AN: HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THE LAST CHAPTER. THIS IS WHERE IT'LL START TO GET INTERESTING. HEHEHEHE…

Chapter 8

Jill would be laying in the water now, her arms smoothly moving her across the almost crystal clear surface. This definitely beat being back at the office with no AC whatsoever and a fat ass for a boss breathing down their necks, all because he had no cool air running in his department. A small smile crossed her face before taking a deep breath, plunging herself underwater. Kicking her legs, she propelled towards the lake bottom and moved along, using her hands to pull herself along. She loved the water and come summer time, she would swim whenever she could get the chance.

'I am so glad Wesker let us leave early. God knows how much Irons would be riding on our backs right about now,' she thought to herself before spotting something move out of the corner of her eye. 'What was that?'

She would swim a bit further, curiosity starting to get the better of her. Coming to a small rocky cove, she would see what looked like a large fish tail slipping between the rocks. It looked a little big to be a regular fish.. And its movements were up and down instead of side to side. 'What in the world..?' She went closer, looking about to see where whatever it was went.

But instead.. she would come across what looked like a medium sized cavern. Eyes widening a bit, she would go inside, despite the small tickling feeling in her lungs indicating her need for air. The cave was dimly lit with light from the surface, so she could see somewhat. She spotted a hole at the back of the cavern and striking forth, she would reach inside and felt around, wondering if there was anything inside. It was pretty common for people to drop things in the water and somehow would get washed up in little cubby holes like this one. Maybe she would find a watch or something of the rather.

At last, her hand landed on top of something small. 'I got something!' She would pull her now clenched hand out and saw it was a small necklace with a blue teardrop charm. Surprisingly, there was no algae or any rust upon the sterling silver chain or the charm. 'Curious… it looks like this was recently dropped.' Fumbling with the clasp for a moment, she slipped it around her neck. The feeling in her lungs pricked at her again and so she went for the surface, pushing herself against the entrance for a boost, unaware that a pair of eyes was watching her ascend.

Jill's head burst the surface with a small gasp, getting some of the gang's attention. "Geez, Jill. How long were you underwater? We didn't see you after Rebecca spotted you going under," Chris replied.

"I don't know. But it sure felt pretty damn good. It was pretty cool the deeper you go," Jill said as she swam over to them. "And look what I found." She then showed the necklace that now sat around her neck.

"Ooooh, that's pretty~" Alana says while coming over in an inner tube that Edward brought.

"I agree. That's really cool," Rebecca said, fingering the charm between her index finger and thumb. "Where did you find it?"

"There's a little cave down there and it was inside a niche. I think this was recently dropped. Question was how did it end up in there?" Jill replied, laying on her back to give her limbs a rest. "I am thinking of heading back down and seeing what else I can find."

"What are ya, a treasure hunter now?" Joseph asked with a snicker, causing Jill to swat him on the arm.

"Shut up," she playfully glared at him before swimming off and taking a deep breath again, went back under the surface.

Once more into the peaceful quiet of the underwater world, Jill allowed herself to freely move, gliding easily and smoothly as if she were a mermaid. Descending back down into the cave, she looked around to see what else she could find inside this place she found. She would find a second niche and slipped her hand inside. 'Wonder what's in here..' Her hand would feel about the small hole but found nothing to her slight disappointment. So she would slide her hand out and looked around some more before something glimmered within another hole in the cavern wall. She would peek inside and spotted something small and circular. 'Is that a ring or a locket?' she wondered before reaching inside.

As she would dig about and found nothing, she made to pull her hand out.. and found that she couldn't. She tried once more to remove her hand, but it did not budge. Panic slowly began to settle in; she was stuck! She forced herself to calm down; panicking was not going to do any good except make her lose air faster. Grabbing her wrist with her free hand, she began to tug on it, hoping to pry it loose while planting her feet on the wall for extra strength.

'Shit! My hand won't come free! Come on..' she wildly thought when she felt her lungs starting to burn for air again. Her heart began to slowly pick up in pace the more she struggled. 'Come on... get free!' She then tried placing her free hand on the wall and still using her feet, she pulled once more. But her feet slipped off after losing her footing and Jill began to struggle a bit harder.

'No, no, no... this can't be happening! So stupid to come back down alone!' Bubbles of air escaped her mouth and her other hand clamped over that and her nose, desperate to keep whatever oxygen she had left inside her lungs. 'Shit..! Am I... going to drown!? Wesker... Chris... anyone! Please find me!'

"Valentine!"

Jill's eyes widened. Was she going crazy from slowly starting to drown or did she just hear Wesker's voice somewhere? Looking around, her eyes went a bit wider when she saw the Alpha Captain swimming up behind her and grabbing her trapped hand by the arm and his other hand laid upon her shoulder. "I've got you, Valentine." To her bewilderment, his voice was crystal clear underwater. Was she really losing it? Was this really her mind at work upon going unconsciousness unknowingly? A dream?

But his hand, she could still feel it on her arm. More air escaping her brought her out of her thoughts and she clenched her teeth and her eyes shut tight, forcing herself not to let go of what she had left in her lungs.

"Stop panicking, Valentine. You'll drown faster if you keep struggling. You need to trust me and do as I say, alright?" His voice was the epitome of calm, which in turn made Jill settle down.. until he said this next. "You need to breathe."

'Breathe?! But I am not a fish!' She thought in shock. Breathe underwater?! But how was that even possible? As if sensing her thoughts, Wesker shook his head.

"I'll explain later. But right now, again, you need to trust me. Just do it. I won't let you drown," he would say, his tone keeping even as he kept eye contact with her.

Finally, Jill nodded to him once before closing her eyes, praying that whatever Wesker had planned, it had better work. Otherwise, she was a goner. 'Here goes...' Letting go of the breath she was holding for so long, she hesitantly did so and timidly inhaled a bit. She expected water to enter her lungs.. but amazingly, there was nothing. Fresh air flowed in her body. She gasped a bit and realized what was happening: she was actually breathing underwater.

'But how..?! How is this happening?!' She looked to Wesker with a look of disbelief, who in turn smirked a bit back at her. Again as if sensing her thoughts, he spoke again.

"Let's just say.. it's a little gift I got from a dear friend of mine. As long as I am holding onto you, I can give you safety under the surface. But I'll explain more later on. Right now, let's get you free," he replied before turning his attention back to her hand.

Jill wanted to ask about how but she didn't for two reasons. One, she didn't know if his.. gift allowed her to speak the same way underwater. And two, her friends were probably about her being down below for a long time. So she nodded before focusing on helping Wesker get her hand loose. After a bit of wiggling and tugging, her hand was finally out. Wesker did not let her go, however, knowing she would need a few moments to get some air back into her aching lungs.

Sighing in relief, she smiled back to Wesker in gratitude and gave a nod of thanks. That was when she felt something brush against her leg. Jerking a bit in surprise, she looked down.. and received another big shock. Attached to Wesker was an obsidian scaled fish tail. Along the back were what looked like midnight blue and cyan hued spines with membrane between each quill, the fin stretching up to the small of his back. She also noticed that there were matching fins on his arms that stopped at his elbows. His eyes were no longer that cold steel blue. They were a brighter blue, almost sky blue and seemed to have a dim, yet eerie glow in the shadows of the cave, making them look entrancing.

"I cannot go back to the surface with you for now. If the others ask for me, tell them I am at another part of the lake. Tell them you found an air pocket inside here, understood?" He would then say, his Captain tone now back and Jill would nod again in reply, understanding why now. Those times they went to the pool and Wesker refusing to even get near the water... "Good. Now on three, I'm going to let you go. Make sure you have a good breath of air. One, two, three." Just as Jill sucked in a breath, she was released.

Once more waving in thanks, Jill swam for the surface while Wesker swam off back into the dark cavern, disappearing out of sight. After a moment, she finally surfaced to several relieved voices crying out her name. The first to come over was Chris. "Jill, you okay!?" He then grabbed her in a hug, overcome with relief. "I thought something happened to you when you didn't come up."

"I'm okay. I found an air pocket inside the cave and decided to catch my breath there for a bit. Cave's a lot bigger than I thought," Jill nodded as she patted his back in comfort before swimming with him to the bank and sitting down in the grass.

"At least you're okay. But where's the Captain?" Joseph would ask.

"He's at another part of the lake. It's a secluded spot. You know how he is," Jill said with a shrug.

"Always the loner. But wait a sec! Wesker absolutely refused to come in the water at the pool last summer, but he'll come in the lake," Forest piped up, furrowing his brow and again, Valentine shrugged.

"I guess he just hates how much chlorine they put in the pool. To be honest, I do too. Stuff stinks to high heaven and it takes awhile to get that stuff out, smell included," she replied, making a slight face at the thought to which some of the team agreed.

After a bit, the team finally settled down after their scare with Jill and went back to having fun with some of the guys starting a game of Marco Polo, the players being Chris, Brad, Joseph, Forest, Edward, Alana and Richard. (An idea given by the little girl. Childish yes, but it was fun to play) Rebecca was out of the water by now, fixing their lunches near the picnic tables with Enrico giving her a hand. Barry was on the bank, lightly dozing while laying out in the sun on his towel. Beneath the surface, Wesker was feeling a bit mischievous, that signature sly smirk coming to his lips.

'Why can't I have a bit of fun myself?' he thought before swimming along the lake floor, heading for Brad first. He folded back his fin on his tail, not wanting the sharp points to accidentally cut him. Once he was close enough, he brushed the end of his tail against his left leg, making the poor man shriek like a frightened girl and jump away.

"SOMETHING JUST BRUSHED AGAINST MY LEG!" he cried out, eyes wide in fright as he frantically looked around.

"Probably just a fish. Don't pee your shorts, Chickenheart," Chris laughed.

"But wh-wh-what if it was a s-s-s-snake?!" Brad quivered as he continued to gaze around, trying to see if he could find whatever it was that slid by him.

"Brad, there are no snakes here. We've come here quite a few times and we haven't seen a single one. So quit your crying, ya big baby," Barry spoke up, awoken by Brad's girly scream.

Brad whined a bit before the game resumed. Being the smallest, Alana was proving difficult to catch. She was like a little torpedo through the water every time she swam away from whomever was it. Once more, Wesker made his move beneath the calm surface and brushed his tail against Brad's other leg, making him yell out again.

"IT DID IT AGAIN!" he yelled out before rapidly swimming for shore as the others sighed in annoyance.

"Brad, quit being a bitch just because something in the water touched you. Again, it was probably just a fish," Chris spoke with a roll of his eyes.

"Get over it, Chickenheart," Joseph agreed but Brad shook his head no.

"I'm not going back in the water! Again, what if it's a snake or something else rather deadly?!" Brad yelled back.

Jill knew who it was and shook her head as well. 'Scaring the poor guy.. really Captain?' she thought before shooting a look out to the water, where she saw a glimmer coming off under the surface. She swore one of these days, Brad was going to die early of a heart attack if he kept this up.

"Chickenshit!" Joseph teased and Brad glared back at him in return before giving him the one fingered salute. "Oooh, you can count to one. Congrats, Vickers. Can you count to five?"

"Yeah, I'll give you five. Five reasons to shut up!" Brad fired back.

"Ho ho, finally Vickers grows a bit of a backbone," Barry muttered, eyes still closed but he was smiling a bit.

"Oh yeah?" Joseph challenged, still feeling cocky.

"Yeah!" Brad then began to roll each finger into his hand, counting up to five until his hand was fully balled into a fist.

"Awww, how cute. Little Chickenheart finally grows some balls," Joseph laughed at this.

"More than you'll ever have," Jill fired back at him, causing some of the guys to go "OOOOOOH!"

As the sun rose into the highest point in the sky, the others would be out of the lake by now and enjoying the food set out before them. At the hidden bank of the lake, Wesker had surfaced and dragged himself onto land. Grabbing the towel he had on a low hanging branch, he began to dry himself off. Within a couple of minutes, a searing pain began to fire off through his lower body as his tail began to split back into legs. "This never gets easier..!" he hissed, fighting off the urge to yell out. To him, it was like something was taking a blade and slicing it upwards. "Just like..!" He never got to finish that thought when the pain hit his fin. He clenched his teeth, his hands balled into tight fists in the dirt before sighing in immense relief as it finally finished.

"I wish she would have given me something to stave off the pain when I dry off.." he muttered before grabbing his pants and shirt and slipped them on before joining the others.

"There you are!" Barry smiled after swallowing a bite of his burger.

"We were starting to think you drowned or something," Joseph laughed a bit.

"Oh please, Frost. Isn't it a bit much to enjoy some peace and quiet away from you children?" Wesker scoffed before sitting at the end of the table.

Joseph made a show by clutching at his chest. "Oh! I thought you cared for us, Captain! You wound us!" he cried out in fake sadness.

Chris rolled his eyes before throwing a meatball at him. "Shut it, Joseph."

"Aw, come on. I was just kidding," Joseph snickered.

"Oh brother.." Jill muttered before going back to polishing off some coleslaw. Alana giggled a bit and shook her head before digging into her PB&J sandwich.

"So Alana, how is it living with Captain Wesker?" Richard asked her and the young girl perked up again.

"He's been really sweet to me. I sometimes cook breakfast for us," Alana replied.

"You know how to cook?" Rebecca asked in surprise. Then again, she had heard of young kids cooking some really good dishes in the past.

"Yup! Mama taught me before..." Alana trailed off as she lowered her head a bit, her smile vanishing. "... before she and Daddy died."

"Your mother would be proud, sweet thing. Maybe you oughta cook for us sometime, show us whatcha got," Forest piped up in an attempt to cheer her up, which indeed worked as she smiled and nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! That'd be great! Wesker bought me a cookbook one day. He wanted to test to see how good I was," Alana grinned.

"And she didn't disappoint. She's quite the little genius when it comes to the kitchen. Last night, she made homemade lasagna with some fresh bread we retrieved from the bakery," Wesker smirked a bit, ruffling her hair.

"You mean from Janette's Bakery? That place is packed every morning and most of the time in the afternoon. How did you manage that? They make only so much before they run out," Jill asked, her eyes going wide in surprise.

Alana looked down a bit, trying to hide the sheepish blush coloring her cheeks while Wesker looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Even after he took her in, she was still up to her old tricks... Chris seemed to catch onto what that look from the Captain meant.

"Kid.. did you steal again?" he would ask bluntly, making Alana duck her head even further, her face heating up with clear embarrassment on her face now. From that, he would cross his arms, giving her a look. "Look, 'Lana, you don't have to steal anymore. You got Captain Wesker to help you now. And you got us as well. You don't need to pit pocket. Imagine if you got caught."

Alana nodded in understanding before grabbing a corn on the cob and digging in. As the teams dug into their meals, Chris suddenly made a slight face, as if something was coming... and something was coming alright. "Umm... Jill?"

"Yeah?" Jill asked, wondering what was wrong with him until Barry spoke up.

"Uh oh.. Valentine, you may want to get away from him. When he makes that face..." spoke the gunslinger, raising an eyebrow, trailing off as Jill suddenly got what he was about to say.

"Chris, don't you dare!" she snapped and made to jump up from the table.

Too late as a loud sound was heard, followed by.. "OH GODDESSES, CHRIS!"

"EWWWW! GROSS!"

"Goddamn, Redfield! What did you eat, man!?"

"That was LOUD!"

"Redfield, that is absolutely disgusting.."

HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THIS CHAPTER. AND THERE IS MORE FANTASY TO COME! SEE YOU IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!