A.N: Same as usual, thank you reviewers!

Chapter 12

Yunsung stepped around the large room, taking in details, to find out if Wesker and chum might just be hiding somewhere. It didn't seem likely. The room, though large, was mainly empty. There was a large desk in the middle of the room, maybe mahogany in its material, set on a plush dark red carpet. The floor consisted of white tiles, much like that of the halls outside, but the walls were a sort of beige colour, with a strip of dark wood at the bottom coming up only about a foot.

Apart from the desk, there were only one or two more pieces of furniture in the almost cavernous chamber. A filing cabinet stood beside the far wall, a mirror hanging on the wall, and a comfortable black leather sofa on the far right, a small end table next to it with a few books on it. A few plants in pots stood in various places around the room, and though it seemed to be comfortable and inviting at first glance, after a slightly closer inspection, it certainly wasn't and the room seemed to radiate a sort of feeling over detest towards its guests. Perhaps not unlike Wesker himself, seeming a nice enough person at first glance, but when you got to know him…

Chris walked over to Wesker's sparsely decorated desk that only had a computer and a filing system adorning the top of it. It was all strictly neat and organised, the letters neatly set into one of the trays, a few spare sheets of paper with Wesker's report about something lying on top.

Chris frowned and grabbed the sheets, shuffling them in his hands. Wesker wasn't the type of person to leave this stuff lying around and so Chris sank into the large black chair behind the desk, and began to read.

Billy sat crouched next to Wesker's office door, listening intently. There was no sound coming from inside the room, so he cautiously got up, and opened the door, gun drawn.

Chris was sitting behind a desk, reading off a few sheets of paper and Claire was shuffling through a filing cabinet whereas Yunsung was milling around aimlessly, and Sheik was looking through the books on a small glass table near a black sofa. Walking further into the room, Billy put his gun away, looking around and wondered briefly just how pissed Chris was.

"I thought he was definitely going to be here," Maxi commented, having just closed the door behind him, a sharp black eyebrow raised at the 'leader' who was engrossed in some papers that seemed to be making him angry.

Chris finished the paragraph he had been reading and glanced up to the pirate. "I thought he would be," he bit out, but sounding more tired and depressed than angry at Maxi.

"What's the paper?" Billy asked, trying to intervene in case Chris decided to get angry, which was often the case.

"Reports," Chris answered "On Raccoon City and Umbrella…before both were blown sky high"

"Did we get a mentioning?"

"Well the STARS did…and Leon and Claire…but I don't know if you did."

"Charming"

"Probably doesn't know your name"

Billy snorted in mock offence.

"However…there is a fair amount of Wesker's feelings about the STARS here."

"Oh?...You mean besides him hating you"

"No, but just listen to this"

He cleared his throat and quoted from the report "Never did I imagine that S.T.A.R.S. could slay the evil creation. I lost the Tyrant and the plan I devised which cost me my humanity ended in failure. Now anything and anyone who stood in my way would be terminated. It's been that way for a long time and it always will be. At all costs I had to make S.T.A.R.S pay" he exaggerated the words

"Really that bad huh?"

"Apparently"

Billy was about to say something more, when the door burst open, and he turned to see Jill standing in the doorway, her gun aimed at his forehead.

"Would you like to talk or just shoot us now?" Maxi quipped, joining Claire.

"You're an asshole at times Maxi" Link stated, stepping past Jill and Leon.

Sheik snorted over by the pile of books, and the group guessed that it was probably him agreeing with Link.

"So what do we do now?" Liam asked

At this the collection of people in the room turned to look at Chris, who was sitting behind Wesker's desk still.

"We try to find information on what he was planning to do and as much about the virus as possible. Some of you can help Claire and Maxi with those files. Leon you come here. Let's see if we can get into Wesker's computer"

Leon wandered over to Chris looking at the monitor of the computer. They were on the log in page, the words HCF, emblazoned on the background.

"You think you'll be able to hack in?" Chris asked

"Possibly, if you let me sit down" he grinned at Chris as he got up and sank into the chair himself "In the meantime you should probably see if he's got a laptop or anything"

Chris nodded "It's unlikely he'd keep personal tests on the work site"

He started digging through the, trying to find anything in the drawers, calling Jill over to unlock one of the locked drawers.

"Bingo" Jill whispered triumphantly, watching Chris lift a silver laptop out of the draw.

It was five minutes later, as Chris was logging into the laptop, which, surprisingly, Wesker had left without a password that Leon announced,

"There's no way I can get into here tonight, if ever, you'd need an expert hacker and a hell of a lot of time to get past this. From what I can see by creating a worm, the passwords are changed every week and are usually longer than ten letters, not to mention that you have to have personal information to log in"

"We might not need it," Jill commented, looking at the thin laptop screen "There's a camera in here, that's why he left the laptop without a password"

"You mean Wesker knows we're here?" Yunsung asked

Jill nodded "And the camera is pointing to a distinct patch on the wall. Distinct to the camera anyway, a person would miss it"

Jill strolled around the room, trailing her hand along the wall as Chris watched the screen "Stop" he called "Your hand's right in the centre of the screen"

Jill turned her head, looking up to where the camera was situated. It was small, but visible. She turned back to the wall, trailing her hand to the left, and feeling the slightest gap in the wall.

"Everyone stop. There's a gap in the wall, a door and I should be able to get in….whose got a really thin bladed knife or something"

"That'd be Sheik" Link commented, turning to look at the red eyed youth.

The former mention walked across to Jill, pulling one of his needle blades out of his belt and handing it to her.

Taking it she slid it down the gap, then stepped back and waited. After a few seconds the thin metal door swung outwards, revealing a dark passage.

Chris stepped away from the desk, drew out his gun and aimed at the camera. It disappeared with a loud bang and a small shower of sparks.

"Alright, single file everyone." He commanded, pulling out his torch and turning it on, aiming down into the darkness.

Jill followed suit, falling into place behind Chris. The rest filed behind them, Billy and Leon at the back lighting the way for those without any means of lighting the area.

Link glanced around at the darkness that was pressing against him, sniffing quietly at the dense stale air in the thin corridor. It smelled of strong disinfectant, stronger than the stuff they used in the infirmary in the castle, which was more there to cover up the smell of blood and medicine's that hung in the air. Here though, whilst it may have been because they were moving into a lab, he got the impression that somebody had spread it around just to make people feel sick.

Not that you really needed the smell to do that. The effect of being sandwiched in the middle of the group was already making Link feel light-headed and the corridors were reminding him of Ganondorf's fortress. The lower dungeons, which had been empty when Link had got there, had reeked of blood, vomit, urine and faeces of long suffering people. The smell was very faintly in the air here, and it added to the already tense atmosphere.

After a few more minutes of silence they turned a corner, and moving down another corridor, the thin beams of Jill and Chris's torches caught a glimmer of metal. It was a door, made entirely of metal, like the one upstairs, but this one was far thicker, and there was an intercom by the side of the door.

Chris moved aside for Jill to pass, and she walked up to the card reader by the door. Taking out Sheik's blade from her own belt, she poised it above the reader.

Chris turned back to the others, who had clustered together in the slightly larger corridor.

"Right" he whispered "I don't want all of us going in, so only six of us will. The remaining six will wait out here. And before you start complaining, there's good reason for you to wait out here. You can act as backup if we needed, warn us against any dangers that might come down here, it'll be too large a group for us all to go in, and the information that we can gain can be related back to you by whoever goes in."

The group members nodded sullenly at being split up.

"Myself, Link and Siegfried are definitely going in…is there anyone else who wants to come in?"

"I will" Claire stated, stepping forward.

"Except you, Claire and Jill"

"No way. I'm coming in!" Jill exclaimed glaring at her husband, whilst Claire just sighed resignedly and leaned against the wall. "I was betrayed by Wesker as much as you were, Chris. Just because you watched him die"

Chris rolled his eyes but conceded "Alright, and I want Billy in as well as back up…who else is to go in?"

Maxi, at the back of the group, gave Kilik a gentle shove. "He will" Maxi spoke up "He might be useful if you find something he can help with"

Chris nodded. "OK. That's all six of us. Leon, you've got contact with us, yes?"

Leon blinked slowly and then pulled a microphone and earpiece out from his pack, fitting them into place. "Good," Chris pulled out his own earpiece and slotted it inside his ear. He pulled his Magnum and nodded to Jill, who swiped the blade through the reader, putting it away, once the door started moving outwards. Leon and the others who were left behind slipped into the shadows to avoid being seen by Wesker.

Kilik stepped into the room behind Siegfried, studying it, trying to discern any shapes in the darkness.

Behind him, the door slowly slid shut.

Chris narrowed his eyes as he looked around the room, trying to figure out where Wesker was. His heart sped up slightly, thinking that this could be the end for one of them…if Wesker was in the room. And as if his thoughts had been read, Wesker's drawled voice came out of the darkness.

"Well done, Christopher. Though, it took you a bit long to get down here, don't you think?"

Chris gritted his teeth at the sound of that voice, and turned to see a slight glow coming from behind where his ex-captain was sitting, his shape silhouetted with the faint light.

"Wesker," Chris hissed

"Correct. Though you should know me by now Chris"

Link looked over to the man speaking and strained his eyes in the darkness, trying to pick out the details of the form.

At the moment Wesker was silhouetted by the light from the laptop screen behind him, and all Link could really see was his body shape. From what he could see, Link could tell that he was in pretty good shape.

He was pretty tall for a start, probably about six foot or more, meaning he was taller even than Chris and Leon, and considering Link was only about five foot eight, it was an impressive height. Apart from that he had broad shoulders and chest, tapering to a slim waist, much more than it would usually for a male in his age group, or what Link assumed to be his age group. The only thing he could make out apart from that was that he was rather muscular and dressed smartly from the shoulders of the coat he was wearing.

"I see you brought some friends Chris…Aaron turn up the lights for our guests" he commanded, and Aaron grudgingly adjusted the dimmer switch near the back of the room.

The light didn't completely illuminate the room; still it was bright enough for Wesker's features to be seen, but they were shadowed slightly, and it made Link feel uneasy. He knew that this was probably a tactic on Wesker's behalf to try and un-nerve the people who hadn't met him before.

Link raised his eyebrows slightly as he studied Wesker, surprised by the look of the man.

He was sitting in a tall chair set near the back of the room, and at the moment, he seemed perfectly relaxed, his shoulders straight enough to give him a look of power, but sloping slightly to allow his elbows to rest on the arms of the chair, his fingers laced together, meeting at about the height of his collarbone.

His left leg was crossed over the right slightly, so that his ankle was resting on his right knee, his foot hanging down, emphasizing the length of his legs, how tall he was.

His face, or what Link could see of it, for there was a strip of shadow cast down the middle of it, was fairly long, with strong, elegant features that made Link think that perhaps he would have been suited better in a life as an actor or model. There was something regal about his appearance too, probably mainly the strength of his finely chiseled features, the high-cheekbones, strong jaw line and chin. He had a rather long narrow nose too, and thin pale lips that were currently set into an almost gentle smirk, and his hair was a golden blonde, darkened at the moment so that it almost looked brown, that was due to the lighting.

His eyes though, strangely, were covered with glasses and Link got the feeling that they were going to be intense, no matter what their colour.

Kilik glanced to Link, watching him run his eyes over Wesker's form, before returning to watch the coldly handsome man himself. His clothes only further emphasized that look of power. A suit with a turtleneck jumper under it, all in black.

Wesker raised an eyebrow, letting the newcomers study him, before breaking the silence.

"It's nice to see you again Miss Valentine, or should I say, Mrs. Redfield…you too Mr. Coen"

Jill scowled at Wesker, whilst Billy cocked his head slightly "How do you know me?"

"I was keeping an eye on things in the Umbrella training Facility when you and Miss Chambers stumbled in, I learned your name thanks to Rebecca…though I have to admit, I would have been grateful if you had actually been a murderer and killed her for me"

"Shut up." Chris bit out "We're not here to listen to your insane drivel Wesker"

Wesker ignored him and look to the other three, casting his eyes over them.

"Boring," he commented as he skimmed over Kilik "Insane," for Siegfried and then "Ah…so you must be one of the Hylians. I admit, I've been looking forward to meeting you"

Link curled his lip in disgust and stepped back, baring his teeth at Wesker in a snarl. There had been something in his tone that had unnerved Link. Something that was vaguely predatory almost…sexual in a way.

Wesker grinned at the blonde boy's reaction to his words, or rather their tone.

"You Hylians are a fascinating race…so beautiful and peaceful, yet holding a sense of greater power that seems beyond a human. But I digress…tell me, how is your wife?"

Link snarled again and spat at Wesker. The darker blonde looked down at the saliva on the floor distastefully.

"Leave him alone Wesker, and let's get down to why we're here?" Chris barked at his ex-boss.

"Ah, yes…your search for a cure against the Anodyne virus, and information concerning it"

Chris stared at Wesker

"Very well, I'll tell you what you want to know…The Anodyne Virus is infecting both worlds, and is capable of mutating the body more than the G virus…if the carrier is strong enough to survive the mutation. It is comprised of a mixture of the G, T and Plaga virus, that your friend, Mr. Kennedy was infected with, was it eight years ago?"

"And what's the point of it?"

"To create an army of unstoppable bio-weapons of course…one that responds to commands. The T- virus kills the body, purposefully, much like the zombies to make them difficult to kill, the G virus allows them to mutate rapidly, and the Plaga allows me to control them."

At the back of the room, Aaron hissed loudly at Wesker, and the group turned to him, looking at his form hunched in the corner.

"Ah, yes. I suppose you already know him, but may I introduce you to Aaron. He's a pure physical manifestation of the virus"

"Yeah, we know"

"Oh good" Wesker muttered sarcastically

"So where's the cure?" Chris demanded

"Why does that matter….I'm hardly going to let you have it, now am I?"

"Just tell me Wesker"

"I think it's better not to. Anyway…would you like to see how the worlds are coping with the effects of the virus?"

"How are you going to show us that?" Jill asked "More of your high-tech stuff no doubt"

"To some extent…a few cameras around Hyrule and the other world, giving us a constant, live feed…of course we're going to have to show you some taped footage as the villages where we positioned some of the cameras have been destroyed…in the Demonic Swords world, anyway"

"You bastard" Siegfried growled out lowly, tightening his grip on the hilt of Requiem

"Heh…that's a little hypocritical, don't you think?" Wesker responded "No doubt that you've killed as many or maybe even more people than I have, Herr Schtauffen"

"That's….." Siegfried trailed off, looking away momentarily, before returning to glaring at Wesker

"Aaron" Wesker turned slightly, addressing the BOW, who looked up at him in a way that suggested that he would like to do nothing more than gut Wesker where he stood.

"Play the recording from test world one from yesterday, I'm sure Mr. Schtauffen and his…companion would like to see their friends"

Aaron sat in the corner and glared up at Wesker, but did nothing more than continuing to sit in the corner.

"Now" Wesker seethed, his eyes narrowing at the insubordination.

Aaron grudgingly got up from the floor and walked across to a console at the back wall, pressing at buttons, before a TV screen set into the back wall turned on.

The footage that was playing showed the fight between the Virus monster and the Soul warriors yesterday, when Raphael had been in the forest and run to the village.

Kilik and Siegfried growled when they saw the other warriors trying to defeat the monster, and the Chinaman let out a small cry of despair when he saw Xianghua being flung to the ground like a ragdoll. The video then swapped to a few images of the village of Ostreheinsburg, where Soul Edge was usually guarded by Siegfried. The walls were spattered by a gloss of red blood in most places, a few dismembered corpses lying in the gutters of the streets, crows pecking at the flesh.

"Fortunately for you," Wesker commented, looking pointedly at the crows "The virus will only infect humanoids…birds and other creatures seem to be immune to it"

"And that's supposed to make us feel better" Kilik bit out lowly "To know that our friends won't have to deal with creepy zombified crows as well"

"It should…you wouldn't believe the damage T-virus infected crows can do…although I'm sure that Chris can enlighten you by telling you about Forest"

Chris snarled but said nothing.

"Play the Hyrule tapes" Wesker murmured to Aaron, shooting a nasty glare at him when he hesitated

The tape that was playing showed various clips of race mutations from around Hyrule, documenting the mutations of all the races, Gerudo, Hylian, Kokiri, Goron and Zora.

Link gasped and then growled slightly at the footage of the Kokiri mutations, recognizing the mutating individual, watching Saria, Mido and the others running from the creation.

"This was taken about a week ago, so most of those kids you see running will probably all be dead by now" Wesker commented, chuckling darkly whilst he did, watching the disgusted expressions on the group members faces.

The Kokiri in fact mutated practically into a Stalfos, the layers of skin being shed like clothing until nothing but bone and some muscle remained, a pair of milky white eyes glaring out of the sockets.

"That however" Wesker started and his 'audience' turned to him "Is not my main interest at this point in time"

"And let me guess, your sick mind games with Zelda is" Link spat

"Correct. Your wife is in a very delicate state, and you Hylians are sensitive enough as it is. I can't resist causing some emotion torment from time to time…I have to have my fun too, and the rest of this is just work"

"You're sick" Jill stated quietly "Then again, I should know that already from the way you betrayed STARS"

"Why do you people have a clinical obsession with the past? What good does it do to dwell on painful memories and work your way into a state of depression?"

Jill and Chris were silent, realizing that they didn't know entirely why they did dwell on it, except for the memories of their comrades who died.

"But…that's of no concern at this dramatic moment. I'll treat you to a status report on the Princess…" Wesker waved his hand in a dismissing sort of gesture

Aaron sat on the desk, knowing that his Commander wanted the files on Zelda, but not wanting to obey.

"Aaron…need I remind you of what will happen if you don't do as I ask?"

Aaron snorted "Lock me up in a room for a day?...Oh the horror" he pointed out sarcastically "Not exactly a harsh punishment, is it?"

Wesker narrowed is eyes at his creation while he continued "And I'm too valuable to you for you to damage irreparably"

"Irreparably, yes….but not enough to avoid punishing altogether…and besides, if I push to hard and you die, I can just create another"

"Which will take weeks"

"It'll be worth it if it doesn't turn into an insubordinate half-creature like you"

Chris raised an eyebrow slightly at the argument between the two, not expecting Wesker to be having trouble controlling his creation and he wondered how far he would let Aaron go before he lashed out. It proved to be not much more.

"Half – creature? That's no less than what you are, sir" he drawled sarcastically "After all, you're hardly more than a glorified human really, are you?"

It was at this point that Wesker decided Aaron had gone too far. In just a few strides he had reached where the creature was sitting, drew back his fist and struck him across the face...hard. The punch was strong enough to knock the creature off where he was sitting on the console, and land in a heap by the opposite side of it.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to have to deal with Aaron for now….my pets will escort you out" he stabbed a button on the console, then walked over to Aaron who was still on the floor, trying to recover.

Chris watched him stride over, and then suddenly lost interest a few seconds later, when a cry from Leon sounded in his ear and something struck the door.

"I think it's time to leave" Chris commented and threw himself at the door, which banged open into the corridor.

Chris looked down the corridor to see why Leon had cried out.

Only 5 feet away, was a pack of Hunters…and they looked hungry.

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