: Chapter 4 - The Study :


Claire had always been quite a curious person, though Chris just described it as being nosey, which wasn't really wrong.

Being in Weskers actual home was very interesting indeed though, and she felt her curiosity get the better of her as she felt she needed to use the bathroom and had no idea where it was, and she was alone so.. why not snoop around? if he got back and caught her, she could just say she was looking for the bathroom. Not like it wasn't a lie. Besides, its not like she was looking to steal anything, she just wanted to.. look around really.

Immediately she went upstairs, figuring the biggest bathroom was up there. She huffed as she located the bathroom almost immediately, figuring the couldn't use the 'i couldn't find it' excuse, but decided to continue down the hall and snoop a bit more anyway. There was a guest bedroom turned storage room of sorts that housed a lot of papers to the left of the bathroom, but it didn't interest her. She saw Wesker's bedroom was to the right of the bathroom, but only caught a glimpse of the mahogany bed and blood red throw over. She didn't want to really go into the bedroom anyway, in case she disturbed something and he noticed.

Though what really caught her attention was the room at the end of the hall, which had its door thrown wide open. As she approached it, she saw it was.. an office? It had a desk to the back of the room, and 2 full book cases to either side. The desk was extremely well kept but.. Wait, what the heck is that?

As she walked over to the desk, she squinted at what she found; a petri dish with a weird looking green fungi inside it. She titled her head in confusion at the item. Why the hell does he have that in an office? He hardly had someone he was doing a science experiment with maybe? maybe a cousin or something? because he was definitely a single man. Not a single aspect of his home said 'family'.

Or was this maybe for him? but.. that didn't make any sense. Maybe he just liked to.. grow fungi? Yeah that makes sense. Out of curiosity, she went to pick up the dish, but yelped as she felt something scrape her palm. Looking down, she saw that a scalpel of some sorts had scraped quite the gash into her right palm. Grimacing at the pain, she licked the blood from the spot and hissed at the sting, but her eyes flew wide open when she saw that a few droplets of her blood had gotten onto the desk, as well as on the fungi.

"Oh shit!" she hissed between clenched teeth, but just as she was about to clean it up, she heard the front door open.

In an instant, she tip toed out of the study and into the bathroom. As she tiptoed out, she thought she heard a faint fizzing noise from the study but ignored it. She immediately flushed the toilet and ran water over her bloodied palm and dried it on a piece of toilet paper she then flushed. Sighing, she walked out of the bathroom and back down stairs.

Though as soon as she came into the kitchen, she saw him leaning over the counter, eating an apple reading over her work on the screen, shirtless.

Claire really tried to hide the blush that crossed her cheeks when she saw him but it was useless. His chest and stomach were perfectly lined with muscles. It was just how she imagined it, his skin was the perfect tone and heightened how perfect and well chiseled his torso was. She was staring and she knew it, so she quickly averted her gaze to the screen he was watching.

"Dear heart, nearly finished?" he asked, turning his gaze to her.

Claire opened her mouth and it took her a minute to get the words out, but eventually they came, "Y-yeah, just about half way."

Wesker nodded and walked to the fridge to get a bottle of water, taking a sip before closing it and putting it back in. "Good, you have another 4 hours so i trust that will be sufficient time?"

Claire nodded and smiled reassuringly. "Yes Captain, i will be able to get it done."

"Good." said Wesker as he walked over to her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder and squeezing it ever so slightly. Her blushing apparent to him. "I must go have a shower, if you need me i will be down in about 20 minutes."

"Okay." Claire said as he walked to the stairs. Claire swallowed thickly and walked back to the computer, typing out the rest of the information and hoping to god that Wesker didn't go into his study.


Claire groaned. It was 11:05 am and she was officially finished printing off the reports. "I'm finished with the reports Captain." she called to the man who was relaxing on his couch watching the news.

She heard Wesker shuffling and he then appeared from the room. Maybe it was just Claire, but it was just plain weird not seeing him in STARS attire. He was dressed rather nicely, in a black turtleneck and black pants, but it was still strange not to see the STARS logo appear at least once. She snickered internally, all he was missing was the smoking pipe and 2 hot blondes and he could of passed for a young Hugh Hefner. Well, younger looking anyway. Okay maybe Heff's good looking best friend.

"Good, good. Come then, i must be going, i will bring you to the RPD and you can drop off the reports." he said as he fiddled with the sleeves of his turtleneck.

"You have to work today?" Claire asked as he turned off his laptop and guided her from the house.

"No, i have a social outing planned with an acquaintance for today." he stated as he unlocked his car, opening the passenger door for her to sit in. He couldn't of just said that he was hanging out with a friend? No, this was Wesker, hardly anything was easy and straightforward.

As he started up the car and backed out of the drive way, not missing how she immediately busied herself with the papers in her lap. "I must say." he chimed in, breaking her from her trance. "You have done quite well this week Dearheart, better than i expected." He was sure a little stroke to her ego would go far when trying to make her fall for him. He nearly smirked when he caught Claire blush.

"Thank you sir, i really like the work." Well, a little white lie couldn't hurt she thought.

"Will you be with us for the remainder of the summer my dear?" he asked her as he slowed his car at a red light.

"Yes sir, if you think i'm doing that good a job." she answered with a smile. "Wesker will do fine Claire." he answered. "You are not my subordinate, you are my helping hand, and Wesker will do fine."

Claire nodded at him slowly and he then drove off as soon as the light turned green. I thought i was the stations secretary.

"There is a retreat of sorts for the department in 1 week, Dearheart." Wesker said a few moments later.

"Oh yeah, Chris told me about that." she said to him as she fiddled more with the papers in her lap. "You're going to the training college up state to recruit rookies for the RPD right? and you and the STARS have to give a talk to them and you hired who ever does well in training?" she asked, knowing the information was right but at the same time, would like confirmation.

"That is correct Dearheart, however i will be requiring your assistance that week, so i will be asking you to attend with me then, is that clear?" He asked in a deceitfully questioning tone. The way he said it definitely didn't sound like a question to her anyway.

"Yes si- ..Wesker, i can come up that week i'm sure." she said as she felt the car come to a stop.

"Very good Miss Redfield, good day." he said as she undid her seatbelt and opened the car door. "Thanks for dropping me off Wesker, i appreciate it." she said genuinely thankful for his assistance.

"Not a problem my dear." he said, stretching across the seat and closing her door before speeding off down the road.

Great, now i have to walk home!

Claire walked into the department and placed the files in Chief Irons IN box located just outside his office and huffed. Her job had literally taken her around 6 hours to do and the delivery took about 2 minutes, now she had to walk home which was about 7 miles all the way across town. She nearly squealed with relief and joy when she heard Jill's voice down the hall. My savior!

"I'll get you next time Barry, don't worry!" Jill shouted at a triumphant looking, but quite sweaty Barry as the 2 emerged from the RPD gym. "Jill, wait up!" Claire shouted from down the hall, adopting a jog as she went.

"Hey Claire bear, no Chris today?" she asked, generally confused as to why she was even in on a Saturday, only logical reason being that Chris was somewhere close. "Nope, Captain Wesker needed me to drop off files for him to the Chief, and i just finished so i guess i'm walking home now."

She said it so nonchalantly that she hoped to god that Jill would jump in and offer her a lift, which thankfully, she did. "Your house is all the way across town, nu-uh you''re catching a ride with me!"

Claire could of squealed all over again. "Aw man, i owe you one Jill!" she said, enveloping her friend in a tight hug.

"Naaw." said Barry from behind them. "Ain't that sweet. While you girls hug it out and talk about your feelings, i need a shower." he said as he walked away.

"Damn straight you do, you smell like Chris' old gym bag!" she shouted to him.

"Chris' old gym bag?" Claire asked in curiosity. Jill giggled. "A month ago, Chris thought someone stole his gym bag, and a few days ago we found it in one of the storage closest's, its been marinading in his sweat for an entire month."

"Eeeww Jill i didn't need to know that!" Claire said, disgusted just imagining the smell. Jill laughed at her and shook her gently. "Come on! we best get going, i need to swing by my apartment and take a shower, mind staying over a bit while i change?"

"No problem, ill find some way to entertain myself." Claire said with a wink, and with that, the two women exited the building.

"Don't you dare mess up my DVD's again!" Jill shouted to her as they hopped in her car.

Claire snickered and stuck on her seatbelt as Jill started up the car. "I promise nothing."


"So whats the deal with you two anyway?" Jill asked as she brushed out her damp hair, looking in the mirror at both her hair and Claire who was sitting behind her on her bed, going through her photo album.

"Me and Wesker?" Claire asked, generally confused. She hadn't accidentally voiced one of her many silent flirtations, had she?

"I saw you got a ride in with him on the way out of the gym, how'd that work out?" she asked as she tied her hair up in a makeshift ponytail.

"He called me this morning at fucking 6 am and made me go to his house and type reports." she growled , rubbing her head as she finished. "I have a huge headache from being up and working from 6 am, i need a nap." she groaned dramatically and fell back on the bed, letting the album fall beside her.

"Wait.. you were at his house?" Jill asked in near wonder, now turning to look her friend in the eye, though her lying down did make it hard. Claire raised her head slightly in curiosity of Jill's surprise at her statement. "Yeah and? Not like you and the guys haven't been there i'm sure."

"Well yeah but.. that was after like a year of knowing him, and even then he was really weary of having us there!" she explained, almost sounding a little frustrated that Claire was welcomed into his home after just 1 week, while his team mates were only introduced much later. Though this fact wasn't lost on Claire, and it did make her blush at the thought of Wesker trusting her.

And yet you snooped in his office and probably ruined that fungi thingy or whatever he was working on.

"Jill, does Wesker like science or something?" Claire said, shifting the subject matter of their conversation, which made Jill tilt her head in confusion.

"Uh.. no idea to be honest, why?" Jill asked

Claire thought about it for a moment. What if Wesker having an interest in molds and fungi was just a weird little hobby the man had to keep himself sane from the endless days of screaming at his team? What if it was something private that nobody knew about, just a stress reliever? Sure he was a little old to be growing that kind of stuff for fun, but who was Claire to judge? After all, her hobbies included drawing and collecting spare motorcycle parts that she could possibly use in the future on her very own little baby.

She smirked at the thought, and decided that if Claire's most precious little hobby was shared with anyone in the world, they'd surely laugh, and she didn't think it was her place to tell anyone else Wesker's business.

"Nothing.. he just kind of gives off that science-y vibe.."

Jill snorted. "Yeah, right. The day i see Wesker in a lab coat is the day i throw on a tight latex suit and serve the man his beakers like a butler."

Claire burst out laughing and picked up a throw pillow on the bed to muffle her laughter. "Jesus the day i see that i'm disowning you as my best friend!"

Jill winked at her playfully as she saw tears form in her eyes. "Just because i know how to work it."

"Oh Jill, being best friends means i'd be right there to laugh at you along side Chris."

"Please, Chris would be doing something very different to laughing-"

Jill was just caught off by the sudden impact of her pillow to her face. Scoffing and throwing Claire a dirty look, she could of laughed at Claire's disgusted face. "Spare me the details!" she practically shouted as Jill engaged in her own laughing fit.


Umbrella's Saturday meetings regarding places on teams and new teams being formed for a study were always sort, sweet, and to the point, never being too drawn out or time eating, which was quite nice, but still an inconvenience to Albert Wesker and his downtime on Saturdays.

The room was full of chatter as the 16 applicants (Including Wesker and a rather jumpy Birkin) as well as James Marcus were preparing to hear who was accepted into the Progenitor study.

While Wesker was calm and collected as he sat at the huge conference table, William Birkin, who was to his left, anxiously sipped his 3rd cup of coffee in anticipation for Marcus' announcement. He scoffed as he poured himself a 4th, "Damn coffee is weak as hell again."

"Any particular reason you require 4 cups of coffee at nearly 1 PM?" Wesker asked over his shoulder, not taking his eyes away from Marcus who stood up at the podium, shuffling notes.

"Sherry had a nightmare about monsters or.. something, and slept with me and Annette last night, and neither of us got a wink since she was kicking us all night." he growled as he opened the pot to see if all the coffee had properly blended with the hot water.

"Ah, the list in favor of raising a child receives yet another reason." he answered sarcastically. Birkin had only fueled Wesker's hatred of Children with his wonderous tales of Sherry crying, screaming, kicking or complaining. Granted, a grand majority of those complaints were ranted off to Wesker when Sherry was about 6 months old, but they were still reasons. Wesker was perfectly content being the rather absent god father to the child, occasionally having to buy the odd stuffed animal for a birthday was about the only length he was willing to go through for any child on the planet, and it was going to say that way.

"You know, to have kids, you have to meet a woman that can stand you first." William quipped before going back to stirring his coffee.

"Not necessarily, but I've already grown tired of the subject." thus, Wesker ended the conversation. Just in time too since Marcus had just cleared his throat, signalling anyone standing up to take their seats.

"I'm glad you could all make it here today applicants, and i'd just like to say before i announce the names for the study, that absolutely all of you were brilliant candidates, and that if you did not make it aboard the study, there will be other opportunities."

Wesker inaudibly sighed. This study was definitely going to eat up time, and what little he had to spare between the B virus and STARS would definitely put a finish to any recreational time he had. Though he knew that the study would be enlightening, and could hopefully contribute to the B strains study.

"So the scientists we have chosen are as follows.." Marcus trailed off, quickly flickering through papers to check names. "Head of research will be Doctor Elizabeth Matthews."

Wesker nearly rolled his eyes. Everyone in the damn company knew that she was only picked because they were sleeping together, but he let it go. She wasn't exactly an idiot, and was an excellent botanist so he let it go with the knowledge that her being chosen was 70% sleeping with the head researcher and 30% brains.

"And her team will be Doctor Edward Manningham, Doctor Jason Fielding, Doctor Gregory McCormack.." All names Wesker was familiar with, but wasn't too familiar with. Though Jason specialized in chemical's, he had no idea what Edward or Gregory were skilled in. Something he'd have to look into later.

"Doctor William Birkin and finally Doctor George Ericson." Marcus finished. William nearly dropped his mug from shock, more so from the shock that Wesker wasn't accepted and he was.

Wesker merely raised an eyebrow at the situation. While he sat there staring at the man shaking hands with the 5 scientists and then turning to talk to Elizabeth, he couldn't help himself when he suddenly sprang from his chair and made a beeline for him. William swallowed nervously and placed a hand on his friends shoulder as he came to stand. "Woah woah Al, what are you gonna say to him?!" William asked nervously, knowing full well what he was capable of when he was well and truly angry.

"Nothing of importance." Wesker seethed as he abruptly shook off Williams hand and walked over to Marcus.

Elizabeth let out a little Eep noise when she spotted Wesker and instantly backed away and turned to another co-worker. Marcus, having his back to Wesker was only confused with Elizabeth, but got his answer when he turned.

"Doctor Wesker." Marcus greeted as he turned. James wasn't exactly afraid of Albert Wesker, he was one of the best apprentices he had, but god did he intimidate him.

"Why wasn't i accepted onto the study." Wesker asked between clenched teeth, his tone low, almost making it sound like a statement rather than a question. He knew in his heart and soul that this study needed him, and that it wouldn't get anywhere significant without him. 3 out of the 4 most successful studies Umbrella had, had Wesker on the team, and he was the very reason they were successful.

"Why haven't i seen anything substantial on the B-Strain Doctor Wesker?" He answered quickly.

Wesker growled in frustration. "You have me running around Raccoon City playing Cops and Robbers all day without any laniency in regards to paperwork or hours, and you have the audacity to ask how i'm not handing you hourly updates?" he spat.

"Being in STARS, keeping Chief Irons off our backs, and steering the force away from us, is your work Doctor Wesker, as well as the B-strain study, i expect results without the significant aid of Doctor Birkin by the end of the week, before the STARS field trip, and then i will consider you for the progenitor study."

"Oh spare me of your pity." Wesker spat as he turned and walked away from him, towards Will who was being congratulated by Greg.

"Did you tell Marcus that i haven't been able to do as significant work as you lately?" Wesker hissed in his ear from behind.

William turned a shade paler and shook his head furiously. "No way! i'd never say a word Al!"

"Then Marcus is fucking psychic i guess." Wesker spat as he walked out of the conference room, leaving a very scared William Birkin behind. William had only counted exactly 2 times Wesker had cursed, once being when Sherry, only 16 months at the time, knocked a full piping hot cup of coffee on him, hissing the curse under his breathe, and the other being a time when Chris Redfield had blown off training because of a hangover.

William swallowed the lump in his throat and decided Wesker clearly needed time to cool off, but this wasn't over.


Wesker ignored William's 70 calls when he got home that afternoon, deciding to completely skip out on STARS paperwork. That could wait till monday. STARS was, as of let, getting all of his attention, which he didn't like one bit.

No, this weekend would be all about the B strain and its complete and utter revival into one of his greatest pieces of work yet. Though as he sat at his desk and noted that nothing was out of place, something was off.

nothing seemed touched, and though his office had a different air to it. Shrugged, he picked up the petrie dish and suddenly froze it in midair. He squinted as he noticed a very small drop of blood on the desk, and when he looked closer at the dish, he noticed a small speck of blood dried on the wall.

Curious. Wesker hadn't tested his own blood on the virus at all yet, since it hadn't reached that stage, but nobody could of possibly had access to his home si-

Weskers frown suddenly turned into a very devious smile. My Dear Heart explored while i was out. Unsure of how she even got blood in the sample, he was amused all the same, and decided, for pure entertainment, he was see what the effects were to the virus. he took 5 new beakers and spread the virus evenly between them, labelled them each according to what method of testing he would use on them and got to work, inspecting the first beakers sample under the microscope. He chuckled as he thought of his dear heart creeping through the house, thinking only god knew what.

His chuckling abruptly stopped though when he noticed that the virus was not attacking Claire's blood, but in fact had melded with it. Accepted it.

Pulling his head back, he gave a rather confused glare at the sample. And what exactly makes Claire Redfield so special? he thought to himself as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out Claire's information sheet from her job application. His eyes glided over all the insignificant information and landed on one particular line.

Blood Type: O-

Wesker smirked ever so slightly. Of course she would have such a rare blood type. The same as him. This was good though, he had finally found a blood type to meld with B, but B was rather watered down when it came to abilities. William and Wesker's aim for B was to give the person super human strength, but had to significantly tone it down when the cells attacked the hosts cells so aggressively, but now that Wesker had the perfect test subject, he could slowly add these cells back in, being able to pin point the exact moment the cells would become to much.

Ah, my Dearheart, you're just full of surprises.


Sorry this took a while to get out, hope you had a good christmas!

The STARS trip thing i have been looking forward to writing, because i have certain things planned for it

Im hoping to get more into the whole WeskerxClaire thing soon so please be patient since its moving slow rn LOL