: Chapter 6: Friction and Jealousy :
To say that Claire was mortified was an understatement.
As she sat on the couch, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with poor Brad, and her fuming brother by staring at her hands, she kept imagining what it would be like to fast forward through this inevitable screaming match and just go to sleep. How did she know there was going to be a screaming match? Well, Chris' face was scrunched up in disgust as he paced the length of the room, angrily mumbling to himself.
That wasn't exactly a sign of anything good.
Brad looked pretty annoyed, with the slightest hint of fear. He was holding an ice pack on his nose and every know and then he would groan in pain and tip his head back. Claire, once again, allowed her curiosity get the better of her.
"What happened Brad?" she said softly. It was pretty awkward in the sitting room too since when she had walked in to the house, she found Chris holding him against the wall, Brad's mouth and chin covered in blood as he stuttered and stumbled to explain himself. Chris glared at her and practically shoved the two into the room while he paced, leaving the three in silence.
"I got punched." he said bitterly, angrily pointing to his nose that had now stopped gushing blood. He shook his head angrily and held the ice pack up to it again. "You're a fucking psycho Chris." he muttered, his words slightly muffled by the ice pack, but Chris caught it all the same.
"Shut the fuck up Brad, before i punch your eyes out." he seethed, his tone dripping with malice. Brad scoffed, but said nothing more.
Claire sighed, and was just about to speak up when Chris abruptly turned to her and pointed an accusing finger.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing Claire?" he shouted at her. Claire and Chris were both awfully stubborn when it came to these screaming matches, and it was all a matter of who got sick of shouting first, but on this, she wouldn't be defeated.
"Excuse me?" she hissed back.
"Brad? Going out with fucking Brad?" he asked her, throwing his arms up in question. In the corner of her eye she saw Brad roll his eyes.
"Who the hell are you to decide who i can and can't date?" she shot back. She didn't want to get too defensive about this though, its not like she even wanted this date, it was pity and nothing more to be perfectly honest, but he had no right to tell her what she could or couldn't do.
Chris pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance and growled. "Claire do you not see what this could do to me?"
"To you?" she said in shock. "Chris! not fucking everything is about you!" she roared, now standing to meet him eye to eye. Or almost. Why couldn't she of gotten dad's height?
"It is when its a STARS member Claire! Jesus!" he shouted, glaring holes into the backs of Claire's eyes.
"What?"
"Lets fucking say you and lover boy over here," he pointed accusingly at Brad who was dead focused on this argument. "and you go out, everything's real sunshine and rainbows until you two break up and make shit really fucking awkward between me and him. We can't work together without me being pissed with him and you make life just fucking hard!" he near screamed.
He had a point. As angry and tired as Claire was, she had to admit, he had a point. But that didn't stop her from continuing on with this futile game. "Who the hell do you think you are, forbidding me from dating?" she roared.
He scoffed and was about to counter when Claire cut in. "No, i'm not finished! Brad was just going to take me out to dinner or something, to see how things would go! he wasn't fucking proposing to me so shut the hell up about me ruining your work relationships!"
She mentally slapped herself for going a little off the point and cursing, but wouldn't let it stop her.
Chris suddenly grabbed Claire by the shoulders and shook her, none too gently. "When it comes to STARS." he said low, his tone dead serious. "Don't fucking argue with me. Don't make life hard on me. Don't fucking belittle me in anyway, pretending you know everything and most importantly, don't embarrass me by becoming the office slut and making your rounds with the members."
Claire gasped sharply and shoved him back. Hard. Chris gritted his teeth, he didn't mean to make Claire out to be a slut, he only meant to imply that if she started dating Brad, it could lead to Joseph, or Forest, or Enrico. He shuddered. Or Wesker. Then that could make life hard for him when it came to going out for drinks or having the team over to the house, making Claire and the other member awkwardly having to avoid them. He was just trying to make life easier on her too. And besides, she had picked Brad? He was honestly just trying to help and talk sense into her.
Could of said it a lot nicer than that Chris.
"Fuck you." she shot back and ran out of the room, scampering up the stairs and slamming her door as hard as it would slam shut.
Chris groaned as he stood glued in place. Brad cleared his throat, reminding Chris that he wasn't alone. "Well, not that this wasn't a lovely evening." Brad stood, chucking the nice bag to Chris. "But i best be on my way, early start tomorrow, and i'd rather go check my nose out at the doctors before training to make sure its not broken."
Chris rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a drama queen, its fucking fine."
Brad rolled his eyes and showed himself out. Standing in the doorway he glanced back to see Chris was still in the same pose. "Later." he finished, not really expecting an answer. He received the tip of Chris' head in acknowledgement and was out the door.
I'm a fucking idiot. Chris thought over and over. He began pacing the room once again, straining his ears to hear anything from Claire's room, and felt guilt wash over him when he heard her faint sobbing from upstairs.
He's such an asshole. Claire tried to muffle her sobbing as best she could with her pillow but she was pretty sure it was futile. She could take his 'i'm disappointed in you's' but what she couldn't take was such an awful nickname. She could deal with idiot, she could make her peace with retard, hell she could even learn to tolerate bitch if it was used quite sparingly, but slut? from my own brother? and he had really meant it too. Plus, being mortified in front of someone who was going to bring you out on a date wasn't exactly fun.
She sniffed and gasped for air as her soft pillow covered her face. She didn't even want to go out with Brad! or any STARS member for that matter! well.. okay maybe not counting all the members..
No! This crush was getting ridiculous. She was never going to go out with the man! There was so much wrong with Albert Wesker that she knew that if she simply listed her reasons out, she'd realize how idiotic she was to even think that was a possibility!
He's an asshole, for one... but he did take you out to dinner.. and paid.
He's a sadistic freak for getting me up so early last Saturday! .. but i did get to see his house and learn a little more about him, something Jill was clearly jealous about.. gee, aren't i the special one..
She growled into her pillow out of frustration.
He's mysterious and shady as hell! .. but hes a police officer, if he was easy to read then he'd suck as an interrogator.
Hes demanding and arrogant as all hell! .. but he is a police force captain..
Oh you know what? forget this.
She threw a pillow at her door and threw the covers over her head. Her sobbing had now subsided and had been replaced with a funny sense of curiosity over her boss. He had, funnily enough, taken her out to her favorite restaurant on a spur of the moment gesture, and she ended up having quite a nice time with him.
She noticed he was quite guarded with her, giving her very simple, sometimes vague answers to what she would consider rather general questions, but maybe that was just his demeanor. Maybe he was a smooth talker, able to talk circles around her in order to avoid the subject at all costs, or maybe that's just how he was. She was beginning to wonder when that opportunity for that second dinner date would come up so she could study him more.
Wait, dinner date?
Did she just call going out for ribs with her boss a date? Despite her sore eyes and raw nose, she laughed. Wesker would never of considered it a date, and Claire flushed at the thought that she even did. For one, the stake house wouldn't of been what she would of considered romantic. It was pretty much a bar that was well known for serving you a fantastic, sauce smothered steak, ice cold bear and a mechanical ride bull if you'd had enough to drink. She snickered despite herself. And if i could choose to go to a fancy french restaurant in a ball gown or the steak house in a hoody and jeans, there wasn't even a question.
Claire didn't particularly do romantic. Sure, she enjoyed the polite mannerisms and the gentlemanly conduct while in public, but a box of chocolates so wasn't her thing and flowers gave her allergies. She'd much prefer an action or comedy movie night with tons of food or a night out at the bar, not stuck in some prissy restaurant where she couldn't even read the menu.
She blushed when she tried to picture the perfect man in her head and he had all the features of Wesker. A strong built man, rippling with muscles, neat tidy, blonde hair, piercing eyes, high cheek bones, tall...
This silly crush had officially crossed the line into a full blown infatuation, and it was infuriating. Claire never chased the guy, the guy's were always chasing her. Her last serious boyfriend had been dropping not so subtle hints that he liked her for a month before they dated. She figured he liked her when they'd met a party, her only walking in the door when he stumbled over to her and stuck his tongue down her throat.
She groaned at the memory. Another asshole. An asshole i was stupid enough to date.
She groaned even louder when her mind flashed the words 'Brad could of been another asshole!' like a giant neon sign. True, he was a cocky, arrogant kind of guy, but she doubted an asshole. But.. then again, that wouldn't be the first time she miss judged character.
Sighing, she rolled over in the bed, taking her duvet and bed spread with it, rolling up like a caterpillar. Maybe i'll just listen to Chris and avoid STARS all together, don't need him screaming at me any more.
But then again, following dearest brothers every whim never guaranteed her immunity from their screaming matches. She shrugged, deciding she no longer cared. She was getting one of her post crying migraines and knew she was over thinking. As usual. With a long sigh, she finally fell asleep at 9 pm on the nose, uncaring of how early it was, just knowing that sleeps sweet embrace was exactly what she needed.
"So.. this big fantastic plan," William started, slowly removing dishes from the fridge and onto the lab surface. "to do with Clara or whatever."
"Claire." Wesker corrected monotonously.
"Right." he said, shrugging. "Hows that going?" he asked, not particularly interested, but he had just spent an hour talking about Sherry's piano recital, and although Al didn't say a word to stop him, the way his jaw had tightened and locked said more than words ever would.
Wesker smirked as he zoomed up on the virus through the microscope. "Quite well." he answered. "She's reacting to everything as expected."
"And what exactly is everything?" William asked, slightly worried the man beside him had done something akin to sleeping with her, not calling her, and her clinging to him like a security blanket until he did. He arched a brow when he heard the snick of a scalpel hit the marble work surface and turned to see Al smiling. "I wanted to see how exactly Claire would react if i reduced her almighty brother to the size of an ant by screaming at him today."
William's right eyebrow he suspected had reached his hair line. "And?"
His smile was ferocious. "I took her out to dinner."
William scoffed and let out a loud, fake 'ha'. "Why am i not surprised?" William shook his head. "poor girl wont know what hit her once you're through."
Wesker tutted and shook his head. "Do you think so low of me Will? If it helps you sleep better at night, you have my word that i will be letting her down easy when the time comes."
He chuckled and watched Al with interest. "Help me sleep better at night? Al, i honestly worry for you."
Wesker's grin remained, completely unphased by Williams comment. "I thank you for such unnecessary concern for my well being but its not needed William, for you see i know what is required of me to advance in these halls, so by all means, worry for yourself." he turned back to his microscope and began adjusting dials. "From how the progenitor study is going, i sincerely mean it." he turned to go back to his sample, satisfied that the discussion was over, but wasn't surprised in the least when he heard William scoff loudly behind him.
"Okay firstly!" he began. "Using the teenage sister of your marksman through manipulation is a pathetic way to advance in Umbrella, and you're using her for what, extra information for the combat data? That's a lot of effort your putting into a few extra lines when it comes to the paper work."
Wesker merely stared at him with a ghost of a smirk. "Perhaps."
The scientist groaned loudly at Wesker's now passive attitude. "And secondly! the study hasn't even been going on that long and you're already poking holes in it? that's rich, you know damn well how long all of the other main studies were going on until they were finally successful! they took months, and i'll have you know that the study is.. just slow right now, not lacking in anything."
Chuckling, he turned back to his sample. "Right." he answered. "That was quite the rant for such a small piece of bait."
A little dumbfounded, William was about to ask what exactly he meant by that, but he wasn't given the chance.
Wesker cleared his throat and pulled a brief case up from beneath his stool and gestured for William to look at its contents. Snapping back the two latches, he opened it to reveal 3 vials, each of them containing a lime green serum. "Is this B?" William asked in mild curiosity.
"The Gevasana virus actually, G-strain for short." Wesker corrected. "I decided to rename it, B sounded.. very second option.. G just sounds so much better, don't you think?"
"And.. i presume you have an update regarding it?" William asked, picking up one of the delicate vials and inspecting it, completely ignoring what he presumed was a rhetorical question.
"The virus is stable, it does not kill any hosts upon injection and is able to boost the immune system dramatically, as well as improve physical strength, but its not enough." he stated, picking up his glasses from the counter and placing them on. "Its stable, so now its only a matter of fortifying it."
William was in a daze. "You got it stablised?!" he asked in awe. "Wesker this is perfect! now its only a matter of adding after affects to it!"
"Yes." he answered as he slid the briefcase closer to William. "I believe that's your area of expertise."
William smiled as he turned the vial over in his hands, feeling more excited than he had in weeks. "I'll get straight on it!"
"I leave it to you then." he said, walking out the door, but stopped in the doorway to cast a glance back, seeing William still turning the vial over in his hand. "And William?"
He looked up with a grin on his face. "I believe this should qualify as a favor to you by getting us so far in this research." His grin slowly disappeared and he grew suspicious. "Yeah?" he asked, a little reluctant to receive an answer.
"I would appreciate periodic updates on the Progenitor study in return."
William slowly inclined his head. Why the hell does he want that? "If i'm caught giving you information-"
"You will take notes, bring them to my home and explain the study as you receive information." he said simply.
William nodded. "Alright, but if i'm caught i'm blaming everything on you."
Wesker smirked. "That's fair." he replied as he walked out, leaving William to do as he pleased with the samples.
Chris huffed in anger the following morning when he opened his little sisters door to find her messy bed empty. He noticed a sticky note on the make-up mirror by her desk when he turned to leave, and walked over to it, squinting his eyes at the small hand writing. Got a ride with Jill. was all it read.
Great. She was clearly mad over the night before, and, well, Chris didn't especially blame her. He would of been pissed if she'd called him an asshole and had truly meant it. Sure, that type of stuff pissed Chris off when friends said it, but Claire was a whole other story. What the siblings said to each other was always taken to heart, and when arguments like the one the night before got to the point where it had, both always instantly knew that someone was going to get hurt.
You could heal from a bruise, cut, broken or sprained body part, but it was way harder to heal from insults from loved ones.
Claire probably hates me. This is just not my fucking week.
Sighing, he trudged out of her room and made his way downstairs to grab a piece of toast and some orange juice. Between Claire being pissed and Wesker most likely still being pissed, today was shaping up to be a shit enough today. He smiled softly to himself at the thought of going to the movie tonight with Jill and Claire, and knew that at that point, the siblings would be patched up, they never could stay too mad at each other for too long.
He desperately hoped so anyway.
Downing the rest of his orange juice, he placed the dishes in the sink and made his way out, hoping into his cruiser and making his way towards the RPD, playing out two fun scenarios in his head.
Either Claire gives me the cold shoulder all day, explodes once she gets home and skips out on the movies, or Wesker calls me up to the office to scream at me some more.
I sure can't wait to find out. He thought sarcastically as he sped down the street.
Upon arriving in the RPD, he noticed the reception desk was empty, but didn't think of it as incredibly significant as Claire was most likely in the bullpen getting files or fetching coffee for someone.
As he walked up the steps to the STARS offices, his ears pricked at the sound of Wesker speaking, but his voice wasn't steeped in anger or full of his condescending undertone, and with his curiosity getting the best of him, he walking right in.
He was caught completely off guard when he spotted the STARS, and surprisingly, Claire, sitting in a circle around Wesker and Enrico. Wesker ignored him, while Enrico gestured him to take a seat. Great.
"As i was saying." Wesker stated. Chris had to fight wildly against the urge to roll his eyes as he took the seat beside Barry to the far right - unintentionally the furthest away from Claire. She didn't even look in his direction. He also noticed Brad sitting between Forest and Jill, occasionally rubbing his nose that was all bandaged up. What a baby.
"I would appreciate it if the STARS managed to be here by 6 am on Monday morning, we are leaving at 6 am sharp and the bus will not be waiting for anyone." Wesker stated, arms folded and eyes hidden behind those stupid sunglasses as per usual. Enrico, while in the same position, didn't look nearly as intimidating as the Alpha Captain, but what else was new?
Enrico took the helm and started listing off things the members would need. He would of paid attention, but the list was so damn long, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed Claire taking notes, so he saw no point in listening. He in fact nearly dozed off when suddenly a sheet was shoved into his hands my Barry. Looking down on it, he noticed it was a form of some kind.
"Returns those to Miss Redfield before you go home or out on patrol." Wesker stated. "Dismissed." and with that, everyone stood and either went back to there desks or back to their offices in the captains case.
Chris froze when he caught Claire looking at him, but when she walked passed him he instantly reached out for her. He meant to grab her arm but Claire sidestepped it just in time. She glared back at him. "What?"
Chris stuttered over his own words for a moment, a little thrown off balance at just how full of venom her words were. "Claire, come on, i'm sorry." he stated, looking her directly in the eye, hoping that would cease this spat by convincing her that he was serious in his apology.
"Why did you call me that?" she asked between clenched teeth to keep her voice down, her angry near bubbling over the surface.
"I didn't mean to say it like that, it came out wrong Claire, you know i don't think you're like that at all!" he answered her desperately wishing this stupid fight was over. "You know i love you and i don't think of you like that in anyway!"
Claire wavered for a moment, still feeling a little angry, but Chris spoke up once again. "A-and to say i'm sorry," he started out awkwardly. "Y-you can date him." he said in a hushed tone, not wanting to alert anyone that he was actually giving Claire permission to go out on a date with Brad.
But little did he know he had the full attention of Albert Wesker only a few feet away, putting up patrol hours on the notice board.
Claire giggled and shook her head. "Chris, its fine. We were only going to go out for food or something, i don't even care anymore, and i'm sure he doesn't either."
Wesker raised an eyebrow. Is she referring to the Chinese food i had promised her last night?
"Well why don't you ask him? i'm sure hes still interested." Chris forced out, annoyed that he was even saying this, but he had to give Claire a little space after last night.
Claire smirked up at Chris, knowing full well how painful this was for him to say. "Don't worry about it Chris, i'm over it and so is he, besides, i have my eye on someone else." she winked playfully and turned to leave.
"And who the fuck is that?" he growled at her, but all he got back was the resounding sound of her giggling. Giving up, he sighed and shook his head. What an idiot. He smirked and trudged back to his desk, greeting Jill and Joseph as he sat.
Yes, who is that. Wesker thought, a little more angry than he thought was necessary. He needed her to be completely in love with him for his plan to work, so he needed to get her back on track with him in a drastic way. He couldn't afford her running off with some forsaken Romeo and leaving him with the damnable task of gathering the data he needed himself.
A smirk crept up on his face unbeknownst to himself. And she won't, i just need to.. surprise her.
And surprise her he would.
But Wesker was feeling a little angry that he was even being compared with another male and losing to one in Claire's eyes, and he needed a stress reliever.
"Chris. A moment in my office." Wesker announced to the young man at the back, his smirk towards Jill and Joseph disappearing in an instant as he looked up, the look in his eyes the very same as a deer caught in the headlights. As he stood sadly, Wesker led him into his office, shut the door, and settled into his leather chair for what was sure to be a fun talk.
And it was at times like these, that Wesker remembered why he was a morning person.
"So tell me Chris." he began, his voice deceivingly casual. "What exactly happened to Brad's nose?"
I didn't really end this the way i had originally intended, but its all good! Next chapter you guys will see weither he gets to go on the trip or not, feel free to keep voting since i wont be starting the next chapter until tomorrow at the earliest.
So now we see Wesker get a little jealous, and trust me when i say this wont be the first time. KEKEKE *rubs hands together evilly*
If things go according to plan, i think the trip will either be next chapter or the chapter after. And also, thanks for all the reviews and general positiveness, i know i'm not the greatest writer in the world so i really and truly do appreciate any feedback, reviews and PM's, they truly mean the world to me!
