A.N: I am back from Scotland, and I'll be trying to update every week

The next few chapters may be a bit boring but please stay with the story

Chapter 4

Leon Kennedy lay on his bed in his apartment in Washington D.C., bored out of his skull. He slid off the bed and strolled into the living room, deep in thought. He was waiting for everyone to get back from their little trip; Leon hadn't been able to go because he had been working late, so now he was on his own, save for the birds in the corner of the room.

When Leon had left Hyrule to return home to his friends and family, Link had insisted on him taking the Hylian Night Stars with him, so they were now sharing a gigantic cage with Leon's original pet Myna birds…the ones he had been given before he had gone on that excursion to Spain.

Of course, watching the birds and thinking of their origin made Leon's mind wander to thoughts of Hyrule. He had moved away from Hyrule two months after the Soul warriors had left. He had been strolling around Hyrule field, when some strangers had appeared through a portal. By either luck or fate, the strangers had turned out to be none other than Chris Redfield and co.

So that was how he had returned, and his life had also been returned to normal. He was back with his wife, Claire, his daughter, Sora and his friends from this world. The few renegades that, two years ago, had pulled Umbrella from its domineering throne. It was amazing how a group of eight people with very little support could bring down a multi billion dollar corporation. Especially when you considered the group of misfits that they were.

Going to his place on the couch, his eyes flicked to the few photographs on the glass coffee table. They were mainly of Leon, Claire and Sora, with the odd one of Leon's parents and siblings thrown in, and one of Chris and Jill.

The main photo of the group of rebels was on the wall to his right, the focal point of the room, apart from the widescreen TV, of course. It was an 8" by 10" blown up for the purpose of filling a long time bare space, and Leon and Claire's pride for their friends.

There were only 7 people in this picture though. They were all standing together with their partners. In the back was Chris Redfield and Jill Valantine-Redfield, their arms wrapped around each others backs, wide smiles on their faces. Just in front of them and to the right was Carlos Oliveira and Rebecca Chambers, Carlos standing just behind Rebecca, his hands clasped in front of her waist, his arms around her. To their right were Leon and Claire themselves, mirroring Carlos and Rebecca, but with Claire's hands lying on top of Leon's. Finally, kneeling in front of the group was ex-convict, Billy Coen, on his own, his face slightly more sombre than the others, but still smiling nevertheless.

Barry Burton, the oldest member of the group was behind the camera, taking the photo, having insisted that he hadn't done anything and that it should just be the 'youngsters' in the picture.

Considering the former occupations of these people, it really was amazing that they were friends, even more so when you thought about all their personalities. Chris, before joining S.T.A.R.S had been a pilot in the air force, Jill had been a cat-burglar, Carlos, a mercenary for hire, even working for Umbrella at one point, but he had never joined S.T.A.R.S. Rebecca Chambers, a child prodigy, had been a medic, but trained for Bio-chemic investigations for the S.T.A.R.S team. Leon had been a rookie cop, for a day, Claire a law student in college, Billy Coen had been a lieutenant in the Marines, before being labelled a mass murderer.

The phone ringing interrupted Leon's analysis of the group. Shaking his head he reached over and plucked the cordless telephone off the table, lifting it to his ear.

"Hello," he greeted

"Hey Leon, it's Billy" Billy's slightly rough voice answered.

"Alright Bill, what's up? When're you going to be back, I'm getting bored here"

"Uh…we're not going to be back for a while, there was a slight…hiccup in the plan"

"All you had to do was get outside Wesker's office in the HCF facility; no-one goes up that way, so how could there have been a problem?"

"We ran into Wesker's sidekick"

Leon paused, a sudden seriousness and worry pouring over him "What happened…where you are?"

There was a sigh on Billy's end of the line "I'll explained what happened later…as for where we are…St.Mary's hospital, far side of Washington"

"Who got hurt?"

"Carlos…he was shot and the rest of us have some sort of injury, however minor…we need you to come down here, Carlos might need your support and our info can't wait"

"Ok, I'll be down there now. See ya"

"See ya" the phone went dead.

Leon stood and ran to the door, flicking off the lights and slipping his trainers on, grabbing his coat and keys at the same time.

Minutes later he was in his car, driving through the busy streets of Washington D.C., heading to the other side of town.

Claire Kennedy sat in a chair in the reception of the hospital, her head drooping against her brother's shoulder. Chris, watching her intently, shifted slightly so that she could rest against him properly, she was falling asleep leaning on him, her eyelids gradually dropping closed more.

Jill was sitting on Chris's right, soothing Rebecca, whose fiancée was now lying in a hospital bed, having been shot in the chest. Carlos and Rebecca had been engaged before Billy had come back into her life, and Billy, despite how much he cared for Rebecca, had accepted it. In fact, he thought of her more as a little sister than anything else now, regardless of the slightly romantic relationship that had been built when the couple had first met.

Billy often said that since the relationship took place on a zombie infested train and then an Umbrella training facility, it was based on intense circumstances, and relationships based on intense circumstances never worked out. Leon argued the fact that it wasn't true, using him and Claire, Jill and Chris as examples. The arguments would go on for ages, always ending with the two somehow sparring with rolled up magazines in place of swords.

It was another example of Leon's thoughts about the strangeness of the group, that an ex-convict and ex-cop were almost best friends.

The sound of heavy footsteps heading his way made Chris snap his head up to see Billy walking back to the reception area, having called Leon. Everyone else had been either too tired or in pain to get up and walk to the phones, just inside the entrance hall of the hospital.

Claire was exhausted, as well as injured, her left leg stretched out awkwardly in front of her, thick white bandages wrapped around her thigh. She had managed to rip her leg open on the glass shards of the window that the group had hastily escaped through after being confronted by 'Aaron'. Chris himself was merely worried about Claire and wouldn't leave her side if an atomic bomb was about to be dropped into the room, being the concerned older brother that he was. Jill had been smashed in the head with a gun, and knocked unconscious for a moment, so she was still a little dizzy and dis-orientated. Rebecca hadn't actually been on the outing, but working late in this very same hospital, she had been on duty when Carlos had been wheeled in on a stretcher. Consequently she had been given the rest of the night off because of the worry she was currently suffering. She wouldn't have been allowed on the mission anyway, she was pregnant with Carlos's child, so wasn't allowed to go.

Billy had a few minor scratches across his chest and neck, a small bruise growing on his temple. He had offered to go and call Leon, seeing how put out everyone else was.

"Is he coming?" Chris asked, looking up at Billy who had come to stand in front of him to give him the news.

"Yeah, he said he'd be down here right away…he'll probably end up in casualty because he'll be driving too fast trying to get down here" Billy joked, pushing back his dark brown hair, a slight tint of red being caught by the light.

Chris snorted "Probably, he's always more concerned than then the rest of us guys"

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing" Claire commented, opening her eyes to glare at Billy because of his joke. He smiled nervously at the glare she was giving him, and moved back to his seat, next to Rebecca.

Billy looked down at Rebecca, curled up on the green chair as much as her swollen abdomen would allow, and he felt a rush of pity wash over him for her…she was only 26, the youngest of the group. If you excluded Barry, Billy was the oldest, being 34. He was also the only one without a definite partner, though he was supposed to be meeting Leon's step-sister at some point, but…that was a different matter. Claire was the second youngest at 27, Leon the youngest male at 28. Jill and Carlos were both 31 and Chris was 33.

So everyone was in a definite relationship, except Billy…Claire and Leon were married, Chris and Jill had been married for about 7 years now, Rebecca and Carlos had got engaged just over two years ago, and were planning to marry after the baby was born.

Billy sighed a little at that thought and slumped down into his chair, drawing his legs up to his chest, resting his chin on his knees.

"Must be nice to be able to do that"

Billy turned his head to look at Rebecca, smiling a little at her. The faintest hint of a smile touched Rebecca's lips, but it was obvious to Billy, because of her tear stained face, that she was worried sick about Carlos.

"Well it's not my fault your fiancée got you pregnant…is it?"

She smiled again and placed her hand on his arm, shoving him slightly.

"Rebecca?" A nurse walked over to her, and the 26 year old immediately snapped her attention away from her friend and onto her colleague.

"Uh…yeah?"

"Your fiancée is awake, and he's asking to see you…he's up in intensive care but because you work here you're allowed in there…I'm afraid Dr. Nick won't let your friends in there though" the nurse nervously informed her, glancing at Billy.

"Oh….well um, I'll tell you guys how he is then…I'll see you later" Rebecca muttered quickly and headed after her work mate.

Seconds after Rebecca was out of sight, Billy slid into her chair.

"Jump in her grave so quickly, why don't you?" Jill commented, looking over to Billy. He merely shrugged and folded his legs underneath himself, resting his elbow on the arm of the chair, cupping his cheek in his hand.

"How are we going to tell Leon about what we found?" she asked after a moment's silence

"Simple, we go back to his apartment and we open our mouths and lo and behold, we should be able to speak to him!"

"Coen" Jill growled, furrowing her eyebrows as she glared at him

"Christ, what is it about you women and glaring at me today?"

"…you're very….glare-at-able" Claire murmured to him from Chris's shoulder

"Nice word" Chris remarked, looking to his sibling and rolling his eyes at her. She smiled and closed her eyes again, apparently slipping back into sleep. Jill followed suit, leaning back into the chair and tucking herself into a ball, using Chris's forearm as a pillow. Within minutes, she was sleeping soundly along with Claire, occasional small snores emanating from both of them.

Chris smiled gently at the women and turned to speak to Billy. When his gaze rose to where Billy's face was, his smile faded. The older man was back to sitting with his legs drawn to his chest, hugging them, his eyes staring down at them. His mouth was set into a thin, down turned line, dark blue eyes distant and sombre.

Chris sighed inwardly. Billy had always been the more serious member of the group. While he did joke with the others, Chris often felt that the man's heart was never truly in it. Chris himself was fairly serious, but not in the gloomy, depressive way that Billy was. Carlos was a complete and total joker, always being immature, his partner Rebecca being light-hearted and shy. Jill was cheery almost 24-7, and Claire was pretty much the same as him. Leon was half way between Billy and Chris. He wasn't dark and brooding, but he took his dangerous situations seriously, he was light hearted for the most part and would always joke with others, but never at anyone's expensive. If some one in the group was being picked on, even if it was a joke, he would always defend them and turn the tables on the attacker…which was usually Carlos, towards Billy.

It was true that there was some bad blood between Billy and Carlos, and it was all to do with Rebecca. Billy had met Rebecca under some unusual circumstances, being a zombie-infested train, in addition to the fact that he was a convict and she was a police woman. Carlos had met Rebecca through Chris and Jill, under better situations and developed an instant like for each other. Even though Billy remarked that 'Becca' was a little sister to him, they all knew that he would've liked to have been able to have a relationship with her, something that he had rather brutally been forced to realise that he couldn't have when he was introduced to the group. Being the outsider that he was, and with his history of a mass murder, he had been mis-trusted for months before everyone eventually accepted him. Carlos however, was cautious about him even to this day. Billy held a small dislike for Carlos because he had destroyed his chances with Rebecca.

The ex-convict was now the oldest member of the group, and he was also single. He was also, in Chris's opinion, the most attractive guy, so why he couldn't get a girlfriend was beyond him. He wanted a girlfriend, and he was handsome, friendly, and caring, the one thing he was lacking, was confidence. It was strange to Chris that a man, who had worked in the army, for about 5 years, was shy about going out to find someone. Deep down though, it was probably because of his past.

From what Chris had heard, the ex-serviceman had had a rough life. His father had left before he was born after finding out his mother was pregnant with him. His mother regretted the fact that he was conceived because it drove her lover away, and she was so young when he was born that she felt she had wasted her life. Consequently, she had ignored Billy for much of his childhood, occasionally abusing him while he was too small to defend himself. It was because of this that Billy had his tattoo. It stretched from his shoulder to his wrist of his right arm, a tribal style writing that ornately conveyed the slogan 'Mother Love', it was sarcasm. It was also rather ironic that Billy claimed the first song he can ever recall hearing, was Queen's 'Mother Love'. That aside Billy had been avoided at school, because of his rough appearance and reputation. He had been all but thrown out of his home by his mother, when he was 16. When he was 20 he had signed up with the army. What happened in those 4 years between being thrown out and signing up, Billy wouldn't say.

Once in the army he had risen to the rank of second-lieutenant after years of service, and then he was betrayed by his own team. Accused of murder, he had been sent to prison and an institution for a year, and then sentenced to death. He had escaped that and met Rebecca, all but falling in love with her. He had wandered alone for 6 years, before finding his way to Rebecca, only to be told he couldn't be with her.

And now he was nearing in his mid thirties, and he was still practically alone.

Chris held a deep pity for Billy, he was a good guy and it wasn't fair what had befallen him.

"Billy?" Chris said quietly. Billy grunted in response to show he was listening "…are you OK?"

The other man looked over to Chris and nodded silently before unfurling his body. "I'm going for a walk to get some fresh air…I'll look out for Leon" he stated, straightening himself out and briskly walking away.

Chris watched him retreat, and sighed again.

"Are you going to go after him?" Claire asked, eyes still closed. Chris started a little, he hadn't even realised she was awake.

"I may do in a minute…he needs to sort himself out though"

"How are you going to tell him that…he'll ignore you"

"Probably"

"Why are you so worried? He's always like this"

"…He's a good guy and he should be with someone, not wandering alone"

"Chris…you need to think about it from his perspective. Jill will tell you the same thing…even Leon will. What you really need to realise though, is that Billy is a loner and when he's ready to find someone, he will"

"His past hinders him though…he's scared he'll be betrayed by someone who he cares for"

"So is everyone…you thought that way when Jill first came back with Carlos…you thought she would leave you for him"

"Yeah…but I didn't let it stop me"

Claire rolled her eyes, Chris wasn't getting her point, and by now Jill was waking up.

"Chris, Billy isn't like you. I know that you're worried about him because he's your friend…but don't push him. You have to accept the fact that Billy may never find someone, especially if he's pushed into a relationship. Let him do what he wants." It was Jill who commented this time, opening sleepy eyes to look at her husband.

"But if he never finds someone…."

"Then he has us to keep him company and support him. If you're really that worried, go and talk to him" Claire finished "Besides me and Jill want a girl to girl talk, now shoo" she waved him away with her hand.

Chris rolled his eyes and stood up to stretch, and walked towards the entrance of the hospital, leaving the girls to their 'talk'.

Will somebody please review?

Answer me this someone who plays Resi or even if you don't...What did you think of Wesker in the last chapter? Was he in character or does he need improving?