Chapter 18! Huzzah and hooray! Today's one of those days that comes once in a blue moon-A day off! And so, I write. Thank you to all pre-readers (Me) reviewers (All of you) and critiques and such.
On wif the show!
Hamster: * digs out review on chapter sixteen* hrm…an interesting notion that…all I'll say is maybe ;)
Disclaimer: I own none of this, save for the plotline and the sandwiches-along with some of the NPCs-but hey! They're NPCS and therefore-they are EXPENDABLE!
NPCs-We're WHAT?
Author: Expendable. Ask anybody at Fanfiction.net. All NPCs, from all stories are expendable. We can't kill off the actual characters unless they die in the story.
NPCs- we'll form a union!
Author: You have a Union. Locale 7345. And it's a damn good union.
Anyway-Without further gilding the…um…story or humor-here's chapter eighteen
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"If you love somebody, let them go. If they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were."
-Anon.
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Los Angeles
1986
The horrors of the eighties were exemplified here.
Big hair, loud patterns, bright colors were everywhere. Annette clenched her teeth and gripped the steering wheel of the car with a vengeance. She turned on the radio, hoping to content this ever-growing feeling of rage with a little music.
I saw your
eyes,
and you made me smile;
for a little while
I was falling in love
The only other thing in the universe I couldn't stomach any more then the decade. Annette thought as she made another turn and headed toward the hospital, Love. Love was what (She thought) made her drive out in the early morning traffic to gather nourishment. Love was all you were supposed to need, love was-
Overrated.
I saw your
eyes,
and you touched my mind.
Although it took a while,
I was falling in love.
She sighed and glanced to the back seat where she'd safely stored the coffee and donuts. It was a surprise, a way to bring William back to the world of the living after his short sabbatical. She didn't even know if he'd like donuts, bacteria Birkin wasn't the type to eat normal human food. He had incredible eyes too, big blue eyes-like marbles.
I saw your eyes
And you made me cry
And for a little while
I was falling in love.
The car swerved to the side amidst the loud blaring honks and cries of outrage of the Los Angeles side streets. Annette kicked the well of the car and growled at her own stupidity. Everything-in some small way-was her fault. The song wasn't really about her-it was about him.
"Goddamnit…"
"Miss! Are you alright?" The woo of the siren drowned out all thoughts of self-pity as one of the Californian "Chippies" appeared in her rear-view mirror.
"Ma'am-what the hell were you doing?" the man came around the driver's side and leaned heavily on the window rim. Inside, the woman (Aforementioned subject of chase) was staring at her hands.
"I have to get back to work." She said, her voice a monotone, "I was getting breakfast for my boyfriend and I have to get back to work." She was kind of pretty-but pallid. Her face was the mask of grief at any opera/play/entertainment complex.
"Listen, you were hittin' eight-three, then you pulled out into a spin. You're driving far more recklessly then any teenager-where do you work?"
"Umbrella Corporation."
If it were humanely possible for the California Highway Patrol officer to sweatdrop then he would have. Instead the man just nodded briskly, leaned down lower into the window, and stared the woman directly in the eye.
"I'm going to let you off with a warning." She probably has a body or something in the back of the car. "Next time, go carefully hm? We can't always let you guys off the hook."
He had learned, ever since pulling over an ambulance and having his pension revoked-oh yes.
Umbrella was mighty indeed.
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Umbrella-Los Angeles Faculty.
William Birkin's Room-
The normally cheerful atmosphere was amplified by the presence of one Franklin Marston, head of the Los Angeles Faculty. A cheerful man, even William in his stoic refusal to treat anybody with decency until he was allowed to return to work, found himself brightened by the man's presence.
"And then I said, "Chicken? I thought you said Lick Him!" William chuckled amiably, and Marston snorted back loud laughter, "ah, yeah-good times."
"Good times indeed."
"Dr. Birkin, I have to be honest with you." Marston said, "When I first heard about you-and keep in mind I've been working for Umbrella a long time-well, I pictured something kind of different-"
"I'm all ears."
"You're funny." Marston grinned, "But I honestly pictured someone more like Marcus. He'd been working for Umbrella since the beginning-way back when I was just a graduate student."
Birkin's smile turned sour, "I'm not what you expected?"
"Hell no! I mean-you're normal!" Marston smiled and stood, stretching. Despite his overwhelming cheerful nature, he was a very average person. Marston slid over to the blinds and glanced back at him.
"Want me to open these? Give you a nice view of the city outside…"
"No thank you." Birkin said curtly, "Have you perchance seen some trace of Dr. LeDour?"
Marston studied him quizzically, "Dr. LeDour…oh! Yeah." Marston smiled, "Yeah, she asked about a good place to get coffee and donuts, so I told her to head out to Jack's Donut shop."
"Did she say when she'd be back?"
Marston scratched his head, "Soon I think. You were sleeping' when she asked and I took it upon myself to meet the great "Bacteria Birkin."
Bacteria Birkin…God!
"Thank you." William sighed, "Frank…Mr. Marston-"
"Call me Frank." Marston smiled again cheerfully, "Yes William?"
"Dr. Birkin."
"Fine, Dr. Birkin?"
William swallowed, "I'm sorry, I said that out of habit."
Marston grinned and walked over pulling up the shutters. The room flooded with pure California sunshine, making it twice as bright as before.
"Go ahead and speak your mind doc!"
William swallowed again, "I'm about to make a big step Frank…and I need your help with something…"
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Umbrella Boardroom-
New York, New York.
The chairman of the New York Umbrella Faculty was facing a problem.
It was a rather large problem, surrounding senior researcher William Birkin, Senior Researcher Albert Wesker, and the man who stood at the very end of the table smiling like a cat with a canary in it's mouth.
"-Therefore, I'd like to take this opportunity to transfer Dr. Wesker." The man at the end of the table continued, "We have work that he could do in the Paris Laboratory-one of them-must be-"
"Absolutely not." The Head of American Personnel said, "Albert Wesker is an important, and needed man."
The man at the end of the table shook his head, "He's shown singularly terrible judgment. He must be transferred immediately into Umbrella Europe's custody."
"There's still the matter of the location of Lord Spencer." One of the other board members said slowly, "According to intelligence, his daughter believed that he was dead."
The man smiled, "That is not an issue that is under discussion."
"It is if we're going to send one of our top employees over to Umbrella Europe." Said another board member "Is there any truth to Intelligence's information?"
The man sighed, "There is an indecorum of truth, but to answer your question Lord Spencer has given me the following information, to pass on to you." Down at his end, he handed a large folder to one of the board members, "Proof that his daughter was irrefutably insane."
"Guess we all need to take time to hug our kids." One man jested as he passed the file on, "Apparently her father never spent any time with her?"
"A matter of opinion. May we return to the matter at hand?"
"The answer is no." The chairman said firmly, "No. We can provide you with a hundred raw scientists and commandos-but we're not giving over any of our key personnel. May I remind you that we're still trying to develop a working relationship with the community? That way our activities will-"
"There's no need to explain your response to the crisis in Arklay Mr. Weismann." The man smiled, oily and serpentine, "Lord Spencer has great faith that the United States branch will take care of the birthplace of the T-Virus."
Uneasy smiles and nods abounded across the table. The Americans liked the taste of being the only country in the world to possess this weapon in a supposedly military capability, but there was still the slightest tinge of mistrust for their European counterparts.
"Very good." The chairman said, "Is that all you wanted to discuss today?"
"Of course not." The European Representative bowed, "I am pleased to serve. No doubt the Ashford family, along with the Spencer family, would thank you all for the time and effort you have put into this little matter today."
More nervous smiles and glances, the cat was playing far above their level today.
Once he had gone, the vice president of the USA branch of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals incorporated stared across the table at his boss nervously.
"Shouldn't we have taken him up on his offer sir?"
"Not if we want to keep our places here." One of the other board members said, "The Arklay lab is in our territory and company bi-laws state that each territory is to be governed by the board of directors for that branch."
"Does that also apply for personnel?"
"If someone from the United States should desire to apply for an oversees position." The president said calmly, "They no longer are our responsibility-even as citizens."
"So what about Albert Wesker?"
The President turned and studied the vice president for a minute. Joel Alleman was a young man, but getting older. There was a chance he might be sitting in his chair by the end of the year-a slim one.
"Think carefully Joel. If you had a royal flush when you were playing poker-would you want to let anybody know about it?"
Joel blinked, "Pardon?"
The president sighed. Outside, the late evening of New York was settling, across the street the dim shapes of a film crew were packing it in for the evening.
"Birkin and Wesker are our wild cards." The President explained, "Lord Spencer placed them here in the United States because they were young and United States citizens. The government insisted on it."
Joel frowned. He remembered Birkin as a boy who liked to suck up to Dr. Marcus and the other higher staffers, but also as a bit of a queer. Thinking of him as a card that could win in poker was too much of a stretch.
"What do we do if we're holding all the cards?"
"We don't show-anyone our hand?" the head of personnel asked.
"Exactly. The United States is holding all the cards, and it's best if we kept it that way."
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Watching
me wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
fearing you loving you
I won't let you pull me down
-Evanescence "Haunted"
William Birkin's Room-
Annette pushed open the door gingerly, careful to keep from spilling the coffee and donuts that she had procured. Strangely enough, the room was empty.
Wait…what?
William was still bedridden when she'd left. Had they moved him? Or worse…
When an Umbrella employee died, some people had the option of stipulating that their bodies be left to science when they were gone.
Oh god…
That was something William was very likely to have done.
That can't be possible. He ISN'T dead.
Don't you feel like the little whore now…Annette pushed Grandma Cass's voice out of her mind. The man she loved was dead-or-there had to be another explanation-
"-Damn shame about Dr. Birkin-"
"Totally. The poor guy!"
"-Wonder who that woman was-"
Annette dropped the donuts and coffee into a steaming pile of dough and burning hot liquid across the floor. She collapsed to her knees and felt sick.
He's dead.
And Annette LeDour began to cry.
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Author's note: Aww shoot! William's dead! But we all know that he's not! However, Annette doesn't-serves her right for being a right whore! Anyway, Chapter Nineteen coming, and twenty, then the epilogue! Sadly, I think I'll have to nix the trilogy idea, but I will be writing a sequel…