The Raccoon City Hospital was a quiet place at four-o-clock in the morning. Athena found herself staring at the wall across from her bed with teeth grinding irritation. She was growing used to the drugs they were giving her, so sleep was not as easy to come by and longer. Her back had began itching as a sign it was healing, and she could do nothing to relieve the annoyance. Trying to reach the itch would only result in added pain and scratching would hinder the healing process, ever reverse what had been done. She was bored and restless, not being the type to just sit around, or lie as the case was, with nothing to do. Her mind raced with ways to relieve her predicament but, short of getting up and leaving, she was at a loss. She was not even able to watch television unless she sat up, and she did not really feel like messing with it as she knew nothing was on at four in the morning that she would be interested in watching.
Sighing, she shifter around in an attempt to ease sore spots. She closed her eyes and listened to all the soft sounds around her. Water dripped somewhere nearby, as did several intravenous bags. She heard heart monitors, respirators, oxygen tanks, and numerous other machines. Muffled footsteps, squeaky and non squeaky wheels on the carts, and hushed voices alerted her to the locations of the staff. Call lights and telephones begged to be answered. In all, the quiet noises did nothing to help her boredom. With a growl, Athena resigned herself to the fact she was to be miserable for at least a few more hours as she had no doubts Patrick would be there bright eyed and bushy tailed shortly after dawn. Suddenly, the boredom did not seem so bad.
At about the same time Athena was dreading the arrival of Patrick, her father awoke to the sensation that someone was in his room, someone that was not on the hospital's payroll. Slowly, he turned onto his back and set the bed up. Sitting across the room eyeing him was Barry. The other man looked deep in thought and not too happy. Wesker wondered how Barry had gotten in but figured that was the least of his current problems. Barry had come close to killing him, and, truthfully, Wesker was shocked he had not. Maybe honesty and sincerity are more than I have given them credit to be. Perhaps emotion, used wisely, can be an asset as much as being a hard nose, emotionless, controlled man.
"Are you here to finish what you started?" Wesker asked calmly. Barry sat forward but said nothing. He was focused on Wesker's face, his eyes. The color change was spreading. Barry found it freakishly fascinating and appalling. "If not, why are you here, Mr. Burton? I doubt seriously it's for my charming personality or my company."
Barry stood and approached the bed. He looked down at Wesker with hate and curiosity. "I want to know why. I've known you a short while, by some standards, but you never seemed like a murderer to me. You weren't like everyone else, didn't seem to really have a life, but you were our friend, teammate, leader. How could you do this?"
Wesker eyed him. Can I take the chance he's recording this? "Whatever happened, happened. Nothing I say or do will change that. I'm sorry you lost friends, Barry. I'm sorry that's the way things had to be."
"Had to be!?" Barry scoffed. "None of this…"
"Calm down if you do not wish to make anyone aware you are in here." Wesker met his gaze coolly.
"Was it the money? Did you do this for money?"
"I am in Umbrella's employ." Wesker danced around the questions. Barry was good at his job. A fair chance existed that the conversation was being taped. Wesker could not take that risk. "Are you going to turn me in for tax evasion?"
"Dammit, just answer the damn question!" Barry's face was growing flushed and Wesker was surprised he had not just been covered in spittle as angry as Burton had become.
"I did nothing, Mr. Burton, as I am sure you are aware. I did my job, true, but nothing more. Much like Athena. Would you be hounding her like you are me?"
"She doesn't have any personal involvement in this. You do." Barry leaned closer. "You work for the sons of bitches. She doesn't."
"True, but that also means she has a personal connection."
"What are you talking about? You mean her being your daughter? I did some digging on her. She has no real ties to you other than blood. I doubt you've seen her ten times her entire life!" Barry glared. "And you dare to say you understood how I would react, feel. You have no idea."
Wesker's hand shot up and pulled Barry down by the man's throat. "Don't presume to know anything, Mr. Burton. Her blood is exactly the personal involvement I meant. They want it, have gotten it without my knowledge." He glared back at the man. "Don't you get it! They were supposed to leave her alone. Very few were even suppose to know she existed. All I had to do was be their good, obedient employee. Ask how far to jump when told and all that." He shoved the other man away. "I couldn't very well be involved in her life if I didn't want people to know about her, now could I?"
"You're joking! You can't expect me to believe that Umbrella blackmailed you the way you did me?" Barry could not bring himself to believe it. "You just don't care about anyone but yourself."
"Believe what you want. As I said, nothing I say or do will change anything." He sighed and leaned back. "Now, if we are finished, you can leave the way you came."
"This isn't over, Wesker. Nothing you or your little girl do will keep you safe." Barry started for the door.
"We shall see, Barry. By the way, inform Mr. Redfield he should apologize to Miss Chambers. She was quite upset when she returned here last evening." Wesker smirked as Barry gaped at him.
"She came to you?"
"She had promised to help me back to my room." Wesker looked back. "She does deserve an apology, Barry. I would see that she gets it. Athena was quite upset herself, and she has five men and one capable lady at her disposal."
"She doesn't scare me any more than you do." Barry shot over his shoulder as he left. Wesker smiled as he sat up. Today was his last day in this hellhole. Standing, he changed his clothes, discarded the dressing from his nearly healed wound, and snuck out to see Athena. He imagined she was awake and quite bored.
Chris ran down the long metallic hallway. He could smell blood, urine, excrement, and rotting flesh. He tasted bile, felt it at the back of his throat. His stomach flexed wanting to dispel its contents but Chris refused it the luxury. He was not sure there was anything left to come up as he had lost it several times already. He did not have the time to stop and he was not sure why. Something propelled him downward. Stairs, elevators, ladders of endless numbers were before and behind him. He had lost track of how many floors down he was and he found he did not care. Something important lie at the end, something he had to get to if it cost him his life. He just wished he knew what that something was.
Rounding a corner, he came face to face with a hunter. He grabbed for his gun and came up with just his knife. He was as good as dead. The hunter lunged for him, landed on him. He slashed at the creature as the creature slashed back. Claws tore into his flesh. He felt the blood pour to the floor beneath him. His knife sunk into the middle of the hunter. He felt the blade go clean through and jerked nearly cutting the creature in half. The hunter fell away, dead, but more would come. Chris's fresh blood scented the air. They would do what their name implied. They would hunt him down and kill him. He had to hurry.
Down and down he went until he came to an odd hallway. The surroundings were familiar. He realized he was in his old family home but how? Suddenly, he heard a moan. Turning, he came face to face with a zombie, a zombie Claire. She reached out for him and fought her off, threw her to the ground. On instinct, he had a gun in his hand and pulled the trigger. Then, he fell to his knees and screamed.
Chris bolted up in his bed, sweat pouring from his body. His scream died on his lips as he realized it had been a dream. He wiped at his brow and rubbed at his face. Looking at the clock, he saw it was near dawn. He knew he would never get back to sleep so he got up to take a shower then head to the hospital. He wanted to see how Athena was and ask Wesker some questions. Also, he hoped he would run into Rebecca so he could apologize for his very bad behavior the evening before. He needed to call Claire, too. He had to know she was alright. His dream was at the front of his mind as he headed for the bathroom.
Everywhere she turned, Jill found blood and gore. Dead bodies were just as prominent, walking and not. No one was left. Everyone was gone. She had to escape before she became one of the creatures she ran from. Her mind went to Vickers. He had grabbed her outside the police station clawing at her clothes trying to get a good hold so he could bite her. She had shot him in the face causing his blood and brain matter to spray all over her. She had promptly vomited on his corpse.
Next, had been Rebecca. The medic had been kneeling over some unknown man pulling at his entrails. Jill had felt a huge pang at seeing the kind girl defiling the man in such a way. She did not get long to feel sorry for Rebecca. The girl caught the scent of fresh flesh and hobbled to her feet to come after Jill. A clean shot between the eyes took her down. Then had came Chris. She had to wrestle him off her while taking the knife from his belt and plunging it into his left eye. Finally, or so she thought, came Barry. He had come to her as she was nearly out of the city. He had lunged at her and fell on his face. Before he could stand she shot him in the back of the head. Turning, she ran again until she tripped over something. Rolling over to get up, she came face to face with Barry's daughters. They leaned over her with eerie grins. Someone else grabbed her and held her down. She looked to find his wife. They all three leaned in to take bites and she screamed.
Much like Chris had, Jill sat straight up with a scream on her lips. She was sticky from sweat and her sheets were half off the bed tangled around themselves. Standing shakily, she headed for the toilet to heave up whatever she could. After that, she would shower and head to the office. She would workout then do some paperwork, anything to get her mind on something else. If she could.
Rebecca looked down at the corpse of Chris. She had shot him. Tears fell from her eyes as she looked around. Voices rang in her ears telling her she was a fool, being childish, an idiot, being stupid. Her friends had left her or were now dead, like Chris. Her research was falling apart. She could not find a cure for the virus. Any counter measure she took backfired. Barry had been the last to leave her. He had smashed a whole rack of test tubes and other objects, told her she was no better than Umbrella before storming out never to be seen or heard from again.
Stepping over Chris, Rebecca returned to her work like a person obsessed, and she figured she was. She had to do something for those who had believed in her. Only one was left know that she was sure of but she had no idea where he was. As she picked up her pen, the door opened behind her unnoticed. She diligently worked at the figures before her. But, when a hand fell on her shoulder, she turned. I scream ripped from her throat as Athena, who had been turned to a tyrant of sorts, lunged at her. Rebecca fought her off and grabbed her gun. Her hands shook and slipped as Athena closed in on her. Finally, she got a good grip and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. She screamed again and tried to run but Athena caught her and lifted her off the ground. Just as Rebecca thought it was all over, a very loud shot rang out. A bullet flew clean through Athena's head to blow her face completely off right in front of Rebecca.
Rebecca fell to the floor, pulling away from the dead body of one of her friends. She trembled and wept, forgetting that someone had obviously saved her until strong arms picked her up and carried her over to a chair. She sat and sobbed, hard, for several long moments. Eventually, she calmed enough that she just hiccupped. Looking up, she met the eyes of Albert Wesker, who looked down at her with his own sorrow. He had just killed his only child to save her life. Rebecca wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his abdomen. He patted her head and let his own tears fall.
Rebecca's sobs woke her. Her pillow was soaked from her tears. Oddly, she also felt comforted in addition to the sorrow. Quickly, she got out of bed to take a shower. She had to talk to Athena and Wesker. She needed to know what they thought of her dream, though she was hesitant to mention it to her captain. He might see it as a sign of weakness, and he probably would not take her finding comfort from him very well. She had to take the risk. She had to tell someone.
Chris was at the hospital by seven-thirty. He decided to stop by Athena's room first so he would not be in a bad mood when he did. Unfortunately, Wesker was already in her room playing cards with her. Gritting his teeth, Chris walked in and smiled at the major. "Hey. How are you feeling?"
"Why do people insist on asking that question right after their hellos? I mean, how many times is a person obligated to answer it in one day?" She shook her head. "I'm doing much better. Thank you for asking, though it annoys the hell out of me. You didn't know any better." She smiled sweetly before declaring, "Gin!" Wesker grumbled and gathered the cards to shuffle again.
"You look better. I'm glad to see you sitting up, though I am surprised." He sat down and was shocked when Wesker automatically dealt him in. Athena smirked and noted the number of cards was different.
"Poker? I warn you, I'm good."
She winked at Chris as Wesker commented, "That's what you've said about every game we've played and, unfortunately for me, you have proven you indeed are." He looked at his cards and looked up. "What are we going to use for wagers?"
"How about candy?" She suggested.
"Candy?" Both men asked. They glanced at one another sourly then quickly away. She rolled her eyes at their behavior.
"Yeah. Go find a vending machine and get us some candy." She looked at Wesker pointedly. He grumbled again as he shoved his cards in his breast pocket. He left the room mumbling about no respect for elders and parents. Chris raised a brow and looked at her questioningly.
"Uh…" He could not think of what to say. Athena chuckled.
"Don't pay attention to him. He bitches just to get attention." She stretched gently. "What brings you by?"
"Just wanted to see how you were doing. He seems to be doing a lot better." Chris indicated Wesker's empty seat.
"Uh, yeah. See, he heals a lot quicker than most, so do I. That's all. His doctor about died when he found him in here sans leg dressing. I think they were about to put the hospital on the look out for him when the doc came in here. The look on the guy's face was priceless. Course, doesn't really matter as my own personal pain in the ass doctor will be here shortly, I'm sure."
As Chris began to respond, Terrell came into the room. He nodded to them and started to take Wesker's seat. "Don't even think about it," the older man said from behind him. Terrell moved to stand near Chris. Wesker sat down and gave them each two bags of candy.
Athena pulled a face causing both Terrell and Chris to laugh. Wesker just raised a brow with a look that said he was not going after anything else and she would make due with what she had. "I don't like plain chocolate M&M's." She gave him a pouting look.
"They are not for you to eat. They're for wagers so don't even try it." He glared back. She stuck out her tongue and opened a bag. Wesker pulled his cards from his pocket and looked to her to start the betting. "Athena." She was being deliberately trying and infantile just to irritate him, he knew it.
"Oh, fine. Spoil my fun." She looked over the her cards. "Different colors different amounts or just amount?"
"Just amount so keep it small and get on with it."
"Alright. I'll take two cards." She discarded and excepted the new ones. Chris took three and Wesker two. "Five pieces." She laid them down and looked to Chris.
"I'll see you and raise one."
"I'll see you both and raise you four." Wesker kept his face impassive. Athena was goofing off by making all kinds of thoughtful and pained faces. Chris just focused on his cards, perhaps too much.
"I'll raise you five." Athena smiled at Terrell. "So, Terry where's Pat? I know he's going to be here."
"I'll see you and raise you three." Chris looked up at the younger man but said nothing to him.
"I'll call." Wesker laid his hand down, two pair. Athena laid down two pair while Chris had only three of a kind. Wesker had a pair of aces and a pair of tens, Athena a pair of jacks and another pair of jacks. She smirked as she raked in the candy to her father's frustrated sigh. "I give up."
Chris looked at him with something akin to shock. "You?"
"Better to be beat by blood than water," Wesker commented. "Besides, she's a card shark."
Terrell laughed. "You have no idea. The team refuses to play with money. She's put several of us in debt. Pat will be here shortly, by the way."
Athena glared at him. "Do shut up, Terrell." He grinned.
"There's one time we played for dares. She ended up making Gunn strip to his birthday suit and sing 'Henry the Eighth'. Catch was, he had to do it in the front lawn in a very stickler suburb at around five-thirty in the afternoon." He chuckled. "Not to mention strip poker. Needless to say, she got plenty of free shows. We nearly killed Donnelly over that one. Poor Brian hid from us for days unless 'Ena was around."
"Thurlow," Athena growled. He stepped back and continued to grin like an ape. Wesker raised a brow and thinned his lips. He was not impressed by the captain, and neither was Redfield if the man's expression meant anything. Neither man knew why but they just did not like the Marine captain.
"Fine, 'Ena." He chuckled and sat down at the window. "How much longer are you going to be in here?"
"I'm not sure. Some lucky someone has already started being discharged." She glared at her father who just casually smirked. "I'll break out soon, though."
"I don't think so," Wesker, Patrick, and Gunn all contradicted, the latter two having just entered the room. Athena rolled her eyes.
"I out rank you two, and I think I can out maneuver the old man here." She jerked her thumb towards Wesker. He again raised his brow as he crossed his arms.
"I wouldn't count on that." He peaked over his glasses. She rolled her eyes. There will be no living with him now. This is just what his ego needed.
"We'll see, Pops, we'll see." She smirked as his other brow joined the first. "What? You don't like pops?"
"No, can't say as I do."
"Pity. I guess you'll get used to it eventually." She was still smirking when he uncharacteristically threw M&M's at her.
"You can be such a petulant child." She threw candy back at him.
"Like parent, like child," she jibed.
"I'm not petulant!" He snapped. She started chuckling and was soon laughing. "What?!"
"You're a hypocrite." She struggled to calm down. A smile remained on her face as he glowered back at her. "So, Patty, I guess it's time for you to take a look?"
"Yes, if everyone would…"
"He can stay." She motioned to Wesker. Patrick started to object. "Second Lieutenant Thomason, that's an order." Her voice had lost its humor immediately.
"Very well, Athena." He ushered everyone else out of the room as she once more got on her stomach. Wesker moved out of the way and watched the doctor carefully. Patrick opened the gown and removed her dressing. "The tissue is still pink but, as usual, you are healing much more quickly than you should." He poked at the tissue gently. "You may even be able to put light pressure on the wound. Just be careful." He redressed the wound and fastened her gown.
"Alright, doctor. Now, go check his leg." She caught her father's change in tension. "Just humor me, dad. Please?"
With a sigh, he nodded and stood. He raised a brow. She flushed but rolled her eyes. Once she was turned, he dropped his pants and sat back down. Patrick walked over and prodded the wound. Wesker barely flinched. "It's all but completely healed. Family secret?" Wesker smirked as he stood and pulled up his pants.
"You could say that, Lt. Dr. Thomason. Alright, Athena." She turned back around and smiled.
"Thanks. I just wanted to be sure and I trust Patrick above everyone else, even if he is a pain in the ass." She sat up and slapped Pat on the back. "But, we love him anyway."
"Gee, thanks, Major. I appreciate that." He opened the door and let everyone, with the addition of Rebecca, back in the room.
"So, when can I break free, doc?" Athena swung her legs off the bed and stood shakily. Chris, being the closest, caught her as she started to lean too far to one side.
"Where are you headed?" He asked.
"Bathroom. Damn aides haven't been in here since they spotted Mr. Grouchy-pants over there." As Chris lead her to the small room, she glanced at Patrick. "Pat?"
"At least another day. We'll see tomorrow." He sat down by Wesker. Rebecca moved to stand near her captain as Gunn and Terrell leaned against the wall and door frame respectively. She nodded and walked into the room, closing the door.
Chris turned and noticed Rebecca hovering near Wesker. He sucked in a breath and motioned her over to him. She glanced at Wesker, who nodded, and slowly walked over to him. "Becky, I know I can't really apologize for the way a acted last night, but I want to try. I was on ends after everything that had happened, and I hadn't had sleep. I just kept soaking everything up and when I finally blew, it just happened to be on you. Jill rung my bell good for it, I want you to know. I really am sorry. I never wanted to hurt. If I had been thinking straight…"
"Enough, Chris. I understand. It's alright." She smiled at him and patted his arm. "Let's just forget it, okay?" She returned to Wesker's side and looked at Chris. "The captain and Athena told me you would beat yourself up over it. Guess they were right."
Chris glanced at Wesker but said nothing. He turned to help Athena back to the bed and then sat down beside her as she motioned him to. "So, you got it all settled then?" She eyed both him and Rebecca. "Good. Now, if you could just come to some understanding with my father." She eyed Chris, who looked back confused. "God, you are dense, aren't you?"
"On occasion." He eyed her. Old man. Mr. Grouchy-pants. Throwing M&M's at each other. Having him stay while getting checked. Playing cards. 'Like parents, like child'. 'Better to be beat by blood…'. How did I miss it? "Oh," he said. "I don't know that we can come to an understanding."
Athena nodded. "Perhaps an understanding that you can't agree and get along, then?" She smiled. "Tell you what, give him a chance to talk to you about it. Go somewhere and talk. Or stay here and I'll chase everyone else off. Get this shadow off your back, out of your mind." She looked to her father. "Might want to stay here so I can referee…"
"Then I'm staying, too. You aren't in any…"
Wesker cut Terrell off, "I think your major can make up her own mind who stays and goes." He crossed his arms again.
"You know that doesn't intimidate me. I've seen Athena do it for a couple years now." Terrell stepped closer to Wesker.
"Terrell, go. Take Rebecca and Patrick down to the cafeteria. We'll be fine." She eyed Gunn, who nodded.
"Come on, laddy. I'll make it an order if I 'ave ta." Gunn grabbed Terrell around the shoulders and steered him for the door. Terrell shot Athena an unhappy glance over his shoulder but she was talking quietly with Chris and did not take notice. Rebecca and Wesker, however, noted the dark expression that crossed the young man's face. All she was doing was talking to Chris and he was jealous. Wesker made note to mention it to her.
Once everyone was gone, Athena motioned for them to sit in the chairs, facing one another. "Now, I'm just here to keep things from getting out of hand, personal injury be damned. Chris start by asking a question and go from there."
Chris took a deep, calming breath and met Wesker's sunglasses head on. "I want to know why they had to die. Why you had to kill them."
"It was my job." Wesker uncrossed his arms and leaned back to appear less threatening.
"So, you did it for money."
"As greedy a bastard as I am, yes. I did do it for the money. However, there are other things that put me in the position to have this job that had nothing to do with money." He held up a hand. "I joined Umbrella while I was a teenager, Miss Chambers' age. I was bright, and naïve, and wanted knowledge, power, a way of life. 'Obedience breeds discipline. Discipline breeds unity. Unity breeds power. Power breeds life.' Dr. Marcus was a pain but he was useful, for a while. Birkin and I eventually took care of that.
"When I arrived at the Umbrella Training Facility, Athena was two years old. I never told anyone about her until Marcus. Codger let me sneak her in and take care of her, for a while. I began to fear what could happen to her if she remained with me and her mother was dead. So, I sought William's help. He placed her with family until we were sure it was safe to get her. I never got that opportunity. I had an accident and Umbrella found out some things better off left unknown. I became a project of sorts. They took my cells and spliced them. They even let me work on the project. The t-virus was born, and now William is working on the G-virus.
"I could not take the chance of Umbrella getting their hands on my daughter. So, I left it at only Marcus and William knowing. Marcus let slip. I got dragged into a conference with Spencer himself. He wanted to know about my daughter. I made a deal with the devil that day." Wesker stood and walked to the window. Athena watched him, tears streaming down her face. She had not realized what he had gone through, what he had sacrificed for her.
Chris was stunned to silence. He looked from one to the other then back again. "I… Captain, I don't know what to say."
"You want to take Umbrella down. I have information, information that will help you do it. They betrayed me. They did the one thing they said they never would. They hurt Athena, took samples from her." He sighed and turned back to them. His face was still stoic and he stood straight and tall. "I gave them all they wanted. I was their lapdog. All they had to do was leave her alone, forget she existed. They broke our agreement so I have the right to return the favor. They will wish they never heard of Albert Wesker by the time I'm done."
"If they had her… Why the mansion, then?" Chris was confused but slowly getting the whole picture. He had forgiven Barry. He had to do the same with Wesker, right?
"He just found out yesterday that they had their hands on me. It was seven years ago." Athena shook her head. "Seven years of loyalty and service on a lie. Bastards deserve everything they get for more than one reason. Mostly just because they're a bunch of sick freaks. No offense, dad."
He nodded and sat back down. "I… I don't regret anything I've done, Mr. Redfield. I enjoyed my work. I just never pictured how far things would actually go. But, I'm not sorry for doing my studies, making my creations. One day some of it could come into great use."
Chris shook his. "I forgave Barry for helping you. He didn't actually kill anyone, like you, but I guess I have to give you the same consideration. I can't help but wonder what would things have been like if Kali had not came upon us all." He smiled at Athena.
Wesker smiled. "I would have died and the virus would have changed me more than it has. You would have survived, I believe, to fight me another day."
"Damn straight. But now what?" He looked at them both.
The both shrugged before answering together, "We destroy Umbrella."