: Chapter 5 - A Date? :


Monday after her first break, Claire concluded, was the most boring time of her week.

It was between now and the long lunch break that the STARS would be up in their office reviewing cases of interest developing in the city with the Alpha and Bravo Captains, while the Raccoon police officers were down in the gym doing required self defense with one of the sectors own captains, or out on patrol.

Monday at this time also seemed to be crime free in Raccoon as so far, no offenders were brought in at this time, which meant that aside from Chief Irons occasional appearance to get a sign in sheet, or Wesker asking for a coffee or his messages, Claire was left with the silence of the reception, and her own imagination.

Tapping the top of her pen on the stations journal, glancing down at the following weeks giant yellow sticky note that read "RCPD Recrutment Trip.", she sighed. Once the morning was over and all sign ins were put into the system and accounted for, Claire was left with little to do. Note to self, start spreading out the sign-in work.

Claire leaned back in her chair and began drawing the apple she had left on her desk for lunch time. Her teacher had recommended that she always draw what was in front of her in her spare time, and this qualified in her book. Since she only had a black pen at her disposal, she opted to do a quick sketch with basic lined shading, but got so into the thickness of the lines that she didn't notice someone had come from downstairs and was now scrutinizing her work.

"You drew that?" Brad asked in amazement, completely ignorant to the near heart attack he gave Claire. She gasped loudly and glared at her drawing when she noticed that the scare had made her pen fly off the page, creating an out of place mark. Sighing, she looked up and smiled sheepishly at Brad. "Yeah, i was just bored."

Brad smirked and leaned on the counter, making Claire eye him curiously. "Is there something you needed Brad?"

"Enrico sent me down to get a copy of the statement from the drunk guy on thursday." he said as he watched Claire type away on the computer. Brad had to be the one STARS member Claire didn't know all too well, well, she didn't really know Bravo too well period, aside from Enrico who, surprisingly had an interest in motorcycles, and Rebecca, who was really good friends with Jill.

Though Brad was cute, Claire did find that with hanging out with the guys last week for lunch, Brad was a little bit arrogant, all bark and no bite really. She hadn't much of an interest in a guy who couldn't stand his ground, but at least he wasn't about to ask her out or anything.

"So i know Chris would kill me if he ever found out i even said this, buut.. " Brad trailed off, a smirk on his face. Claire kept a false smile on her face but internally she was rolling her eyes and banging her head against the desk, rejecting guys was never fun.

"You doing anything tomorrow?" he finished.

"I am actually, i'm going to the drive in with Jill and Chris." she said, trying to sound sorry but it was pretty hard considering she wasn't even slightly apologetic, especially since tonight she was seeing a zombie movie Chris and Claire had been looking forward to for ages. Brad's mouth made the shape of an O, and simply dipped his head.

Claire glanced over as she heard the printer beginning to chug out the copy of the thursday's report of said drunk man that was dragged into the station by Barry. She couldn't think of any actual reason why Enrico would actually need a statement from a drunk guy but thought nothing of it as she shuffled the papers into place and put a paperclip onto the sheets.

She nearly cringed when she handed the papers to a mortally wounded Brad. God he looks like Bambi after seeing his mother get shot, throw the poor guy a bone! "But i'm free tonight? its a little short notice.."

"That's perfect! I'll pick you up around 6?" he asked gleefully.

"Uh.. okay." Claire said, really unsure of what exactly just happened. "Where are we-"

"I'll surprise you!" he said before dashing off back to the offices, probably realizing he had taken too much time.

"Oh great." Claire moaned as she crumpled up the drawing and threw it in the bin. "Monday, date, and get my ass kicked when i get home."


"Hmm.." Enrico mumbled as he flipped through the statement. All of the Stars were seated in a circle around a whiteboard with the two captains standing.

"The man, Peter Davis, while intoxicated, is our 7th mention of a clearly abused and rabid animal."

Wesker walked over to the white board and circled a large area with a red marker. "We've had 5 sightings of bloodied and aggressive dogs located on the outskirts of Raccoon, close enough to the Arklay Mountains." Wesker drew an X over near the mountain rage. "And 2 sightings of bloodied wolves that were not aggressive, but in serious pain, close enough to the forest located near the mountains to the west." another X was drawn.

"So why is STARS handling this?" asked Jill quietly. "This is a case for the Raccoon Animal Rescue, isn't it?"

Wesker sighed and nodded in agreement. "Precisely Miss Valentine, but Chief Irons simply insists that there's more to these cases, when we all know that there isn't."

"More to the cases, sir?" Barry asked this time, leaning forward in his chair ever so slightly. Wesker rolled his shoulders and scoffed. "Chief Irons' imagination is clearly getting the better of him Mr Burton, i see no reason why these wild animals are a STARS affair, or even this departments affair for that matter, but alas, when i am ordered to research and solve a case, there's nothing i can do."

Chris scoffed. "Great, so we're all part of this special tactics division for the police and Chief Irons is having us chase around a few dogs for the pound?"

Wesker shook his head. "Believe me, Mr Redfield, i don't relish the idea anymore so than you, but there is nothing i can do. Chief Irons has labelled this is a suspicious matter, so we must proceed as if it were suspicious." he said with clear hate.

If Chief Irons borrowed too deeply into this matter, it would be Wesker's head Umbrella would have on a platter. The dogs were tests subjects they had been testing the very early stages of the Transentic Virus - Or T-Virus for short - on, and had clearly been careless with their disposal, though the wolves he had no idea about. Umbrella only used Rabbits, Dogs or very rarely, Monkeys when testing, not anything as big as a wolf. That would be something he would have to inquire about.

Still though, he could always lead the STARS as far away from the hot spots to avoid them locating any of the infected animals as possible. Then it would only be a matter of waving off the whole matter and moving on, no harm no foul to Umbrella or the department, considering the infected animals hadn't actually killed anybody, and the only dog that had managed to harm anyone was the drunk man on Thursday who got a bite on the leg, but he was heavily intoxicated, so it wouldn't of taken much convincing to either Peter Davis or his team that the man could of instigated the attack.

Enrico scoffed as he threw the statement into an Out box by the small table in front of Wesker's office. "We'll set up a new patrol route that covers the 2 areas where the animals were spotted, and put out a warning to the animal shelters near by, that's all we can afford time to." the Bravo Captain explained to the members. "That's all for today then, feel free to go for lunch." and with that, the meeting was over.

Wesker was about to head back to his office when Enrico approached him. "I think we should say something to the Chief about this Wesker, with the additional patrol routes and all the new cases, the guys can't take anymore."

Wesker made a 'hmm' sound and nodded. "I agree Enrico, a point i have made to the Chief, but he refuses to listen."

Enrico shook his head. "They're all doing over time in there already, and now this, what i wouldn't say to the Chief if i had a free pass."

"It is a temporary annoyance Captain Marini, Chief Irons merely wants us to check for monsters in the closet, once we have confirmation that the dogs are of no actual threat, which we know they're not, he'll let it go."

"For the sake of the teams sanity, i sure hope so." he finished, walking out of the offices to take lunch with the team at Emmy's. Wesker was just closing the door to his office when he heard a light tap on his door. He smirked when he saw Claire's red hair and waved her in.

"Dear heart, to what do i owe the pleasure?" he greeted as she stepped into his office with a piping hot coffee in one hand and the black date journal in the other. Her smile was always welcome after such long meetings with the team.

"Your coffee captain." she said as she placed the mug in front of him. "And your messages." she cleared her throat as she opened the book, preparing the read them allowed. "Captain Oliviera wants to move our arrival from 7 in the morning to 8, he didn't give an exact reason." Wesker nodded.

"And a James Marcus called asking for you to get back to him about his dog." Wesker's eyes snapped up to Claire, seeing her slightly confused expression, but it was fleeting. "That's all your messages then Captain." Claire finished as she dipped her head. "Thank you Claire." he excused her, and she promptly left the office to catch up with Chris and Jill who were probably already at Emmy's ordering there food.

However she had failed to notice how slightly pale Wesker had gone. Marcus had never called the station. Ever. And he had clearly left a threat about the dogs. That could only mean that, that pig Irons was getting too close, and if it had to be either him or Irons, there was no choice. He would not risk all his work for a hard headed Chief that barely left his damn office, let alone would do any of the investigation himself. The man was getting too close to the glass, and Wesker knew that if Marcus had actually used a threat, he both had to tear Chief Irons down a peg or two, and had to talk with Marcus about the damn dogs escaping in the first place.

Wesker ran his fingers through his hair in a show of frustration, but left it there. The B strain was looking quite good so far, and with that little project for Umbrella coming to its testing stages, he wasn't going to allow anything to put him in a sour mood, even this little message from Marcus. Completely ignoring the coffee his dear heart had prepared for him, he picked up his office phone and dialed Marcus' number.

"James Marcus." the other line greeted. "The dog will be sufficiently cared for, you needn't worry about it any longer." he stated and hung up.

And with that taken care of, he picked up his coffee and took a long sip, relishing the bitter taste. Nothing was going to dampen his mood, especially how James Marcus had officially given him the green light to say anything necessary to the dog in question, the Chief of the department, and he wouldn't pass up his 'free pass' - as Enrico had put it - for anything.

Though the idea of going down to Irons office and ruining his lunch was quite appealing, he was quite hungry himself, so he decided to leave the screaming match until after his lunch. Though as he reached into his bag, he failed to feel the tupperware box he brought his lunch in, and as he looked down, found it was completely missing. Figuring he must of forgotten about it completely in a bid to finish the report for Marcus, he scoffed.

Now there was only damned option for food, and it was definitely not appealing in the least.


"Claire, what happened to that orange sleeping bag we had?" Chris asked as he chewed on his hamburger, sitting beside Barry and opposite Claire and Jill. Jill was in a heated debate over the most effective gun in terms of accuracy, with Chris joining in here and there, but stopped when he noticed Claire silently pushing around the fries that were on her plate.

"It got chewed up by my Stephanie's dog when i was at her house a few weeks ago, why?" Claire asked, a little afraid that he was mad about it. "Oh, no reason, i need a sleeping bag for that trip next weekend then, could you grab me one the next time you go grocery shopping? i'll pay you back." he said with a smirk, which Claire returned. "Sure you will."

After a few moments silence, Chris just couldn't hold it in. "Is there something wrong, you've been quiet since we got here."

Claire opened her mouth, more so in surprise than to actually say something, but then shook her head with a sheepish laugh. "Me? no way! Just.. wish today was over, Monday's suck." And Brad coming over later for what's sure to be the worlds most awkward date is sure to keep the Mondays Suck notion going. Really thinking about it now, Claire was kicking herself for not just saying no. She really wasn't looking forward to Chris' reaction upon his arrival at their door tonight, but maybe if she didn't say anything, she could play Brad coming over off as a silly 'I was in the neighborhood!' type of deal. And a 'so can i go out with your sister?' thing aswell. Tonight was going to be hell one way or another with Chris. Might as well enjoy him in a good mood while it lasts.

Chris snickered. "Tell me about it, and i have patrol tonight with Jill which makes Monday never ending." he sighed. "Can you get home yourself tonight? maybe with Jill? and before you even suggest it, Barry has to take the girls to ballet classes all the way across town so i can't ask him again."

God, not having a car is such a pain in the ass. "Yeah, i'm sure i can get her for a ride home, don't worry about me." she said with a reassuring smile, picking up a french fry and munching on it as she stared out the window. "If you can't, can you call me from the office? i get a break around 8 so i could take you home then, worst case scenario."

Claire nodded, swallowing the french fry as she turned her attention back to him from the window. "So about the trip next week, what do you think i-" Claire was cut off when she caught sight of a tall blonde man at the cash register to the far right of her, paying for a dinner. "Holy shit is that the Captain?" Barry asked in plain disbelief.

"Since when does he come to Emmy's?!" Jill piped in, all four staring the man out of it. Brad, from the booth beside them peeped his head out and let his jaw hang wide open. "No. Fucking. Way."

"Didn't the Captain say that all they served here was, and i quote, 'greasy slop?'" Joseph said to the group, but felt himself freeze when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Did i say that?" Wesker asked in curiosity. His hand tightened a fraction on Josephs shoulder, which made him flinch. "Well, their baked Salmon doesn't seem too greasy." he commented, glancing down at his food with little interest.

"Hey Captain, want to sit down?" Barry asked, gesturing to the empty spot beside Claire. "Rebecca has medical training at the college on Monday's, so theirs a spot for you."

Wesker inwardly sighed, but supposed there was no harm in sitting with his team mates, and why would he pass up the chance to see what Claire was like in a more social setting? For that reason more than anything, he sat with his meal and took off his sunglasses, placing them in his shirt collar.

"Sooo.. " Chris started off, a little awkwardly, but it was something. "Barry, got any extra duffel bags going around? you know, for next week."

"Chris, i already said i had one for you at home." Claire commented with a little bit of frustration in her voice. "Claire, all your bags are purple, i'd rather just have something a bit more.. me."

"Chris its a colour!" Claire protested, giving her brother a glare. Barry chuckled and slapped Chris on the shoulder. "I have a spare one going around, and its black, is that colour good enough for you?" Chris nodded and chuckled back. "Yeah, blacks more me!"

Wesker smirked as he cut off a piece of fish and ate it, not too disappointed with the taste since he expected pure greased up slop as he'd commented before. Chris noticed this and spoke up. "What? you're the only one who can pull off black?" he asked.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Now now Chris, don't go trying to pick petty fights." Wesker commented, not looking up from his food to meet the mans stare. Everyone expected Chris to bite back with something, but to everyone's surprise, he merely rolled his eyes and sat back, picking at the remaining fries on his plate.

"So what exactly is next week all about?" Claire asked out of the blue, kind of surprising herself that she even found the courage to talk with the dick measuring going on at the table, but the question seemed to knock both Wesker and Chris out of it, as they directed their attention to her.

"Deart heart, the department requires tha-"

"Oh for the love of god." Chris hissed. "Can you please stop calling my sister that name? you sound like a pervert!"

Everyone at the table cringed in sync, even the members in the next both when they heard him.

Wesker lifted his gaze from Claire to Chris, who practically had steam coming out of his ears. "Excuse me?" Wesker asked, his voice low and almost threatening. Everyone knew that it was the calmness that Wesker exhibited during these little arguments set Chris off even more, but it was the fact that they all knew Wesker wasn't being arrogant in his knowledge of being superior that he was showing off this time, but he seemed frustrated himself.

And Claire just had to be in the middle of it.

"You heard me! I hate the fact that you have that little pet name for her and you have do everything for you, its fucking demeaning."

"Chris its just a name! and i'm a receptionist, i help him and Chief Irons!" Claire interjected, but stopped dead in her tracks when Wesker lifted a hand to stop her.

"I believe its none of your concern what i do or don't call Miss Redfield." Wesker shot back. In her minds eye Claire held a hammer in both of her hands and was beating herself to death, to mirror the pain of having to sit through this conversation.

"Its fucking my concern when its my sister!" he practically yelled, gaining him a few stares from people in surrounding booths. This was getting out of hand, all over a damn pet name.

"Stop Christopher, you're embarrasing yourself and the unit." Wesker hissed. When Chris shook his head in frustration and slammed his hands on the table out of pure frustration, he failed to notice how his left hand hit the side of Wesker's plate, and flipped it right into Claire's chest.

There was a loud crack as the plate hit the table hard, and the remains of Wesker's baked fish was squished completely all over Claire's nice work blouse.

Everyone was silent for a moment, even Chris. Hell, Chris just ruined Wesker's dinner and practically threw it at Claire to boot. He was so in for it.

"My office. 10 minutes." Wesker stated, his voice low and threatening once again, as he abruptly stood and left the diner without another word, ignoring the curious states from his team.

"He's going to murder you." Jill whispered. "Not even figuratively, he is literally going to murder you slowly and painfully."

Chris had no words, he knew Jill was right, but couldn't of been more distraught as he stared at Claire's disgusted expression as she scraped the fish from her pink, grease stained blouse. "Shit Claire i'm so sorry! Christ i'm such an ass." Chris muttered as he grabbed 10 napkins from the table dispenser and began wiping away pieces of fish, but Claire wasn't having it.

"My nice work blouse Chris! i only have 3 of these because they're so damn expensive and now this ones ruined! Jesus christ.." Claire growled as she stood. "You just had to go and start something over nothing!" Claire complained as she blotted the grease, but threw down the napkins in pure frustration and stormed out, heading back to the apartment. Chris knew he had to be back in 10 minutes, but decided to let Claire out first. She was pissed and he definitely wasn't chasing her down the street in her current mood.

Sheesh, and he thought Claire on her period was scary. Chris sunk in his seat. "I'm a fucking idiot." he muttered. Everyone in the booth nodded in agreement. Chris rolled his eyes and sunk even further. "Thanks for the support."


"Immaturity at its finest." Wesker hissed at Chris, sitting opposite him in his office. Chris hung his head, knowing he had no grounds in this fight. His best bet was to hang his head like a 10 year old in the principles office and hope for the best.

"Not only were you absolutely and undeniably rude and arrogant to your Captain, you were ungentlemanly and plain idiotic in front of your own sister, and you had not the decency to apologize for your own actions immediately."

You didn't give me a damn chance. "I sincerely apologize Captain." Chris rattled off, sounding as if the apology was rehearsed and not at all meant. Wesker growled and slammed his fist on the table in a moment of pure rage.

"You lack basic discipline! you act like a damned child at every opportunity! you sulk and you whine when things get difficult! Tell me, what possible positive is there to keeping you aboard the STARS division?!" he yelled.

Chris knew he fucked up badly at Emmy's, but Wesker was seriously threatening to fire him over it? Chris was sure he had gone completely pale before Wesker had even finished his sentence, absolutely petrified with fear.

"What kind of damn role model are you? for anyone?!" he continued. "You're off the damn recruitment trip next week." he glared when Chris opened his mouth to argue. "And i swear if their a single word of complaint, i'll have you off the damn force, you hear me?!"

Chris swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded. "Yes Captain, i understand."

"Get out of my sight." Wesker hissed as he leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "For the day." he added. "I can't stand the sight of you anymore today, your patrol will be covered by Barry, and as an apology to him, you will take all of his patrols as well as your own for the next month."

Chris gritted his teeth. "Yes Captain."

"Out." Wesker finished, standing to see Chris out. As he stood in front of the door, turning back to hear Wesker's final words. "And if this is repeated, the consequences will be your termination of this job." Wesker then slammed the door and returned to his desk, growling at the headache that Chris generated.

Chris simply stood in the now silent office, not missing the sympathetic stares the team gave him. He gave a small smile and grabbed the coat from behind his chair. "Barry, you have my patrol tonight, but don't worry ill bring your daughters to ballet."

Barry was going to say something but nodded with a sympathetic smile. "Sorry you're beign sent home man.. geez he was pretty rough on you."

"You heard?"

"There are people in California who heard." he whispered.

Chris sighed. "Figures."

"Thanks for tonight Chris, and sorry about you getting my patrols."

"Hey, id rather your patrols than being unemployed." he said with a smile, waving to his team mates as he walked out the door, feeling pretty shitty and defeated.

He spotted Claire behind the reception desk in a tank top and one of Jill's work out hoodies he noticed. She must of given it to her to change into. She was chatting with one of the cops from the bull pen, completely oblivious to Chris' presence. As he walked by though, he heard Claire clear her throat.

He thought she was going to ask him to apologize, but all she had was motion to the sign out diary on the desk. "How'd you know.."

"You were going home? Wesker beeped me on the intercom a few minutes ago.. " she said a little quietly. Just as he finished writing the current time, he heard Claire sigh. "I was planning on being mad, but the Captain was pretty harsh on you, so can we call it even?" Claire said, a small apologetic smile on her lips.

Chris breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "Claire, you know we're always good." he turned to walk out but stopped as soon as he realized he'd be able to pick her up now. "What time do you get off?" he asked. Claire glanced over to her hours and frowned. "I get off at 5 but Wesker just handed me a pile of files i need to sort for accounting and theirs no way i'm going to be finished with it by then.. besides, Jill said she'd give me a ride home, so you go on home okay?"

Chris nodded. "Alright, later Claire bear."

Claire waved, a little sad at how broken Chris looked. "See ya."

As soon as he was out of the building, Claire's sympathy for Chris sky rocketed and evolved into pure over protectiveness, making Claire 100% ticked off beyond belief at Wesker, and if Redfield's were good at one thing, it was holding a grudge.


It was 7:47 PM and Claire was pissed. As soon as Chris had left, Claire had stormed up the stairs, and pretending to deliver files to Jill, when really, she was asking for the full story as to what had happened. What she heard only added fuel to the fire. She knew Wesker was a bit of an asshole when she signed up for this job, but this was ridiculous, and plain over kill. Completely oblivious to the fact that Jill was her only means of getting home, she told her that she would get a lift from someone else and told her to go on with patrol.

Jill and Barry were third last to go home within STARS. They had left at around 7 for their patrol. Then Enrico had gone home only 10 minutes ago, and now she was waiting for the Alpha Captain himself.

She tapped her fingers along the shiny marble reception desk, head craned in the direction of the STARS office, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the man himself. Oh was she going to give him an ear full. She had been going over the speech she would give him for a good 2 hours. She was so involved in it in fact, she had talked to Brad on complete autopilot, nodding furiously at whatever the hell he said just to get him to leave her to focus on her rage.

She felt her heart rate go up a notch when she notice the only remaining light in the STARS office be switched off, and just like that, she was up standing, gathering her files and shoving them in to her bag in preparation for this little confrontation. As he walked down the steps, his face as blank as an untouched canvas, Claire felt her panic dissolve back into rage. Remember why you're even doing this!

"Still here Dear heart?" Wesker asked, coming to a stop by her desk. "I sincerely hope the accounting files weren't that much work."

"I had all that done a few hours ago." she said, turning from her bag and looking him dead in the eye- err, sunglasses. Damn those sunglasses! Its night time for god sake!

"Then may i ask why you're still here?"

"You, Captain." Shit i hope that wasn't too rude. Oh, fuck being polite, he was an asshole to Chris.

Wesker folded his arms and tilted his head in confusion. "And what can i do for you, Dear heart?"

Claire cleared her throat and sighed. Now or never. "You know what? what you said to Chris was really unfair."

Wesker's face didn't change, neither did his posture. That pissed Claire off a little bit. Did he not see that this was serious?

"How so? Its from my understanding that Chris was arrogant to his Captain, ruining a perfectly good, paid for dinner, and unceremoniously threw said dinner at his sisters torso, without so much as an apology to me before i was forced to leave, as he was making a mockery of me."

"A mockery of you? It was a mistake! he got a little angry and he made a mistake! he's not perfect Captain and he said he was sorry to me, and i'm sure he apologized to you too!"

"True, he did apologize to me, but i feel as it if was rather forced and held no meaning." he stated as he took off his sunglasses and scrapped at a mark on the left sides glass.

"Chris did mean it! He looked like someone just shot a puppy and made him watch when he was walking out of here." Wesker smirked inwardly at the thought. "Please Wesker, If you don't take it from Chris take it from me! hes really sorry."

Wesker watched Claire for a minute. She seemed to be furious at the start of this conversation but it had dissolved into something akin to desperation now. Did she really care that much for her dear brother? It seemed a little far fetched to Wesker that anyone would be willing to wait nearly 3 hours after finishing time to attempt to remedy something that was already fixed and wasn't even there problem for the sake of caring, but women did tend to be emotional creatures, in his experience of them anyway.

"Alright Dear heart, i accept Chris' apology, but his punishment remains."

Claire growled in frustration. "But why does he have to take 2 shifts of patrol for the next month? that's fucking unfair!"

Wesker cringed. "Please Dear heart, do refrain from the use of such awful language, it does not suit you."

Claire blushed, almost from embarrassment as she noticed how much he disliked it. Wait, you're embarrassed that you were 'unlady' like around Wesker? Really?

"Sorry." she mumbled. "Just.. it's really unfair Wesker. Chris is going to be beating himself up for the entire month, and he was really looking forward to the trip.. isn't there something-"

"Dear heart if i issue a punishment very rarely do i take it back, all i can do for you is say that i will give thought to the matter, but i can't promise a thing." he stated.

Claire allowed herself a small smile, something that Wesker was almost.. ever so slightly happy he caused. "Thank you Wesker, i really appreciate it."

Wesker nodded and opened the door for her as she zipped up the jacket and walked out into the parking lot, noticing how it was getting dark. "My dear, how do you plan to get home?" Wesker asked

"Um.. " Claire started, entirely unsure of how to finish. "I.. should go back inside and call Chris." she finished with an idiotic smile, but Wesker's chuckle wiped it clean off. "There is no need my dear, i will bring you home, i was heading close to that way anyway to a nearby steak house for something to eat, seeing as how I've only eaten 2 bites of fish today."

Claire giggled and bowed her head in a show of both apology and amusement. "The Black Bull steak house down by Terrace avenue?" she asked, knowing full well the place he was most likely going to. Wesker nodded and opened his car door for her to sit in. "I take it you've been there?" he asked, walking over to his own side.

"They only have the best food ever." Claire mused as she thought of the amazing barbeque sauce they put on the spare ribs there, practically making her mouth water.

"Then please, allow me to treat you dear heart, for all the work you've done, and done so well." he said as he started up the car.

"Oh gosh, i'd love to Wesker.. but Chris will be worried." she said with a frown, since she really was hungry, and now only wanted something barbeque'd.

Wesker pulled out of the parking lot and drove straight through down town, heading over in the direction of the steak house. "We won't be too long i'm sure." he answered, amusement evident from his voice.


"Oh my gosh, those spare ribs were absolutely amazing." Claire sighed with pure delight as she wiped her face with her napkin of any remaining sauce, "This is my favourite restaurant you know, i barely get to come here anymore."

Wesker took a sip of his water and raised an eyebrow. "And why is that dear heart?"

Claire sighed and smiled, though it in no way reached her eyes. "Too busy with college and when i'm free, Chris or Jill aren't."

Wesker nodded. "I see."

Not wanting to turn the conversation after such a nice meal so depressing, she changed the subject. "Is Steak your favourite food?" she asked, noticing how he had gotten a pretty decently sized T-Bone steak and had had no problem finishing either that or the side of asparagus off.

"It is actually, when its cooked just right." he answered. "I enjoy some Chinese food, but not much."

"Like what?" Claire asked with a smirk. For some reason, Wesker wasn't getting annoyed with Claire's questioning, in fact he found it almost cute. Getting information out of her in the time to come when he had to write the detailed reports for the test at the mansion would be easy. With her, he no longer had to put in any description of effort in so far as socializing with his team mates. No, just her would do.

"I enjoy King Prawn Curry when its perfectly spicy, and on occasion, fried noodles with bamboo." He only ever got Chinese food when he was down in the labs with Birkin. Chinese food was all he ever ordered and Wesker learned pretty fast that Chinese food was the only food Birkin would ever leave the lab to pick up, so he adapted rather fast with the spiciest thing on the menu.

Claire scoffed. "Augh, spicy food." she said with apparent distaste. "But i will give you the fried noodles, that's actually what i always get."

Wesker chuckled. "We'll i will be sure to bring you out to a Chinese restaurant i know of the next time we do this." he said, handing an approaching waiter his credit card and standing from his seat.

"The next time?" Claire asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. "And what exactly was this?" As the 2 approached the cash register, the man handed Wesker a receipt and his card.

"What ever you want to label it as my dear." he commented as he opened the door for Claire to step out. She shook her head and smiled to herself as they walked to Wesker's car. While he was very much so an asshole, he was quite charming. Once again, he opened the passenger door for her. Claire raised an eyebrow at him and smiled even wider. "You're the last of a dying breed." she said as she sat into the car.

"I'm well aware dear heart." he said as he sat into the drivers side.

The journey back to Claire and Chris' house was rather quiet, but it wasn't awkward. Claire was absolutely stuffed from her dinner as she was sure Wesker was, so they opted for silence. She did want to say something to break the silence eventually, but before she knew it, he was turning in for her road. As they came closer to the house though, Wesker noticed Brad Vickers car was in the drive way.

"Strange." Wesker mumbled, but said nothing passed that.

Though beside him, Claire had just had a mini heart attack, absolutely deaf to whatever Wesker had just said. You idiot! How the hell did you forget?!

"Thank you so much for dinner Wesker, see you tomorrow!" she got out as quickly as possible before practically jumping out of the car and running up the lawn and into the house.

Wesker huffed, sitting back in his seat. Curious. He decided not to put too much thought into it, lest he spoil what was surprisingly a nice night for himself, and did a U-Turn in a beeline for his home. The B-strain called for further infusing, and that was exactly where his mind was at for the night, not with Claire, not with STARS, just his research.

But even when Wesker returned home and engrossed himself in his work, Claire managed to creep up in his mind more than he would of liked, and found that the thoughts he had of her smile and laugh weren't exactly unwelcome anymore. Quite the entertaining little creature she was turning out to be in so many ways.

Curious indeed.


Aren't you guys lucky, 2 updates in a week! i know i know you love me! The chapters pretty long, but i badly wanted to fit all this into the one chapter, so that next will be the last chapter before the trip 3

I have no idea what the T in T-Virus stands for, its most certainly not Transentic because i made that up (: i'll be doing that for the few strands of viruses i mention in this fic, sorry if that's wrong or sounds dumb ; v;

Big bad Wesker, and poor Chris ): So i do have 2 scenarios planned for Chris, one being where hes allowed on the trip and something happens there, or one where hes not allowed on the trip and on patrol he finds something - so id like you guys to have your say! Which punishment should Wesker let him off of? The months Patrol or the ban on the trip? whichever you choose will effect the story in 2 different ways, so choose wisely!