. They knew far less of politics than even he did... spending all their time in a lab and tucked away from cold reality. More isolated than himself. From consequences. Certain that Colonel Vladimir would have their backs. Not doing basic research on the man. Yet here they were... while he was far away, not caring in the slightest, preoccupied with U.M.F.-013 and furnishing his new Caucasus Facility to his liking. Now they could learn the hard way about the repercussions of a political fuck up. HUNK obeyed the Director at once, inclining his helmeted head respectfully and closing the door firmly... turning from the fearful scientists and starting to close each of the window blinds, shutting off the view of the secretary and other staff watching from outside. When he finished closing the last one, he turned back towards the Director, not taking his eyes off the scientists again as he slowly moved down to her desk. Worn combat boots tapping solidly on the floor... moving over until he stood directly behind their chairs in front of her desk. Looking down at them all, muffled breaths escaping from the mask.

Letting them see him as he was. In the state their Nemesis had left him. Trapping them, between himself and their Director.

She merely smiled again as she looked between the men, women and HUNK... nothing in her smooth tone changing. He could only imagine how much she had been looking forward to this... tightening the noose they had foolishly walked into. Just as they had discussed.

"Special Agent HUNK, I'd like you to meet our best and brightest, ze Sixth Laboratory. Sixth Laboratory? Meet Special Agent HUNK. My best and brightest. Or do you already know each other... from 'is work on Rockfort Island, I believe?"

Some of them looked back to the Director sitting comfortably... between her and him... they didn't speak a word, yet their paling faces told him and the Comtesse everything that had to be said. They knew they had been caught red handed. That there was no squirming their way out of it. HUNK could almost hear the pin hit the ground. He felt a satisfaction already to match the ember of controlled anger towards them. He continued staring at them in silence. Hand down at his side next to Matilda curling into a gloved fist that several of them were watching.

"I was just congratulating ze team on their success with ze Nemesis Project. The combat data came back, and shows eet excelled beyond all expectations. Een spite of eets destruction.", The Director went on as though nothing in the atmosphere had changed, cold smile growing. Gesturing to the active laptop footage of Jill's struggles through the night. Looking back at HUNK, and him to her. "I thought zey might want to meet ze man who faced eet een ze field. Ask questions about ze Tyrant's performance. 'aving managed to survive eet."

Again, not a sound among them... though some stirring of movement. HUNK could feel the discomfort growing thick in the air... while himself and the Director alone remained calm and comfortable with the situation. Some of them tried to look down at their hands, or away. He enjoyed watching them squirm, these parasites, just like their creation. Worse. At least it hadn't been a coward. Had faced him itself. The Director gave them a long uncomfortable minute to speak up... and when they didn't she broke the silence for them.

"Zis must be ze first time I 'av seen a lack of inquisitiveness from scientists. Well? Am I to believe none of you 'av any questions?", Director Henri inquired, looking seriously around at all of their guilty faces. Her gradually cooling eyes growing unblinking. Especially when settling on Frankl's carefully controlled expression. "You all 'av grown remarkably quiet and pale all of a sudden, for all ze laughter and boasting of before. Ese something ze matter?"

Finally a few of them began to speak... in French, muttering half hearted explanations and excuses to her, speaking to each other as well. Anyone but to him. Thinking he didn't understand their language. He let them continue to labour under the false belief. It was always useful to let people underestimate him, as others had to their folly. Assume him a simpleton. A hired thug. She ignored their scattered mutterings and pressed forward in continued English.

"Very well zen, I shall ask ze questions. Could eet be that you took an action without the Board Of Directors permission, or my permission? And in so doing endangered Operation: NESTWRECKER... a priority mission of ze Inner Circle carried out by Special Agent HUNK and authorized by Lord Spencer himself? Do you 'av any idea what you-..."

"We... received authorization before acting, Director... from an authority higher than yours.", Senior Fellow Frankl's deep voice interrupted then, speaking at last on behalf of his team at last, finding his Austrian accented words in English, when the Director continued speaking it. Keeping his voice carefully controlled and eyes on hers. Refusing to meet HUNK's hard stare at all costs, it seemed. "We were told the S.T.A.R.S. members needed termination with all due haste... it seemed a good first test run... with the city as it was. A proving ground for our bioweapons research. Colonel Vladimir... took a special interest in the Nemesis... wanted to see what it could do. It was not imprinted to engage Umbrella personnel... but was to defend itself from threats. If... Agent HUNK had not engaged the Tyrant first... it would not have threatened his mission. Furthermore, Colonel Vladimir-..."

"Ese not the Board of Directors, and does not decide for eet. As you well know, Frankl. 'e 'as also officially washed 'is hands of you and your entire team. Do not try to fall back on him for support. You will not receive it. And your feeble excuses will not serve you as a shield. Your two faced communist benefactor is as false in his loyalties and promises as you are. Eet ese of no surprise you initially saw eye to eye. What becomes of you now ese at my discretion to decide. Dear Oswell informed me of such on a pleasant phone call, right before you all arrived. Now... what was eet you were saying about a 'igher authority?"

The Director's cold, sharp voice shut him the hell up rather quickly, deadly eyes even more frosty at Frankl's interruption and questioning of her authority. His mouth snapped closed, despite looking as though he were about to speak again. His eyes darted evasively... to her desk, the floor, the clock on the wall... and HUNK caught them trying to flicker back HUNK's way. Though looking at his boots and legs instead of his damaged mask. He felt a pang of warmth at the way the Comtesse shut down Frankl... and took the look she cast his way as a cue to escalate matters. HUNK casually removed Matilda from her holster, and withdrew a couple objects from one of his pouches... the actions redrawing all of their attention, and horror, at once. Muted horror. He began to screw on sleek, long black silencer to Matilda's barrel, affixing QUARTERMASTER's custom part into place, withdrawing the laser sight as well and clipping it on to the machine pistol before raising the sidearm, flicking off the safety and aiming it at the Sixth Laboratory. Aiming it at Frankl, the glowing red light settling on the center of his smooth head, the other hand down at his side tightening into a fist. It had the intended effect. He savored the instant further paling of their faces... even Frankl by now, so carefully controlled, visibly uncomfortable and fearful. HUNK longed to see that hateful calm shattered. To watch him pleading for his life. Begging for mercy he didn't deserve. Director Henri also looked among all their guilty, sickly faces again, going on as though she had not been interrupted.

"That ese what I thought. I also 'av a document 'ere of yours. An order sheet you sent to Raccoon City, regarding ze Nemesis Project.", Director Henri returned her attention to Frankl, a tiny smile touching her red lips. She reached down among the papers at her desk and picked one of the files up, passing it forward in the Senior Fellow's direction. His wrinkled hand reached over took it reluctantly, and he studied it with visibly forming unease, as she went forward. "No sense een crumpling or tearing eet up, I 'av copies and far more. Those are your words. Your confession to going over my 'ed. Ese that or ese that not your signature?"

"Madame Henri... how did you...-"

"I ask ze questions, Frankl. Answer me. Now. Or you will most certainly not be leaving zis room alive."

"It is... Director Henri."

"Zat ese what I thought. Read ze letter aloud for all of us to 'ear. Every word."

Senior Fellow Frankl visibly hesitated, eyes snapping up from the document to her. Director Henri's large, cold, piercing eyes dared him to disobey... and looking back at HUNK, to Matilda being aimed directly between his eyes... Frankl did no such thing. He cleared his throat and began to read aloud, clearly but slowly, hesitating now and again, but pressing forward. At the word 'lapdog' most of the others winced, looking back with guilty trepidation to HUNK for his reaction. A reaction he didn't give to them. Well, apart from his gloved hand tightening further on the silenced machine pistol. Savoring the way they squirmed. The walls closing in around them. Their delusions of grandeur so quickly deflated... the arrogance of damn near all corporate virologists. Realizing they were not untouchable. He only saw looks like it when he defeated their B.O.W.'s at the training facility on Rockfort Island. So arrogantly assured of their successes, only for him to force them back to the laboratory drawing boards. Egos deflated. He had seen it on Birkin's face as well down in NEST, when they had cornered him in his lab. There had been no arrogant laughing or gloating from the son of a bitch then... more like the raw panic Marcus had shared ten years prior in his own lab. HUNK hadn't been able to take the time to enjoy it much, though, beyond an initial satisfaction. Birkin's insanity in pulling his pistol on them had seen to that... and GHOST's reflexes. At last Frankl finished reading the order sheet, looking down at it, and back through his glasses at the thoroughly satisfied Director silently, waiting for her next command.

"Good. Now give eet back."

Frankl obeyed at once, passing it off back to the Director's desk, turning it around on the desk to face her right side up. She studied the document for a moment, reading it over again, and shaking her head. Letting them stew in their fear and apprehension of what she may or may not have planned for them. Eyes flickering between him, Matilda and the Director. Letting them sweat. Within the mask HUNK had to resist a smile from forming, knowing full well what she was doing by now. Her tactics. Knowing her well enough. At last her frosty eyes rose once more, and her deadly calm, accented voice addressed them.

"You all 'av unilaterally made a decision without our consent to boost your own standing een ze company. Try to steal more glory, rather zen being content with creating. Being generously paid for creating. And een so doing endangered and postponed recovery of ze Golgotha Virus, and wasted many millions of dollars of our investment, losing ze Nemesis. Even eef we deign to keep Project Nemesis going, you threw away ze first fully viable product and have to restart from scratch. Wasted great resources and time for fame. You didn't own zat Nemesis, ze investors did. Your egos were writing cheques your bodies could not cash."

The Director let them sit there in silence for a time again... to consider the scope of what they had done. Letting them squirm some more in fear. HUNK wished it could last longer than it did... but inevitably this sit down would have to end. Then she continued, voice steady... her eyes raking among them piercingly.

"Rest assured. I shall be making a full report of this. A note. For ze entire Board. And for Lord Spencer himself to read. It shall go into your records. You are, all of you, on suspension and notice henceforth. Pending a decision of the Board. Special Agent HUNK and ze rest of Umbrella Security Service at this facility will be watching you all from here on. You won't know when, or where... but you will be under observation. Any more unilateral actions like this, one more whiff of treason, and your projects will be permanently handed off to another team. Your contracts with the company will be summarily terminated. You are aware of what recently befell ze NEST facility when Birkin grew... similar treacherous ambitions."

Some of their heads and eyes flickered back HUNK's way again. He did not blink. Let them believe he had murdered Doctor Birkin for his treason... that killing him had been part of the mission. Silencing the entire facility. Birkin's entire staff. Let them feel fear. A small measure of what they had created and inflicted upon others... upon Jill. Death, lurking just over their shoulder. He liked that. Something hanging over their heads, even after they were all but let off the hook for their treason. The Director let them mull over that a moment or two longer, before breaking the silence again sharply.

"Now... do you all understand me? Speak."

There were all murmurs of assent and understanding at once, gratitude for her mercy. All of it directed at her. Weak evasive apologies for what they had done. All except for Doctor Frankl, HUNK noted, who remained silent and still as a statue in his seat. Director Henri saw through the rest of the team's grovelling all at once, waving her hand dismissively to shut them up again. When she spoke again... HUNK heard it, through her cold mask... genuine anger. No acting. A slight flare of her nostrils... a fire forming in her normally cold eyes. Either she had taken her acting up a notch... or it was the real thing. That she had worked herself into, over him. Over the waiting, the not knowing if he was alive. Disgust seeping into her accent. He couldn't know one hundred percent for sure... but he believed it to be the latter.

"Do not apologize to or thank me. You will apologize to Special Agent HUNK for endangering his life and mission. And you will look at him when you do it."

Their guilty, humiliated faces reluctantly looked back up to him standing over them aiming his weapon at them. Willing themselves to speak again. One after another they mumbled and murmured evasive, half hearted, false apologies, in accented English. Again, all of them spoke up save Frankl. HUNK didn't say a thing to any of them in turn. Didn't move. Just stared at them and breathed. It was all he had to do. Their false remorse silently angered the agent. It took all he had not to squeeze Matilda's trigger and gun them all down in one sweep of his arm... remembering everything their creation had done to Jill. To Carlos. To Captain Mikhail. To Vickers. To himself. They quickly looked away from him again uncomfortably after each finished up with their apologies. Finally, after letting the discomfort linger as long as she could, Director Henri reclaimed their attention again, leaning forward at her desk towards them. To the silently defiant Frankl in particular. Large, cold blue eyes not blinking, as her icy voice threatened him calmly.

"Frankl? I did not 'ear you apologize to my agent. I would 'ate to 'av my tidy desk stained in a sudden downpour... but on ze other hand, red 'as always been my color..."

Frankl remained silent a moment or two longer, jaw clenching visibly as she waited for his response. Her cold gaze remaining unblinking. Frankl's hand tightening against the chair, as all his subordinates stared at him, watching with bated breath. Looking between him and HUNK. At last, the Senior Fellow, head of the Sixth Laboratory, turned his head in HUNK's direction, looking up into his gas mask, past the weapon aimed at his head. The virologist inclining his head very slightly, and lying openly to him as his subordinates had, while attempting to make it sound properly contrite. He saw through every word of the formality.

"I should not have gone over the Director's head in the first place... but had I known you were in Raccoon City on a priority mission, I would definitely not have field tested the Nemesis. I endangered you and the mission. The responsibility is my own. I am... sorry... Agent HUNK."

"You're only sorry you got caught. Colonel Vladimir knew. You knew. All of you did. You aren't sorry, Frankl. None of you. Not yet. But you will be. I'll make sure of that."

HUNK's eyes swept among them... and he saw the fear imprinted on their guilty faces at his calm vow as he fell back into silence. Looking among themselves. Frankl looked like he had to bite his tongue not to retort, swallowing whatever sentence would get him summarily executed in her office... lowering his eyes instead. It was a welcome sight... all of them cowed. Especially him. It wasn't enough for HUNK... but it was something. Better than nothing. When the moment was right, the Director seized all their attention again, cold voice matching the icy look she cast them.

"I 'av wasted enough time on you pathetic bunch of cockroaches for one evening. Now go, before I change my mind and 'av my Grim Reaper 'ere send Colonel Vladimir your 'eads. Eef your parasite infused Tyrant hadn't proved so powerful, capable, I would 'av you all locked up and shipped out to Rockfort Island for treason. Let Commander Ashford and Doctor Stoker decide your fates. I might yet... and intend to give eet some serious thought. Get ze fuck out of my office. And take your champagne and delusions of grandeur with you. You are getting off easy. Especially you, Frankl. We'll be watching you the closest of all."

On that cue, HUNK at last reluctantly lowered Matilda back down to his side... the red laser sight vanishing from Frankl's head... a gesture enough to make some of them draw sharp, audible breaths of relief. A respite. Knowing they would live at least a little bit longer. But they did not dawdle. The Sixth Laboratory didn't hesitate at her dismissal, they scrambled to their feet quickly, jabbering some more quick apologies to her, and gratitude. Turning to face him, they froze up for an instant as he watched him... stood between them and the door... before giving him a wide berth on either side, moving around him. Fleeing down to the door with their glasses and bottles in hand, eyeing Matilda fearfully. HUNK turned on his boot to watch them go... scrambling out of her office. Senior Fellow Frankl alone pausing last by the door... and looking back at him as though he couldn't see the Director. A mixture of contempt and unease in his eyes towards the agent... resentment, but he did not linger long. HUNK merely stared back at him, resisting the urge to raise the silenced pistol again... before the senior virologist disappeared out the door and closed it behind him. HUNK heard their footsteps racing down the corridor... fleeing back to their laboratory deeper in the facility, to continue their fucked up experiments... with what amounted to little more than a slap on the wrist. It hadn't been much... but it had been something. HUNK had tried... and he couldn't have done it without her help. They were officially on notice now, at least... and he could continue to intimidate them further, going forward. Watch them scurry past him in the halls like the rats they were. Keep them under observation. Let them feel what it was like, what they had done. When the door closed, her familiar, silky laugh brought his attention back to her, her cool mask shattering once more as soon as they were gone. As soon as it was only them. The elegant blonde rose up from behind her desk, hands folded in front of herself in a regal fashion and swept around it, moving to join him by the front of it, heels clicking against the floor, red dress moving a bit with her.

"I knew zare was a reason I got out of bed this morning!"

The young noblewoman laughed again, her large blue eyes were filled with amusement... reaching him and wrapping her arm around his body armored form while he calmly flicked on Matilda's safety again. Then he unscrewed the pistol's silencer along with the laser sight, stowed them away into the original pouch and tucked away Matilda back into her holster. Christine laughed again and looking down after them to the closed door with a smirk, that familiar mischievousness in her eyes, excited, accented voice washing over him once more.

"You were right! Ze silencer and laser sight were ze perfect touch! Zey thought you were going to gun zem down right 'ere!"

"I should have. Would save you and the Board a great deal of trouble. Potential future problems. But orders are orders."

"Perhaps so... but did you see zare stupid faces? Was zat as fun for you as for me?"

"Yes... it was. Long overdue."

"We make such a good team... me with the sharp wit and authority, you standing there... being you. I should bring you into my boardroom meetings from now on. Negotiations would go more smoothly. Another battlefield for you to master."

"Tempting. Psychological warfare has its benefits. Advantages. I've found it can be more useful than physical action, at times."

"That it ese. Fewer stains to clean as well. Ah but where are my manners? Let us get zat off of you again..."

Christine's hands settled to the battle scarred gas mask and helmet again, expertly unstrapping and removing each... setting them over on the nearby desk. Returning her attention to him... arms reaching up and wrapping around either side of his neck, climbing up on to his boots to bring herself up a little closer to his level. His arms wrapped around her form instinctively and his gloved hands settled on her back, rubbing along her bare back, as she leaned up to kiss and nuzzle along his face. The cold blooded Director replaced in an instant by a mischievous, enticing school girl he knew well by now. A girl who had once sat next to him at a dinner table of a masquerade party, fishing for compliments and showing off her white dress, smiling the same smile. Her Comte father watching them from the high table with evident disapproval. Coming up with the very code name he had carried around for a decade, voicing it to Lady Spencer. Like it or not, it had stuck... even for him. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

"Mmm. Zare we are... so much better. Though I miss ze beard already. Oh well. I 'av everything under eet."

HUNK returned her tenderness at once... kissing her on the mouth, slowly and deeply. Intoxicated by it. Her taste. She drew the desire easily enough from him... even now. Perhaps especially now, with what she had just done for him, and included him in. She was quite sexy when she got like this... when they worked together. He respected her intellect and cunning, for all their many other differences. Finally she drew her lips back just enough to speak... large, dancing eyes settling on his exposed eye and intact red lens.

"After all zat excitement... I am tempted to 'av you take me right 'ere on zis desk again... but I must restrain myself. I still 'av a meeting or two before day's end. And I am feeling in a more romantic mood... for ze foreplay of this evening. Besides... good things come to those who wait. The waiting makes eet better... when eet 'appens."

"Yes..."

"Did you rest and eat well, my love? Are you feeling any better?"

"I did... am feeling a bit better. Enough. Needed it."

"Of course you did... you will need more of eet tonight. You are on the mend. Zat you are even walking around ese a small miracle."

For a moment he was going to tell her that he'd had worse. To repeat the same thing he had time and again over his career. But thinking it over... thinking back... he knew it would be a lie. Nothing before it had rivaled Raccoon City. All it had beaten Raccoon City at was length... numbers... how many other conflicts he'd been involved in. It had been close... too close. She went on, fingers lightly trailing around his lips as she spoke more intimately.

"I will take care of you at ze estate. You should stay with me zare awhile... not remain cooped up alone in that barracks of yours. Eet ese not 'ealthy, all zat isolation. Especially now, after everything you 'av been through..."

"Hmm. Might have to take you up on that."

"I should 'ope so. And... I am sorry I could not do more to ze Sixth Laboratory. Their arrogance alone should get zem fired, never mind all zay did... an imprisonment and execution. Unfortunately zare importance to ze bioweapons programs ese too invaluable to lose. Zare was no more powerful or intelligent Tyrant than ze Nemesis. Much of ze board will want more created, eef possible. Especially Vladimir, of course. Eets prowess in ze field will open other research avenues... ze unexpected success of the Alpha Parasite... and with ze G-Virus collected, well... who knows what ze future of ze programs will bring."

A slight chill passed through the agent at her calm, casual words... though the triumphant gleam in her eyes did it especially. No... the G-Virus hadn't been her creation. She had been against it originally, against the Birkins, especially them starting their work at her father's facility before NEST... but it did exist. And because it existed, she was not about to let it go to waste. Let anyone else in the company possess it. Both as an executive solidifying her power... and as a curious virologist herself. One he knew had far fewer qualms on the matter than Carla did. The success of the Nemesis Parasite also had her interest. A future lineup of Parasite class B.O.W.'s, likely. If the company survived long enough to produce them. There were worse hands he could have delivered the G-Virus into... but he was certain there had been better ones as well. Repressing his disquieted feeling on the matter, he simply nodded, speaking again.

"Think I can guess. I knew the Sixth Laboratory would have to be let off the hook when I came to you. I know full well how coveted talent is. Maybe this was enough, though. They'll be looking over their shoulders the rest of their time with Umbrella. Like we were for the Nemesis the entire time in that city. It is justice. At least a little of it."

"Poetic justice at that. I like eet. Still... you 'av my word... eef Doctor Frankl steps one foot out of line, 'e will be all yours to deal with.", The blonde smiled back at him wickedly, eyes shining brighter. Before steadily relaxing, features turning more thoughtful. "Especially after reading zat report. What you endured, thanks to him. I am almost amazed you walked out of eet all alive... I would be, did I not know you so well. Eet 'as already circulated around zee company. Everyone wanted a copy."

"I'm sure."

"Oswell sends his regards for a successful mission. And 'is gratitude for putting on 'quite a show' down in Raccoon City for 'im. 'e was watching on ze satellites, of course. I imagine many within ze company and and perhaps even in ze U.S. Government were. Vladimir is probably still looping it, making himself angry. 'e always does zat."

Christine uttered a titter of laughter at the idea, the image it drew to mind of the bitter giant. HUNK said nothing to that, jaw tightening a bit at the words from Spencer. Processing them. A show. That was all it had been to Umbrella's elites. Their demented, Utopian founder. Nothing more. A hundred thousand dead was of no account... but an old man's entertainment and that of the Inner Circle and others had been more important. His hand tightened into a fist behind his back. Not for the first time... he wondered if Bella had been watching as well... wherever she now was. Likely he would never know the answer to that. And it was just as well. He had no wish to be her entertainment any longer... as he had been for years. He hoped she had missed it. Another, old, spiteful part of him hoped she had seen it... what he had shared with Jill instead of her. Hoping it would sting her. If she even still cared enough to be. Even if she did... she had never displayed jealousy in all the time they had been together... never feared another woman... so confident in herself and her hold over him. She had been right about that. With a grimace, he forced himself to return to the present at the sound of her accented voice continuing, his fist slowly unclenching once more.

"I 'av received many tempting offers over you... at ze party, and since the report came in. Normally I wouldn't consider any of zem... but these are extraordinary times... there ese great potential for both of us, een the future of ze company. Owens made an offer, of course... but eet did not interest me. He shall 'av to content himself with 'is Undertaker Commander. A more advantageous offer came in from dear Alfred that I think you might want to hear. I don't yet 'av all ze details, but he claims we would both stand to benefit greatly from the arrangement 'e ese proposing. 'e wants us both to visit 'im on Rockfort Island, when you are fit to travel."

"I see. Sounds interesting. Haven't been back there in awhile. Too long. You can tell me more about it tonight."

"Of course, of course. You have a promise you are eager to keep. As for your other two wishes... I 'av located ze addresses and numbers. You can come up with me to ze castle this evening and make your call. After dinner, naturally. Eet will be roughly mid day over zare when you do."

"Yes... thank you, Comtesse. Helping me tie up loose ends. It means more than I can say."

"I look after you, you look after me. Remember?", She winked at him knowingly, batting her lashes, looking cuter than usual. Kissing him again with tenderness, nuzzling his nose as she spoke again. A light bulb flashing in her eyes. "Oh... and wear one of ze suits I got you. I know you are not fond of zem, and I do like your uniform attire or casual... but I 'av not seen you een one for ages."

"Only fair. I owe you."

"Yes you do. Big time. Not just any noble lady would be fine with her paramour calling upon other smitten young ladies. Especially after you 'ad ze gull to regift her my special bracelet for you. You can make eet up to me later... at dessert."

The Comtesse tutted, waving a finger at him slowly... but teasingly, the amusement clear. Her casual, amused, accepting nature about it... about Jill... made him strangely uncomfortable... even when he should have been relieved it hadn't hurt her. He'd had the feeling she would be fine with it... what had happened in Raccoon City. She had brought other women to their bed, now and again, at the parties they attended... had no problem sharing him with her aristocratic friends and business associates. Married or otherwise. Just as her husband was often off doing the same as her abroad. Part of their world. Most likely it meant that she didn't take Jill seriously. Bella was the only exception to her rule, the only woman she seemed to consider a threat to her. Perhaps that was for the best she didn't perceive Jill as a threat... it kept her eyes and power, her danger, well away from Jill. But it irritated him at the same time... made him a bit uneasy. Having seen what Jill was capable of. And seeing how genuine she was. A threat she was liable to be to the company. The promises she had shouted at the camera down in the recesses of the Dead Factory, battling Umbrella most powerful creation. Defeating it. His eyes looked to the active, muted laptop screen... where Jill was again in the process of doing exactly that. He didn't let it show. Again he felt the cold steel of her dog tags hanging from his neck, hidden away beneath the armor and bodysuit. There was something oddly welcome about it... reassuring. Her presence... even here, in the heart of the Paris Facility. The Comtesse went on again while he was silent, looking between him, and back to the surface of her desk, gesturing to the helmet and mask she had set down next to Nikolai's laptop.

"Might I keep ze mask and helmet? A souvenir of Raccoon City, for all zis, een my office. A nice conversation piece. And I would like to scare troublesome employees with zem when you aren't present to do so. Remind zem you are no lapdog, but Death, een my kindly employ. We can get you a new mask and helmet anytime. A new everything, from ze poor state of zat uniform and armor."

"Of course, Comtesse. They're all yours."

"Thank you. Sadly... I must cut this short. My next meeting will arrive soon... as much as I would rather lock ze door and stay in here with you ze rest of ze day. I shall meet you at ze cable car station this evening around 8, for ze ride 'ome. Or would you like to return 'ere first?"

"I have something to take care of. I'll meet you at the station."

"Of course, my love. I will see you zen. I shall call eef anything comes up. Do try to remember to keep your cell phone on you, for a change."

"I will."

At his reluctant promise, before he could say any more, she leaned in and kissed him deeply again, closing the distance between their bodies. Pouring through her passion, arms holding him tighter. He responded in kind, grip tightening, letting the embrace linger... in no hurry to withdraw. Lost in the genuine passion of it again, as he always seemed to be. Drowning. An addiction, really. Gradually, they both did withdraw their lips from one another... her forehead pressed to his... red lips smiling that smile he had grown fond of.

"Mmm... needed one more for ze road. Until later, my HUNK..."

Brushing his lips with her fingers, she withdrew from his arms reluctantly, climbing down off his boots, other hand brushing over his shoulder. Hands folding in front of her again, she sauntered back around her desk, enticing hips swaying deliberately... and took her seat again, smoothing out her red dress. Turning off Nikolai's laptop, the screen of the Dead Factory going blank. Picking up the damaged gas mask in both hands, a hand rising, fingers tracing along the mouth piece, and up along the red lens... looking between it and watching him as he made his way back down to the door. He caught her eye one more time when he opened it, turning to go... and felt his lips return her smile. Closing the door behind himself, he stepped back out to the reception area where the secretary girl's desk was. Her head snapped up from her computer monitor and was watching him again at once... still with a bit of trepidation... but perhaps a little less so, devoid of the mask and helmet. She watched him curiously as he reached her desk... looking as though she wanted to say something... maybe ask something... but reconsidered. Biting her lower lip. He saw it at once in her lingering gaze, then, as the moments passed... and felt a pang of disappointment when he recognized what it was. He had been wrong in his initial evaluation of her. She did not wisely fear him... she was also attracted to him, now that she saw him beneath the mask. Even with all the bruises and cuts. She did not have good sense after all. Just as Sir Maxwell's niece likely wouldn't be quitting anytime soon, despite his advice. His warning. Jaw tightening bitterly, he passed her right by instead of engaging with her again, moving back down into the corridor... leaving the offices behind. Passing the various staring employees, who quickly looked away or lapsed back into their conversations when he drew near. Moving deeper into the Paris Facility. Passing by all the security, scientists, maintenance workers and other employees along the way, not really seeing their stares anymore.

Most of his mind zoned out... on the way from one destination to another in the facility. All of it like a map imprinted in his head, how many times he had navigated through these winding facility corridors. A facility as alive as NEST had not been.

Three things were on his mind instead of the onlookers... or at least at the front of it. The cold steel of her dog tags against his chest that drew memory of her... the Comtesse's enticing taste on his tongue... and the third came to mind on the heels of the other two even more powerfully than them... the pale, frightened expressions on the Sixth Laboratory's faces when they had seen him. Pleading to the Director as he affixed the silencer and laser sight. Awaiting their executions that had not come. At least not today. Even the cold blooded Frankl had been shaken. That helpless feeling, that for all his intelligence and knowledge, what he could create, his power... the scope of his ambitions... it meant absolutely nothing looking down the steel barrel of a gun. As Marcus and Birkin before him had realized, at the end. As mad scientists like them always would.

Thinking about it made him smile again. In spite of what they had done. In the end, they were nothing... pathetic... just as their greatest creation had ended up being. He had suggested showing them the footage of Jill destroying the thing. He would never take credit for the deed away from her. She had done far more to it in Raccoon City than he had. Her and Captain Mikhail. Threatening the Sixth Laboratory had been for the best... it meant their sick minds were off her... any potential future reprisals she might receive for destroying the Nemesis... for embarrassing them. And directly on him now, instead. He didn't forget Frankl's expression of loathing, different from the others. It was personal now, between both of them, on both sides of it. He would wait for Frankl to fuck up... as his kind inevitably did... and then deal with him once and for all. He didn't mind taking on more enemies for her on to his plate... Jill would soon have enough of them as it were. More than she already had.

In the meantime until he slipped up... while Frankl was fuming in his lab over what had happened in the Director's office and Raccoon City... there was yet another enemy of Jill's... of theirs... that he could contend with.

---

October 5th, 1998, 7:23PM

Prisoner Confinement Wing, Underground Area of Umbrella Paris Facility, France

"Commie son of a bitch hasn't said a word since you hauled him back to Loire Village. Not to the doctors or any of my guards. Hasn't answered any of my questions."

"Former Spetznatz. Of course not. Was captured by the Mujahideen rebels back in the 80's, interrogated and tortured. Gave them nothing and managed to break out of the prison. Came back with a team and leveled the entire base. Men, women and children. Captured his captors and gave them their own medicine in kind... and a bit more."

"A bit more?"

"Tore all their tongues out when he was finished getting what he wanted out of them."

"Why?"

"Control, I expect. Humiliation. A powerful weapon, tried and true. Psychological warfare. Soviets loved it. But... I think it was so they couldn't pray aloud."

"Figures. Well, he's not exactly in any condition to attempt escape. Even at his best, if he could get past the security devices here and my men, I would eat my boots. And maybe you'll get something out of him. Besides his other eyeball."

"Usually do. Won't take removing the other eye off the table, though. No option is off the table, when dealing with him. Those like him."

HUNK and Agent Raval moved further down the familiar, concrete corridors of the prisoner wing, passing all the cells on each side of the corridor, passing security forces standing by on guard duty. Armored from head to toe and armed to the teeth with assault rifles... especially given the prisoner wing's sole occupant, injured or not. Passing beneath security cameras and stopping now and again to wave their ID Wristbands over door scanners, holographic light projecting out and scanning them for clearance, the automated locks retracting and granting them access deeper into the facility. Just now, every cell they passed was empty of prisoners... the last shipment of them to the island had gone out some time ago. Now it was a cell block occupied by a single dangerous man. Reaching the cell at the end of the corridor, passing under the security camera and lights, shadows flitting along the walls, HUNK stopped and Raval with him. Turning on his boot towards the state of the art cell... the great automated mechanical door and large Plexiglas window revealing the entirety of it. It was illuminated by a big overhead light... mostly barren except necessities... and the heavily bandaged figure laying on the bed within, clad in a black prisoner jumpsuit uniform. A medical bandage covering the spot where his right eye had been. The silver haired man stared straight up at the ceiling with his remaining eye, neither moving nor speaking at HUNK's presence... and he understood. Turning back to the head of the Paris Facility's security with a nod.

"It's alright, Raval. You can leave us. Have work to do anyways. The Director would like you to post a squad of agents on the Sixth Laboratory. Keep them under watch. At all times. From now on they are to go nowhere in this facility without an escort. They step one toe out of line, behave suspiciously, you are to detain them and notify me immediately."

"More traitors, I take it? Let off the hook? And here I thought they were going to end up cell block company for Nikolai."

"If only. Politics."

"A pity. Yes sir. I'll call up some of my best to get it done. Call if you need anything. Wouldn't mind working him over a bit more. Not that you weren't already thorough."

"Thank you, Raval."

Raval's eyes flickered from HUNK to Nikolai, looking at the Monitor with contempt and shaking his head, before turning on his heel and marching away, past his assorted security guards lining the block. The echo of his boots carrying down the corridor with him. When his form and the sound of his steps was gone, HUNK slowly looked back into the Monitor's cell... and the man's sole eye now looked back across his cell from where he lie and through the Plexiglas at HUNK. His battered, bruised, bandaged features unreadable and unrecognizable. His familiar deep, accented voice speaking up at last... none of the pain he must have been in reflected in his wry tone.

"Death. Mending well?"

"Better than you, Silver Wolf."

"So it would seem. We are in France, then... I had expected to be fitted with an iron mask back aboard the Leviathan to wear when we got here, instead of a bag. The blue bloods here so love their petty torments. It might have further ingratiated you with your Countess."

"He didn't wear an iron mask. Voltaire reported it incorrectly. He wore a black velvet cloth over his head as well. Like you did. Should have brushed up on your French history, between jobs."

"Frogs. Not worth the effort. You westerners are all alike anyways. Tiresome. Quite the state of the art cage you've had me thrown into. I preferred my room aboard the Leviathan... that bed... even with the assault rifles in my face the entire time. Still... better your men than SENTINEL's."

The Monitor uttered a low, familiar, appreciative laugh at that. Painful, but remaining unperturbed. He lay back a bit more on the bed, stretching his intact arm a bit, shaking his head slowly.

"These days you are more the wolf than I am, though. Albeit a tamed one.", Nikolai's cold eyes looked over HUNK's shoulder to the corridor... before returning to the agent. "Where is your red whore? I thought she might wish to join you here... gloat herself. The frog let go of your leash for an evening? I am shocked."

HUNK did not answer him, jaw tightening. Merely stared back through the Plexiglas. The Monitor chuckled knowingly, fingers tapping absently upon the side of the bed, expression growing thoughtful.

"And what of your blue one? How I wish I had been conscious for that... watching you abandon her, as you were always going to, in the end. It felt like amputating a limb, I am certain... you have a phantom pain, still feel her with you. But you did it all the same. She was different, wasn't she? Good. Not like you. Not like us. Different from your Comtesse and from Bella. You still feel it. Feel her."

"That what you've been doing since you got here? Thinking up a speech to try to get in my head? You have bigger priorities to worry about, now. From where I'm standing, you're feeling a great deal more pain than I am. And will continue to."

"Ever so stoic... on guard. That taught stiff upper lip. Especially with what cuts you the deepest. You look like you have seen better days... and while it is true I have as well... surely you received the doctor's report of what you did to me... you are broken within... while I am not. My body will mend. Your spirit will not. I am content in that knowledge. A fair enough trade... for the moment. What became of Colonel Vladimir?"

"Headed to the Caucasus Facility with U.M.F.-013. For whatever Spencer is putting him up to there."

"My. A pity to be kept out of the loop on so many matters... despite your seemingly lofty position... is it not? A good thing one of us knows, at least. And what else?"

"He has disowned you. Not much of a 'comrade' after all. Probably for the best. I have your laptop. Reviewed it all. You gathered a hell of a lot alright. Insurance for yourself. Now mine. Director Henri will release all the information on him and you to the Board if need be. You were seeking new employment anyways, only fitting you stab each other in the back. Both of you were always quite alike."

"Birds of a feather... as you well know. Afghanistan created many unique friendships. War always does. Your mistress has taught you the game well. Will you become a boardroom warrior now instead of a field one? I imagine you can get any job you want to, your golden boy status restored in full. All suspicions and doubts of your wavering loyalty cast aside, even if you and I know the truth. Of your own doubts... of your treason."

"Had a few offers."

"Congratulations. Enjoy them while you can. They will not last you. None of this will. Your decadent trappings. The golden prison your Lady locked you in. It will blow away upon the wind, in due time."

The Monitor's intact hand settled on the side of the bed, then, gripping it tightly. With great effort, features contorting, he sat up on the bed, grunting painfully, but turning his bandaged, uniformed body and facing HUNK. It must have taken an incredible amount of effort... but he had the will, even now. Repressing the pain, breathing deeper. Looking about the interior of the cell, and back down to him where he stood.

"We both know this prison of theirs will never hold me, Death.", He spoke at last assuredly, calmly, cold, hard eye unblinking. That familiar smile returning to his features. A calm knowledge and self assurance. "Whatever it takes, once I have healed... I will get out... and I will rejoin my employer... or kill everyone between me and you. I haven't decided which, yet. You should have killed me the moment you had the chance."

"Maybe. We'll see if the prison on Rockfort Island does. You'll be transferred there, and soon be under the authority of Commander Ashford. Of Doctor Enoch Stoker. Whatever they deem fit for you. Agent Barton and his men there will make sure you don't break out. Figured you should hear it from me first. Since we might be seeing much more of each other there, in the near future. The accommodations there will be more worthy of you than these. Get the feeling you'll be missing this place, as you do the Leviathan, when all is said and done. That sick bastard Stoker will make your stay in that rebel prison seem like a walk in the park. I promise you. Always did enjoy his experiments."

That information did make him blink. A ripple of unease at mention of the island and its infamous prison 'doctor' passing over his features... but only for an instant. In a flash it was gone... and the Monitor merely nodded, jaw tightening.

"The island run by a degenerate lunatic... his equally mad anatomist lackey... taking me to your only true home. Nothing done to me there... will break me... I promise you. As those desert savages didn't in Afghanistan. Even trying as hard as they did. Throw me into the darkest hole in the earth. Surround me with more lunatics. Watch me emerge free and triumphant from the prison's ruins, in the end. I welcome the challenge. Survival has always been our essence."

"You'll live, alright. Fit right in, among the criminally insane. Live longer than you want to. I'll make sure of that. Told you that already. I keep my promises."

"And I mine."

"Said what had to be. Until next time, then. See you on the island."

Turning abruptly, HUNK started away from the cell... but Nikolai's cold, amused voice rang out and stopped him where he was in his tracks. That gloating, maddeningly confident tone he knew so well. Even now in his condition, he spoke with it.

"I beat you, you know... back at that rooftop. Had it not been for unforeseen, meddling, outside help... your own deus ex machina... you were finished. All you did and struggled for, rendered for nothing. There was no escape until then. I would have pulled you and your beloved cop down to hell with me... and maybe we would have been better off... at home there, compared to what is coming. It's not over, Death. Not yet. It is only starting... this war. And I intend to fight in it by any means necessary. Do not forget that this evening... in your castle... sipping your wine and fucking your frog Countess, trying in vain to forget. To go back to the way you were, before Raccoon City. You will soon see how quickly everything will be taken away from you."

Slowly, very slowly HUNK turned back around to face him. Nikolai remained sitting upright... the pain again under control. What was visible of his face smiling with ever familiar malice. HUNK felt his heartbeat quickening... as the words came to him, slowly but easily. As they had typing his report. Somehow.

"You were nothing, Nikolai. Despite everything you did and tried to do. I still beat you, with handicaps others and yourself imposed. You accomplished nothing. I underestimated you, I admit... never believed you would do something so monumentally fucking stupid. Insane. If you had simply left with everything you had gathered... you would be on par with my standing now, or well ahead. At your traitor employer's side. Plotting Umbrella's destruction. You had it all... everything, and a means of escape. But you and your ego couldn't let that be. You wanted more. You wanted Valentine, the G-Virus, and me to join you. And when that didn't pan out... you still couldn't walk away without proving something to yourself. You just had to spite me, to your own detriment. Well... you've proven something, alright. You're in there and I'm out here. Sit there and think about that awhile."

The agent started to leave again... but froze again... looking back at him one more time. Despising the man more than he had before Raccoon City. Even having known him awhile... he saw him differently, now. For what he was, instead of what he had thought Nikolai to be. Jaw tightening steadily... with the gloved fist down at his side. Without hesitation he made one more promise. To the Monitor and to himself.

"Next time we face one another... on some battlefield... if there is one... I won't underestimate you again. And she won't be around any longer to stop me from doing what I should have. What I will do. Not letting you off easy, next time."

"To the death. As it should be. I will hold you to that promise. Just remember... you are in a prison no less than I am. No... that isn't true. You are in a far more insidious one that goes far deeper than my own. I will take genuine iron bars and shackles over the golden ones your Bella constructed... bars you have dutifully maintained within yourself. You are the eternal prisoner and the willing warden of your own purgatory. Responsible for your own suffering, that I will mercifully deliver you from."

"You'll try."

"Until the next time then, Death. And until the last time. "

The Monitor's smile did not waver in the slightest... and slowly he lay back down on his bed, looking more content and resolved than HUNK had ever seen him, even as he was. Not a mere Supervisor... but a king sitting a throne, a low chuckle escaping his lips. HUNK looked away from the mad Russian's cell and moved back down the corridor where he had come from. Passing by the curious Raval and his men at the security checkpoint without a word. Waving his ID Wristband now and again, when needed. He left it all behind... withdrawing within himself again... one more task completed to set aside what had happened in Raccoon City. Finishing up the details. The time would come where he had to kill Nikolai... or they would kill each other... but right now, as it had been with the Sixth Laboratory... he contented himself with a small measure of justice. Rockfort Island would have to suffice. And as it had been leaving her office... he didn't see the areas of the facility that he passed or the array of fellow employees staring at him as he went by.

All he saw was the raging fire of the helicopter on that ruined rooftop of the Dead Factory, burning in Nikolai's malevolent eye as he held up the detonator... with the dying city beyond and below him. Someone very much like demon standing proudly among it. Maybe the Monitor had been right about that much... that Raccoon City had been their natural climate. Where they belonged. Hell. Hell on Earth. He didn't know if the other Hell existed... had little faith in such matters... but if it did, one day... he would send Nikolai there... or die in the attempt and be sent there himself.

But not today.

---

October 5th, 1998, 7:46PM

U.S.S. Barracks #4, Underground Area of Umbrella Paris Facility, France

Upon his return to the barracks, HUNK closed the door behind himself, flicking on the lights again. Marching down the concrete floor as the lights flashed on one at a time with a humming. Returning to his quarters promptly and doing the same, turning on the lights and letting the door close behind him. He felt the comfort of the quarters... not in its surroundings... but in the isolation. His private sanctum. Away from the people and the security cameras. He might as well have been a million miles away from the world of the underground facility... the wariness it and those in it drew. The doubts. Surrounded on all sides of this prison.

He sat himself down in the chair at his desk, leaning back into it, and simply breathed... tried to relax. Looking over to the clothing cabinet... and around the interior of his quarters... fancy and well furnished... in stark contrast to the barracks just outside it. It was fancier than he would have liked... when he'd first come to the Paris Facility, it had been as plain as the rest of the barracks. While he had been out on another mission to Zaire, she had had it redesigned and renovated... to surprise him with a gift when he returned successfully. Added civilian comforts. She had even done the same to his quarters at the Loire Village facility. A replica of this room. Her heart had been in the right place, and he had been grateful... but such things had been wasted on him. All it did was remind him of what he knew to be undeniable... what many people knew. It was his gilded cage.

A bejeweled leash around his neck, as Vladimir had cleverly, and accurately, put it.

He hadn't wanted to put himself above his men where comforts were concerned... but she was blue blood... and wanted him to reflect her a bit more. Only the best for her... and for her agent. Her man. Paramour. Accessory, really. He supposed he should be grateful she hadn't redesigned their uniforms to be red and white as well, her colors. She had always been fashionable and stylish... feminine. A different sort of womanhood from Jill. From Bella. He thought about their confrontation of the Sixth Laboratory again... wondering if he should have said something more to them, as satisfying as it had been to make them squirm. Poetic justice like that tended to be few and far between in his career with Umbrella. Watching those scientist bastards pay even a little bit for their idiocy.

A rarity.

Mostly, the only other time he got that reaction from them was at the company parties she dragged him to. Seeing how quickly they got out of his way, how uncomfortable they became... all the stories they had heard. At least they left him alone for the most part. It was the executives who were more a personal problem to him in a social setting... all of them vying for his contract. Having someone they considered a one man death squad, assassin and spy on their payroll as an insurance policy. An ace in the hole. Time old corporate warfare in action. And that wasn't even getting into the members of the other companies attending such business parties... the Taiwanese and Hong Kong executives of Shén Yā Pharmaceutical and the assorted European executives of Tricell, especially. He remembered the Comtesse introducing him to the prosperous Gionne Family at one such event a year or so back, close in laws who had married into the famous Travis family, the founders of Tricell, and who naturally held high positions within the company as such. They had gotten quite a kick out of his codename, he recalled their laughter. The renowned head of the Gionne family, Hugo Gionne, had heard of him already though, the stories about him reaching other companies. The powerful, wealthy patriarch had patted him on the back, plenty of drinks in him, and light heartedly tried to convince the Comtesse to part ways with him, claimed that he needed a new head of security at his branch of the company.

HUNK had shaken each of their hands and indulged them quietly and politely, remembering the courtesies Lady Spencer had taught him long ago... listening to all of it. Christine had been speaking with Hugo's wife Christina as well, the two sharing a simpering laugh at the coincidence of their names. Their eldest child, a teenage daughter, had been in attendance as well, and had been watching him closely for much of the night, though it had been the Comtesse who noticed first with amusement and brought it to his attention. Asking him wryly if the interested teenager reminded him of anyone he knew. She had been a tall, blue eyed, dark haired beauty named Excella, who had taken his hand daintily, had worn a white dress and smiled at him just as brightly as her attire. Clever and witty for her age, extroverted, as the Comtesse had been. British-Italian, her and her family had descended from wealthy merchants before marrying into the Travis family, but had seemed no less a blue blood type than those he worked for. He knew it wasn't likely the Comtesse would surrender his contract entirely to another executive, and certainly not to another company... more likely there would be stipulations, where he worked for her and another member of Umbrella of her choosing. Not after all the stops she'd pulled out to get him under her thumb. She had never been one to squander her investments... you didn't get to her level in the game that way. Though he wondered what she would stand to gain in renting him out.

He sat there alone with his thoughts for a time in tranquil silence as the minutes on the clock went by, rejuvenating himself for the evening that awaited him... the socializing. When all he cared about was making his phone call. Keeping his promise. Feeling the anticipation of it already. It took effort... more effort than killing. But he was realistic to know hoops had to be jumped through to get what someone wanted. Especially in this company. Looking to the clock when the time was right... he finally rose from his seat and went to the closet. Removing his worn yellow combat harness, battered dark plate carrier body armor, dark grey bodysuit, black zipper tank top, and everything except his watch, ID Wristband, and the necklace with her dog tags, hanging it all up. Looking through the closet, he picked out one of the suits she liked and began to change into it in silence. Putting on the black dress pants, fine black leather shoes, white shirt, black suspenders and black suit jacket rapidly... finishing with the uncomfortable red silk tie.

The U.S.S. Agent looked at himself in the mirror grimly once he was dressed... already this look was becoming his second uniform around France... but one he still had never quite adjusted to. An unhappy, blonde, bruised and cut up stranger stared back at him, shaking his head slowly. When he had finished, he reached for his cell phone and tucked it away in a pocket. The cell phone had been her idea... of course. He found little use for it, personally... not having a social life that required one. He already had a normal phone in his room. And found the sight of the numerous employees on their cell phones all the time to be a growing irritant. So unable to exist within themselves that they always needed to be reaching out to others to stimulate them. Attention seeking. Yet... the obligations of the job meant he needed to be available to the company 24/7... and especially to her. She comprised at least ninety percent of the calls he received on it. Her or one of her employees... especially the ones at the estate.

While HUNK enjoyed technology... cell phone technology was not among it. He would rather be in QUARTERMASTER's labs... reviewing the latest high tech armaments, gadgets and armor, along with the various modifications. It seemed like there was always something new when he came in. Already he looked forward to the new bodysuit and armor the old man claimed to be working on. If it could take more of a beating then the current U.S.S. armor model could... it would be saying something. Next he reached for Matilda, removing her from the holster and transferring her to the holster within his suit jacket, along with a couple spare extended magazines, in addition to the one already in her. Clipping his combat knife to his belt as well. No doubt it would be unlikely he'd need either that evening... but it was force of habit. A wisely taught one by Lady Spencer to never go unarmed... that there could be a threat any time. Even off the battlefield he was not safe from war. And the truth was, in his off time from missions... he was as much a bodyguard to the Comtesse as he was her agent. And her lover behind closed doors. Jack of all trades... on and off the battlefield.

Well... nearly all trades.

It wasn't easy to maintain most conversations... even with her. But it still worked out in the end. They all wanted to talk, her crowd in the upper classes... talk about themselves... their plans... them them them. And about the company. Usually everything but him, at least, thankfully. More self absorbed. It had been different with Bella... and even more so with Jill. He was aware how fucked up it was he should find more peace in a war zone than in a powerful noblewoman's arms in a secure castle... but it was the truth all the same. He found himself desperately uncomfortable here... already even more so than before Operation: NESTWRECKER. The job offer the Comtesse had mentioned from Commander Ashford could not come soon enough. The Rodriquez mission as well. He could not mend soon enough. If he had to choose... he would prefer some solo work for a little while. He had gotten enough members of Alpha Team killed as it were. Was doing his so called 'legend' no favors. Maybe he would be required in Eastern Europe or Africa again... there was always conflict there, and Umbrella interests and facilities. He needed something to lose himself in. Too much down time off the battlefield was rapidly becoming insufferable. He wasn't sure how Raval or NIGHTHAWK did it. Poor SENTINEL on the other hand did it the same way HUNK did... through gritted teeth.

The cell phone began to ring in his pocket, then, interrupting his train of thought. Of course. Right on schedule. Removing and answering it, he held the phone to his ear, murmuring into it. Looking back at his battered body armor and uniform hanging in the closet, with the rest of his clothing, his weapons and ammunition.

"Comtesse, didn't forget the suit... just got dressed. I'm on my way down to the cable...-"

"Your lady has you working evenings again? Already? No rest for the weary, Agent HUNK."

It was not her voice that greeted him... but it was a low voice he knew all the same. Ever calm, smooth and collected. One that made anger pulsate inside himself, once the alarm died rapidly away.

"How did you get this number?"

"Easily. With the resources now at my disposal, and my unrivaled intellect. Nothing is beyond my reach. Not even your lady's admittedly impressive encryption technology."

"What the hell do you want?"

"Manners, Agent HUNK. I merely wanted to congratulate you on your stroke of good fortune. Your success. Snatching victory from the jaws of certain defeat... it was quite impressive to behold."

"And? What else? There's always something else with you. Get to the goddamn point. I'm in no mood for your bullshit."

"Very well... I'll come straight to the point, then. Merely what Nikolai offered you. Another chance to join me. Nikolai proved a disappointment to invest in, ultimately... but you didn't. His talents and usefulness to me are quite specific... yours much broader. You adapted and survived against all odds. Worse odds than have ever been against you. Accomplished your mission. I will need people like you in the time to come. I am giving you a chance to become part of something greater than yourself or your company. Just as Bella once brought you into the life you now lead. I'm asking you directly... unlike the others, who pursue you through your Comtesse. What I offer is not the status quo you are used to. I offer a challenge... one that will pay off, in the end. I offer the future, not the past."

"Very dramatic. As usual. Rehearse that speech in front of a mirror before you called?", HUNK's cold tone returned to the man on the other end of the line, hand at his side tightening into a fist. "I'll tell you what I told Nikolai. Go fuck yourself. My place is with the company."

"Not for much longer, I fear. Nothing is forever... not even loyalty. I know Umbrella is drowning you slowly from within. You are not content there... satisfied, even in your gilded cage. Especially in it. Umbrella did not prove to be what you thought it was... when you were younger. As I once did. But you are stuck. As much in yourself as the company. Complacent. You are too smart not to know that. You are not blind in your loyalty to Spencer, as Sergei is. Quite an interesting, candid exchange the two of you had on the Leviathan. Refreshingly honest. I was impressed with that as well."

"You have spies aboard the Leviathan?"

"Don't sound so surprised... you are not the naive rookie any longer. Everyone has spies everywhere in Umbrella, by now. In every company. It's how it's always been. You are part of the system, know it better than most. Nothing and nobody is safe. Look at how quickly the entire company got their hands on your report. Among other things. I happen to have been one of them. Your report was more impressive than usual. It is a pity about that mishap with poor William... perhaps it all could have turned out differently. Though it is oddly fitting the man who murdered his mentor should also have a hand in his death as well. Albeit an inadvertent one, this time. Things have a way of coming full circle. Did Spencer engineer that bit of poetic justice deliberately? It certainly sounds like him. I can imagine his disappointment that he did not get his hands on William alive. A small silver lining to the tragedy at NEST, at least."

"Your insane friend brought it on himself. Deserved worse than he got. He released the B.O.W.'s. He infected NEST and the city. I wish it had been an assassination mission instead of a grab. Wish it had been like Marcus. I would have gladly dumped his carcass in the sewers this time. His wife as well. Along with yours, if you had been there. Three traitors for the price of one mission. No... I would have hauled the three of you before Lord Spencer myself."

"Indeed. Such is the risk of ambition and corruption. Dear William, unfortunately, paid the price for his, as did many others throughout this event."

"Not enough."

"And you've met Jill now as well. You made for quite the team, together. A rather intriguing development that proved to be."

HUNK said nothing for a moment... but his jaw tightened at the mention of her. Especially from him doing so... after the mansion. What she had told him. Knowing what he had wanted to do to her. Knowing he was going to get around to it. And why not? Everyone seemed to have a remark about it. He may have cleared his name in accomplishing Operation: NESTWRECKER... would cement it further by taking out Rodriquez... but there would always be murmurs about her. He felt an ember of anger burning, then,... working to keep it under control. His voice steady. Not to give him more than he already had.

"You wanted her alive. You gave the order to Nikolai... you wanted her as a test subject. Why? Haven't you done enough to her already?"

"My... but isn't that touching? A soft spot, in all that icy armor. Despite what you might think, it is business related, nothing personal. The Nemesis strain of the T-Virus flows within her veins... a combination of that strain, and the Alpha Parasite's unique genetic structure... along with those antibodies of the antidote you and the Corporal procured. There is no telling the combination of mutagenic properties potential. A number of unfortunate individuals have become valuable biological commodities through differing infections, during this entire matter. One of them is either dead or has escaped even my range... you saved another of them... and let yet another fall into Simmons' hands. Your concern for Jill's well being is oddly touching, though. Especially coming from you."

The man's smooth, velvet voice remained just a touch amused as it spoke to the agent. What the hell did he mean? Who was he talking about? Who had died or escaped? Jill was the second one, undoubtedly, the one he had saved... but who was the latter? Who had Simmons procured? Something had slipped past him along the way. The bastard on the phone always knew something others didn't. Always had been more than one step ahead of the rest of them. As HUNK had just managed to be ahead of Vladimir with more luck than political skill. The man went on as though it were of little importance, speaking before HUNK could.

"I must admit... for all my foresight, I did not foresee your paths crossing, and with that of the Nemesis. Any of it. Particularly not what passed between you. Jill, with every reason to despise Umbrella and all its employees... and a cold blooded agent working on their behalf... growing as close as you did. I was certain you would kill one another. Umbrella is not the only one with access to satellite and camera feeds, Agent HUNK. Nor Nikolai with surveillance footage. The way you resolved that matter with the mutated worm in the graveyard was an especially inspired feat."

HUNK felt a chill pass through him at the casual reveal of information. Remembering the many cameras around the city, and beneath it in the NEST... Umbrella's investments. How much had the bastard seen of him? Or Umbrella? The U.S. Government? Christine had implied as much. Maybe he would never know... but he was going to wonder. He had stayed in Raccoon City too long, left too much evidence and footage of himself behind. He hoped most of it had been lost in the blast... but found himself highly doubting it. Knowing he would likely be on many curious parties radars, by now.

"Though... I suppose conflict does make for strange bedfellows. Alliances and dalliances. Yours was not the only unlikely blooming romance of the past days."

Again HUNK did not answer him... feeling the cold touch of steel from her necklace. Thinking of her... and not his irritation at being dragged through what had happened again and again. She was worth the price. There was just a touch of amusement to his tone, but no outright mockery... and on that note he mercifully went on.

"But that is neither here nor there. I did not come here to mock you crudely about your personal affairs, as Nikolai and Sergei have. There was something curious you cleverly taunted Sergei with at the end of your exchange, that he was unable to figure out. You left it out of your report. You left out a few conspicuous things, didn't you? Unexpected, for such a loyal company man... you seem to be adapting to my world."

"Yes. I saw Ada. Saw them. Should have figured it was you they were answering to. Thought it might be Simmons. Congratulations. You got the G-Virus as well. What thirty pieces of silver did you offer GHOST to betray Umbrella?"

"GHOST? That man died at NEST, with the rest of your team. As your team always does. The man you saw with her is a freelance operative code named Agent. And it was Ada who made that little recruitment possible... did all the convincing... not that it required much of it."

"I just bet she did. Know how she operates."

"You certainly would, wouldn't you?"

"Agent... how long did it take for you to come up with that codename all by yourself? I'm laughing at the superior intellect."

"You could certainly do with more laughter in a life like yours, HUNK. It would be healthy. At any rate, you had your hands full with other matters as it were. Even I am wrong sometimes. She made it out the G-Virus... and a man once Umbrella's who is now hers, and as such... is mine. Both of them in my employ. Though he was once a subordinate, and is quite young, he was wiser than you. He came to work for me willingly. You should follow his lead... he received a better offer, and knew when to take it. When to walk away from a bad deal. On his first mission, no less, where you have remained stubbornly entrenched in that company for years. I wasn't expecting such sentimentality from Ada during this mission... it had nearly gotten her killed already... but she rebounded impressively. Came through. As she always does. Seized victory despite the odds... like you. If nothing else... you and I have profited from all this immeasurably... have come out ahead of most of the other players... and stand to do so further. We would make for quite a team... as we once were in the good old days."

HUNK thought of his familiar slight smile beneath the sunglasses. Passing him and his fellow assassin right by in that laboratory doorway with Birkin, entirely nonchalant about the entire thing. Watching the old bullet ridden man bleed out at his feet as they stole Marcus' life work for themselves. The amused, approving look he had cast in his friend's direction as Birkin had gloated over the dying old man. He remembered the respectful nod at the party he had received from the man, for doing his dirty work for him. Despite everything HUNK knew he offered... a pulse of temptation to accept... the chance to escape Umbrella... the answer came to HUNK as easily as before. There was no escape. Even if he entered the man's employ... it would be into the unknown shackles of another. One he didn't know well. He chose the devil he knew best, instead. The prison he had adapted to. Where he had support. Such as it was. At last he rendered his final answer.

"No. It's over. I'll never work with you again. My answer to you is the same."

"Never say never. It is early days yet, HUNK... and I know you are not thinking objectively, after what you have been through. I will give you the time you need to recover and reconsider. Think it over. Go on as you have been for now, choose your next job... carry out more operations for your lady and the company. Rockfort Island is certainly nice this time of year. In the meanwhile, the offer will still stand when you are finally ready to accept it. You have a place in my plans. The U.S.S. will not be forever. Your end may come sooner rather than later."

There was nothing angry or disappointed in the man's ever calm voice. Simple assurance. He knew he was going to get his way in the end... whether he did or not. It wasn't a debate or an argument. Something about it left HUNK uneasy, the unnatural confidence. And more than ready to stop talking to him. He didn't need this. He had enough problems on his plate already. And many more on the way. No... not just a confidence. It was a threat. A falsely polite one at that, rankling at him.

"Good luck with all that. You're going to need it. And a fucking army, if you think you're going to go to war with U.S.S. Going to need a hell of a lot more than Ada and a trigger happy rookie, thinking with his dick, watching your back."

"Good luck to you as well. You may find you require it far more than I. Rest assured. And HUNK? Before you go. I wish you the best with dear Jill, when you call her. With Alfred and your dear Comtesse as well. It has been ages since we were all last together. Enjoying an evening. Not since Bella, I do believe."

"Goodbye, Wesker."

HUNK abruptly turned off the phone, flipping it closed and tucking it away in a fluent gesture. Heart still beating quickly at the unexpected ambush. He should have expected it was coming... but in the madness of the past days he had all but forgotten all about the man in question. There were times he had almost thought he had died at the mansion... most of Umbrella believed it... but he hadn't when he got the news from the Comtesse. Even as he had hoped against hope. Nikolai had made it clear in Raccoon City whose interests he had been serving, at the end... who he wanted them to go to work for. He was the wild card in all this... maybe he always had been. Who he was working for now... serving what interests... what his goals were... HUNK couldn't be sure. All he knew was that it involved the G-Virus... Ada, GHOST, Nikolai... and recovering Jill as a test subject.

He was gathering viruses, talented people and research... had spies throughout the corporation. Building a team... an army. Unless he already had one. To do what? Defeat Umbrella? Conquer it? Create something to rival it? Umbrella had no real competitors... all of them put together couldn't rival it... Tricell was the closest competition, and was trailing many leagues behind. But that was before Raccoon City. The company sat on a precarious precipice, now. Governments... corporations... militaries... everyone would be gunning for them, very soon. To take them down... or fill the void Umbrella might leave behind. Take advantage of the situation for their own power. And that was not even taking into account all the infighting already within Umbrella. Everyone in the company would need to set aside their differences quickly... or it was all going to burn. Lord Spencer would have a great deal he needed to set into motion... favors to call in, blackmail as well. Consolidate his assets.

It would be different... fighting on the defensive. It was rarely ever truly successful. For most of his career with Umbrella Security Service it had been, ironically, fighting on the offensive. The best defense had been a good offense. He was certain for a little while yet, it still would be. Drastic actions would need to be taken quickly to ensure the company's survival, and buy time. It was little wonder so many job offers were coming up before he had mended. As for Wesker... HUNK would know what it was all about eventually... sooner, he was certain, than he cared to. If they met in battle in the future... if it came to war... so be it. He welcomed the prospect of a visible enemy instead of a clandestine one to root out. He would reunite the manipulative bastard with Birkin and Marcus... do what he should have done years ago.

As loath as he was towards Vladimir... he knew where the man stood... and they were, for better or worse, on the same side. Would probably have to work together again, when the war came for Umbrella. Wesker was another story altogether. Always had been. They would just have to be ready for him... when the inevitable came.

Looking back at himself in the closet mirror one more time... looking at the red tie... he realized how sadly fitting it was to wear. A noose or a leash... it served both ends. Pulling him forward to his death... but a death... a release... that just wouldn't come. Always another battle. Another mission. Death could not die. On to the next hurtle. On to the next mission. It was time for one final matter... to put Raccoon City behind him and move on. Now he had to reach the one who had created all this conflict inside him. HUNK finally turned from the mirror, and departed his quarters and the barracks, turning the lights off behind him in each. Stepping out into the corridors of the Paris Facility, drawing a breath, and closing the door behind him. Then doing one of the things he did best.

Leaving it all behind.

---

Can't tell you how much I enjoyed writing HUNK and Comtesse Henri's company team work, entrapping the Sixth Laboratory and scaring the shit out of them. Psychological warfare. Comtesse Henri doing the talking, showing off more of her cunning and villain persona (but for a sympathetic reason), HUNK and his legend simply existing and standing there with a gun behind them. Basically being the Nemesis to them. Sadly I couldn't realistically have them executed, because of their obvious brilliance and success, importance to the company. But that sure as hell doesn't mean they get let off the hook entirely. HUNK did the best he could to get Jill a bit of justice, under the circumstances. He made another enemy in the process, but it was more than worth it. He'll be watching Frankl now. And Nikolai getting some more comeuppance, a nice trip to a certain tropical island... one he won't likely get to enjoy. I liked making this a comeuppance chapter, while also setting up the looming greater threat... a certain supervillain we all know and love, and linking to the short story I'm posting after this story is complete.

HUNK: "You and what army, Wesker?"

*H.C.F. bombs and swarms Rockfort Island*

HUNK: "Oh. That army."

But that's all a ways off. And I hear Richard Waugh's version of Wesker for the most part, his voice, for my universe's version of the man.

RIP HUNK's famous Gas Mask and Helmet, now a proud trophy piece for the Comtesse. But well worth the three wishes.

HUNK Wish #1: Ambush the Sixth Laboratory with the Comtesse and scare the hell out of them, put them in their place.

HUNK Wish #2: Jill's location via the tracking device and the phone number to the motel she's staying at.

HUNK Wish #3: Read the next chapter to find out.

Meanwhile... back in Arklay County... coming up soon ;).