Barry and Gunn had been sweating for days. Six days to be precise. Wesker had yet to make any appearance. Chris had been the only one they had seen hide or hair of. All that was about to change as a knock came to Barry's front door. He shared a look with Gunn then stood and walked over to answer it. He opened the door to find not only Albert Wesker but Athena Wesker as well. He could see Chris standing near Wesker's jeep, waiting, and Rebecca fidgeting by his side. She seemed extra anxious.

"We need to talk, Burton." Wesker shoved his way inside, followed closely by Athena. "I have been putting this off long enough."

Barry turned to face his former captain. "And why is that? And what exactly are you here for?"

"Don't play at being obtuse with me, Barry. Chris told me of his visit. He was right you know. We are not happy at all." Wesker's voice was calm and cool. He and Athena both wore stoical expressions and stood solidly before the two men.

"Captain MacArtair, we have been friends for a few years now. I thought I could trust you with my life, and now you have nearly taken it away. What do you have to say for yourself, Captain?" Athena had her hands behind her back, which was straight as a rod, and her feet were set shoulder width apart. Her posture screamed of command and strength. She demanded respect.

"Nothing."

She walked up to Gunn and got into his face. "I didn't hear you, Captain. What did you say?"

"Nothing, Ma'am." He hated it when a superior officer got into his face like this. Athena had only done it a few times when they first became a team.

"I'd rethink that, Captain. You are under investigation for court martial for a severe offense." She glanced at Barry. "Perhaps you can shed some light, Mr. Burton. As a participant in an offense made by a member of the United States Naval Marines, I have full quarter to interrogate and prosecute you as well." She glared at the larger man. She was up in his face as well. "You have a family, do you not? Can they continue to survive without you?"

"You wouldn't dare…"

"The hell I wouldn't!" She turned back to her father. "MacArtair."

Wesker nodded and stepped forward. He pulled back his fist and let swing, connecting with Gunn's nose and nearly driving it to the brain. Gunn fell to his knees, blood pouring from between the fingers of the hand he held over his busted nose. Wesker was not finished, however, as he hauled him to his feet and punched him a few times in the midsection. He then dropped the Scot to the floor and looked at Barry. "Your family saved you this one time, Mr. Burton. I suggest you leave, and leave soon. If I see you again, your fate will be worse than Captain MacArtair's." That said, Wesker turned and strode from the house. Athena watched Barry coolly a moment then followed. She was stopped, however, when Barry's hand wrapped around her arm.

Chris was the first to notice this as Wesker had his back to the door where Athena and Barry stood. The younger man was across the lawn and in the house before Wesker realized something was going on. "Let her go, Barry. I don't want to have to hit you again."

"What do you care, Chris? Why do you give a rat's ass about these people?" Barry jerked Athena toward him. She was weaker than normal because of the pregnancy. She had not anticipated actually being in on any physical part of the encounter.

"I have every right to care what happens to Athena, and the child she is carrying. Now, let go of her." This news took both Barry and Gunn, who had finally made it to a sitting position, by surprise.

"Do as Chris says, Barry, or he will not be the only one hitting you. I warn you, I punch much harder than he does." Wesker walked in and towered over Barry. Two to one was not good odds, and it would be three to one if Athena got free. He took his chances and let go. "Well done, Mr. Burton." Wesker started to make a fist to punch him but felt Athena's hand on his arm. He knew what she wanted and stepped back just in time for her to spin around and deck Barry with all her might. Luckily for Barry, she was not at her full potential at the moment. That done, Athena and Wesker left the house. Chris stared at the two men on the floor.

"If anything done by either of you puts my child or Athena in danger ever again, I will kill you. I'm sure Wesker knows plenty of creative ways for me to accomplish it in a slow methodical way. Heed his advice and leave, Barry." Chris turned and joined the others. Rebecca was fussing over Athena to Wesker's amusement. The older man was chuckling and shaking his head.

"Don't be such a mother hen, Chambers," he told her as he got in the driver's seat of his jeep. "Let's get out of here." the others nodded and piled in. Chris and Athena shared the backseat while Rebecca had shotgun.

Rebecca watched Wesker as the man stood in his kitchen drinking a glass of water. Something was wrong with him. He was still radiating heat and his skin looked pale. She was worried. "Al, is there something wrong with you? Are you sick?" She walked over to him.

He looked at her strangely. "What makes you think I am sick?"

She placed a hand to his forehead. She jerked back at the heat. "Bed. Now." She took a hold of his arm and began dragging him toward his room. Athena, who had just come from the bathroom, looked on curiously.

"What's going on?" She asked as she watched Rebecca fight to pull Wesker along.

"Touch him… Wait! Don't touch him. You don't need to be getting sick. He's running a fever and… I told you not to touch him!" Rebecca yelled as Athena placed a hand on her father's brow. She hissed at the heat.

"You've had this for a while if you are that hot, at least a day. Bed. Now." She grabbed his other arm and the two woman pulled the oddly silent man along.

Once they had him to his room, Athena was huffing. She hated getting tired by doing the least little thing. "Go rest, Athena. I can take it from here. He won't fight me too much if he knows what is good for him." Wesker snorted but did not comment. He no longer had to hide he was sick so he had stopped fighting it. The fever was quickly taking over his system.

Athena nodded and left the room after saying, "I'll call Patrick. He may be able to figure out what is wrong. Dad shouldn't be able to get sick. I can't."

Rebecca nodded without looking up from Wesker. "You shouldn't have been exerting yourself today if you were sick. Gunn and Barry could have waited."

Wesker shook his head. "Had to be taken care of."

"Not at the cost of your health! How long have you been fighting this?"

"About a two days, I think." He made no protest as she began stripping him of his clothes. He was barely cognitive.

"Why didn't you say something?" Rebecca stripped to his boxers, trying vainly to not take in his sexy physique. She blushed as she put him to bed and settled the cover around him. "Sleep. Patrick will be here soon and we'll see what is wrong, okay?"

Wesker nodded as his eyes drifted closed. He was losing consciousness. Rebecca smiled sadly down at him before bending to place a light kiss on his brow. She then turned to leave the room. A hand on hers stopped her, however. "Can't leave till I return the favor, Miss Chambers." Despite the situation, her heart fluttered. She bent back down and met his lips in a short closed mouth kiss. He seemed satisfied as his hand released hers. She watched him a moment more before leaving to see if Athena had located Patrick.

"Are you sure about this?" Brian asked Isaiah as he read over the papers Greer had handed him. Terrell was of no use to anyone. He had shut himself off from the team and neglected all responsibilities.

"Yeah, there's no mistake." The sergeant sighed as he rubbed at his eyes.

"Get some sleep, Hyman. I'll take this to the major and see what she wants us to do." Brian folded the papers and stuck them in his pocket. Athena had to see them. He started for the elevator when Patrick came bounding out of his room and rushing that direction himself. "Wow, Doc, what's the rush?"

"Athena just called. Her dad's pretty sick. She needs me to see to him."

"I'm heading there, too. You can ride with me. Got everything you need?" Brian called the lift.

"It's in my car."

Brian nodded as they got inside the elevator car. As they stepped from the lift, they ran into a bloody Gunn. "Captain, what happened?" Brian asked the Scot.

"Albert Wesker happened."

"But, the major's father is sick," Brian responded.

"For a sick man, he throws one hell of a punch."

"We're on our way over there. Elizabeth can see to you." Patrick urged Brian along. He would not keep Athena waiting, nor would he keep a patient waiting. He had double incentive to get to Wesker's as soon as possible.

Once he had stopped fighting it, the fever had began reeking havoc on Wesker's body. Rebecca had returned to his side, where she sat fretting over every noise and movement he made. She continually bathed down his face and upper body with a cool, wet rag despite the fact she did not think it was helping. She kept glancing at the door and the time. Patrick should have been there, she thought.

Athena came in, followed by Patrick, as she was ringing out the rag to place it on Wesker's head. "Pat's here now so come sit with me until he's finished. Brian has some news we need to hear. Besides, you can fret just as well in another room. I'm doing it, aren't I?" Athena took Rebecca around the shoulders. "I called Jill, too. She's coming over to hear what Brian has to say. I figured you could use another familiar face."

"Why me? He's your father." Rebecca watched the floor as they walked to the living room.

"You care deeply for him. More deeply than you realize." Athena squeezed Rebecca to her side. "He cares for you to, you know."

Rebecca shook her head and moved away to sit on the couch to await Jill's arrival. The sooner she arrived, the sooner they heard what Brian had to say, and the sooner she got back to Wesker.

Athena watched the younger woman sadly. She feared both Rebecca and her father would fail to notice what they were missing in each other. She felt lucky to have found Chris and be able to share something so special with him.

About the time Jill arrived, Patrick returned from Wesker's room. Rebecca and Athena both converged on the man. He held up his hands as they cornered him. "Calm down or you won't understand a thing I say." Both women glared back. "He's got a fever. I don't know what is causing it but it is running its course rather quickly now that it has got a firm hold on him. My main concern is the degree of the temperature. He needs cooled down if it gets much higher." Patrick handed Rebecca some papers. "You'll understand this the best of anyone else here. I took some blood I need to analyze as soon as Brian and I return to the hotel. Until I get the results there is not much else I can tell you."

Athena and Rebecca both nodded. Rebecca read the papers as Athena motioned Brian to speak. "We have a situation that needs looked into, Major. According to these documents Hyman found, Ohio is experiencing an outbreak of its own. The number of missing and dead is still low but numbers as expected to rise." He handed the papers to Athena. "The base is near Cincinnati on the outskirts of Stonelick State Park close to Fayetteville."

Athena read over the papers silently then passed them on to Chris. "Alright. Keep a close eye on everything going on around that area. Soon as dad is on his feet, he can take care of it as I'm sure he knows more than we do. Besides, I'm in no condition…"

"What?" Patrick was immediately at her side. "Are you sick, too? Running a fever?" He placed a hand to her head as she rolled her eyes.

"My condition is a bit more lengthy than that…"

"What condition?" Brian was beside Patrick.

"Well, ladies, simply put, I'm pregnant."

"What?!" Both of them yelled. Brian had to steady himself on Patrick as the other man reeled as well.

"You're pregnant?" Patrick finally registered.

"Yes."

"Okay, your turn." He took her arm and began leading her from the room. He paused and glanced back at Chris. "Are you coming, Mr. Redfield? This involves you, too, does it not?"

Chris nodded and got up to follow. Brian watched them go before collapsing into a chair. Of all things, he had never see that coming. Jill, likewise was amazed. Chris Redfield was going to be father and Wesker a grandfather. She could not believe it. Rebecca took the distraction of everyone else and left the room as well. She returned to Wesker's side to see that he was taken properly care of.

"I won't know anything without further testing, but I would say that you will not carry nine months. I would be surprised if you last five as fast as things seem to be going. I want to make an appointment for an ultrasound at the local hospital tomorrow. I'll let you know when in the morning. For now, just go about things as you would normally and we'll see about everything tomorrow."

"The baby will have the virus, right?" Athena asked. Patrick nodded. "Will his or her appearance be altered by its presence?"

Patrick cocked his head in thought. "The odds are likely that some sort of alteration will occur but I have no way of knowing what will be physical and what not. He or she may appear perfectly normal and be superhuman or look inhuman but be perfectly normal. I would just be speculating. However, as speculation, I believe both will occur. Some physical and nonphysical alterations will be present in the child from birth and others may develop as he or she gets older."

Chris and Athena shared a look before coming to a silent agreement. No matter what, they would love the child no different.

Rebecca had the covers pulled back so she could wipe Wesker's entire body down with the cool water. She had removed his boxers reciting a mantra that he was a patient and nothing more over and over in her mind. She had completely bathed him in the cool water once and was now going over him a second time. She was nearly finished when a knock came to the door. She quickly threw the covers back over him from the waist down and rinsed the rag out so she could replace it on his head.

Jill walked in as Rebecca folded the small towel and placed it on Wesker's forehead with such care. "He's going to be okay, Becky. It'll take more than this to beat him."

Rebecca looked up at Jill and nodded. "I know, but I can't help but worry and not just about him. Athena is pregnant, Umbrella's virus is spreading in other areas, and I feel helpless. I joined S.T.A.R.S to make a difference. What difference am I making?"

"Everything takes time, Rebecca. Have a little faith in yourself and in us. As a team, we can do anything, I promise."

"I hope you are right, Jill. I hope the team is still here in the near future."

"We'll always be here, Rebecca. We're too damn stubborn to not be." The older woman smiled at the medic who halfheartedly smiled back.

Patrick and Brian left shortly after Patrick finished with Athena. She had given Brian permission to tell the others but to be careful in telling Terrell. She now sat on the couch with Chris, awaiting something, anything to happen.

"What do you think we should name him or her?" Chris suddenly asked.

Athena thought a moment before shaking her head. "I don't know. By the way, it's a boy." She snuggled deeper into his embrace.

"How do you know?" Chris kissed her hair as he rested his cheek on her head.

"I just do. Trust me, it's a boy."

"If you say so, but I wouldn't mind a girl."

"Maybe next time, Redfield." Athena smiled as he stiffened.

"There's going to be a next time?" He sounded shocked.

"You don't want more than one child?" She turned to look him in the eye.

"I never figured you would want…" Athena cut him off with a kiss.

"I want half a dozen or more as long as they are bred with you." Her eyes twinkled. "That alright with you?"

Chris nodded and pulled her back down against him. "So, a boy? What do we name him? And not Chris, Jr."

"What's wrong with Christopher, Jr.?" She asked.

"He's to be his own person so he has to have his own name."

"At least have Christopher as his middle name," Athena persisted.

"Maybe, but we have to come up with a first name first."

"Torin," Athena declared. "It means 'chief'. He'll be our little chief."

"Torin Christopher does have a nice ring to it," Chris commented. "Sounds good for disciplining, too. You'll make good use of it." He grunted as she elbowed him in the ribs.

"Don't push it, Christopher Redfield," she warned. He just chuckled in return.