Warning: this chapter contains a (brief) torture scene.

Over three hours had passed since Chris and the rest of his team had returned to the BSAA after handling the bioterrorist attack in the Middle East. Jake had reunited with the boy he was looking for, who seemed incredibly shocked to see him, and more-so when he said he "kept his promise". The BSAA had declared the situation as controlled, though the BSAA Middle East decided to hang back and patrol the area in case of a return of any threat, or whoever had infected the townspeople with the C-virus. Jake sat at a table in one of the interrogation rooms the BSAA headquarters had; though normally they saved this sort of activity for the police, they had one just in case of extreme circumstances. The BSAA felt it was best to hold Jake until they got a clear idea of his story, and until they were one hundred percent sure he had no involvement in the attack. Jake, of course, was not at all happy about his apparent detainment, and he took no leisure in announcing his displeasure.

Chris gently paced the room Jake was in. He had taken the role of interviewing Jake, with Jill watching the door as extra security, just in case. She spent the entire time just glaring at him, and she didn't try to hide it.

"Your lady friend got a crush on me or something, pal?" Jake asked with bitter sarcasm. "She won't take her eyes off me." Though Jill had not spoken a word since she entered the room, Chris knew all too well the motive behind her behavior.

"Your father is a traitor to us," Chris muttered. "On more than one occasion he tried to have us killed. Jill was part of a worse fate, where he captured her and experimented on her for three years." Jake cradled his head in his hands, though Chris wasn't entirely sure if his emotions were genuine or not. The BSAA captain placed his hands on the table and leaned closer towards Jake's face, though he kept his distance.

"Yeah? Well I'm not my father," Jake growled, staring Chris down. "I'm not proud of some of the things I've done but I'll never be a goddamn lunatic like him." He looked at Jill, who seemed completely unmoved by his words. Chris stood upright once more.

"Even so, she doesn't trust you," he added. Jake grunted, focusing his eyes on the one-way mirror beside them. "Now," Chris continued. "What were you doing in that village?" Jake shifted his weight around, not in nervousness but in boredom.

"After we escaped that damn underwater place and I took care of my contract—" for once he meant it as an act of good and not as a soldier of fortune, "—I decided to quit mercenary work and leave. You know, travel the world, see the sights, all that jazz. About a week ago I wound up in the Middle East and found that town earlier today. I saw a kid getting attacked by a BOW, so naturally, being the good guy that I am, I saved him." Chris was sure Jake was fully aware of the irony in that statement. "When I did, the kid asked if I could help save the rest of his village. I told him I'd do it if he makes a deal with me—get me a bite to eat, and I'll handle it. He told me to promise it to him, so I did."

"Did you have any idea why there was a bioterrorist attack happening?" Chris questioned. Jake shook his head.

"If I knew that I wouldn't have asked you, would I? Anyway, I meet the kid in some house, he gives me an apple, and I start going to town on those guys. I was at it for a couple hours until you guys showed up. You know the rest."

"Describe to us the BOW's you saw," said Chris.

"Well you saw most of them yourself, big guy," Jake retorted. "It was entirely those big hulking things. I didn't see any of the J'avo until I fought them with you."

"Did you see any sign of the virus, any suspicious looking people, something that would indicate why and how the townspeople got infected?"

"I already told you I just got there when it was happening, so no. If there was any guy running around throwing free shots at people, I didn't see them, or they left before I got there."

"Do you have any idea why someone would attack there?"

"Nope. I don't know a damn thing."

A hesitation prevented Chris from asking his next question. He wasn't exactly sure how he could make sense of this case. By the sound of it, the attack was planned, and yet it made no strategic sense. There was nothing there to attack, and the town was small so using it as an example similar to the fate of Lanshiang would be completely ineffective. Chris tried to make sense of the motive, but before he could finish his thoughts, he was interrupted by Jill stepping forward, staring Jake down.

"Think it has anything to do with you?" she questioned sternly. Her sudden vocalization was unexpected, yet the men didn't act like it surprised them. She kept her distance from the youth before her, having only taken a step to regain her balance. Jake smirked at her.

"You think I'm that popular? I'm flattered," he joked dryly as a response. Jill was not amused.

"Neo Umbrella did an extensive search for you and still tried to capture you even after Ada Wong was killed," she quickly continued. "You sure they're not after you again?"

"And why the hell would they be?" he spouted. "They left me alone since then. I would hope they got whatever they wanted when they stabbed me with needles a million times over for six months. Guess you guys didn't really do a good job in stopping them if they're still after me—"

"It could be possible," Chris commented. He wasn't entirely convinced Jake was somehow the motive behind the attack, but his suspicions to the young man still being a source of Neo Umbrella's attention stayed adrift in his mind. "Like Jill said, they were still after you even when Wong was killed."

"What are you trying to say here, pal?" Jake asked, hissing slightly. "You gonna put me under armed guard or something to keep those monkeys off my back?"

"We don't know if it is you or if it's even Neo Umbrella," Jill commented, "but all signs are pointing to them. You being the target is just a guess."

"A guess, huh?" Jake let out a huff of a fake laugh. "You're really going to play the guessing game on this?"

"Jill's right. We don't know enough about the situation or the motives behind it yet." Chris continued to pace the room as he said those words. His face retained its usual emotionless look, yet his mind was racing with questions. He turned back around and faced Jake, though he remained where he was. "Just to be on the safe side, the BSAA will have you remain here until we are sure there will be no more attacks and that you are not a target."

"I don't believe this." Jake threw his hands up in the air, his frustration being obvious as it pulled the muscles on his face. "You might as well say you're arresting me."

"It's not an arrest. It's for your own safety," Chris answered.

"Oh sure, that's the crap you feed to the civvies, right?" Jake threw his arm around the back of the chair. "And how long will this little vacation of mine last, huh?"

"Chris…" Jill nudged the arm of her partner. "Don't you think you should talk with the reps about this first?" Chris stared at her, and was about to agree when his communicator went off with an incoming call. He pulled out his PDA from his pocket, believing it was a call regarding another mission, but he held it in stunned silence when he recognized the face of the incoming caller.

"What is it?" Jill asked, noticing the concern on Chris's face. He continued to stare at the screen in disbelief.

"It's Piers."

The room was silent with his answer. Chris looked over at the one way mirror, his eyes trying to convey a silent message, then turned his attention back to his PDA. He touched the screen to answer it, though it wasn't his old second-in-command that appeared. Instead, there was a figure there, dark and wearing what looked like a nanosuit, with a sort of insect-like helmet taking up most of its details. It didn't take Chris long to realize the figure appeared to be one of the J'avo they had faced in the underwater facility, and he didn't like the fact that it was the first thing he saw.

"Chris Redfield." The J'avo spoke in a very coarse and distorted voice, a result from the virus no doubt. Chris wasn't exactly sure how the J'avo had gotten hold of Piers's communicator, but it immediately shot worry through his veins.

"Who is this?" he asked, his voice quiet yet stern. Jill hovered close to him, taking view of the PDA herself, though she was purposely out of view of its camera. Jake shifted his head in curiosity, but he remained where he was and kept silent. Chris tried to scan the area around the J'avo to see if there was any indication of where it was, but he found it to only be a dark room.

"We are Neo Umbrella," the J'avo simply answered. The "we" indicated to Chris that there were more of them, and it seemed to confirm his hypothesis that Neo Umbrella was still struggling forward even without a leader, but he subconsciously wondered if anyone had replaced the role. "We understand that you have…Jake Muller in your custody." The J'avo seemed to have a hard time speaking, and Chris pondered if that was due to its advanced exposure to the C-virus. He made no indication that the J'avo's accusations were true, keeping his focus entirely on the screen in his hand.

"Why do you have Piers's communicator?" Chris suddenly demanded, the worry slipping into his voice now. He had suspicions, and he was hoping the J'avo wouldn't confirm the worst of them. The J'avo avoided the question.

"You took Jake Muller…from us," it croaked. "We want him back."

"Was it you who launched the attack in the Middle East?" Chris asked. He wondered if he would be able to solve this mystery, and to his surprise, the J'avo actually answered.

"We knew…Jake Muller…was there. We wanted him. You took him from us."

The way the J'avo was speaking sounded like it believed Jake was Neo Umbrella's property. Jill shot a look at Wesker's son, who remained silent yet his brow was lowered by angered confusion. He didn't seem to know what the J'avo was talking about, but he was angry that Jill's accusations appeared to be correct. Assuming the J'avo was actually telling the truth, at least.

"I want to know what you did with my partner. Piers Nivans," Chris spat. "Where is he?" He was getting angry now. He was certain the J'avo understood him, and yet he felt like it was toying with him.

"You destroyed…our plan. You took Jake Muller from us. But we have…something you may…want." The red eyes of the figure drifted to the side, and a flash of light blinded the space behind it temporarily. When the camera was finally able to adjust, Chris nearly dropped the device at the revealing. There lay Piers, battered and bruised, bound to a chair. Blood dripped from the side of his mouth, bruises and cuts of various age scattered across the surface of his body. Oddly, the mutation that had eaten his arm from when he infected himself seemed to be completely gone; instead, his body appeared normal, yet the right side of his face was scarred as if it was burned, and his infected arm was covered in unnatural cracks in his skin that showed through to his muscle. Chris was confused, but he pushed that aside in concern as he realized Piers looked absolutely exhausted from the pain.

"Piers?" Chris muttered, absolutely aghast. His voice rose in anger as he followed, "What have you done to him?" He noticed there were more J'avo in the room now, their bright red lenses betraying their presence. The J'avo that was speaking to them before continued, yet it did not return to its place before the camera.

"We have done nothing…to him. He had survived the final stage of the…virus, which has led to this." Piers's head rolled, barely conscious, as a J'avo stepped closer to him. The J'avo shoved him rather violently, which snapped Piers to attention, or as much as he could manage. "However," the J'avo continued. "We did do some…testing, to make him…talk."

"They've been torturing him," Jill hissed quietly behind Chris. Chris studied Piers's body; he realized that some of the bruises and cuts were appearing to fade right before his eyes, confirming that Piers still possessed the healing abilities from the virus. But the regeneration was slow, and Chris wondered if the J'avo had done something to the sharpshooter to cause it, or if it was just from too much physical trauma and too little energy from Piers to help heal it. Piers had finally realized the presence of the PDA in the room, and his eyes slightly widened—or as much as they could beyond the bruising—when he recognized his captain's face.

"Chris?" he hardly managed to say. His voice was extremely rough, and it cracked slightly at his words. He seemed to finally realize what was happening. "Oh god, Chris. Don't…don't listen to them…"

His words were cut off as the J'avo continued. "Though the virus can heal his…wounds, it does not stop him from still feeling…pain." The J'avo beside the young BSAA agent walked closer to him, extending the bladed device on its arm and lining it up on the side of Piers's ribs. It dug the tip of the blade in his skin, and Piers let out a hoarse scream as the J'avo dragged the blade across his side, forming a line of melting crimson. Jill dug her fingers into Chris's shirt at the sight, and the BSAA captain could feel his arm slightly shake. Even Jake, who could not see what was going on, turned his head away at the sound of it.

"Stop!" Chris shouted, his face now showing his desperation. "Why are you doing this?" Piers lunged his head forward when the J'avo had finally taken the blade out from him, trying to regain his breath in short, jagged gasps.

"We will make a deal with you," the J'avo stuttered. "You give us Jake Muller…and we give you Piers Nivans…. Alive. If you fail…" The J'avo that had tortured Piers walked behind him and gripped his head, bringing it far back and lining up its blade with his throat. "We will kill him."

Chris remained completely silent and stared down the J'avo that held Piers's life in his hands. He could see Piers's body slightly shaking from a weak struggle to free himself. "Don't do it Chris," he barely managed to say. "Don't worry about me…. Don't do it. Don't—" The J'avo slammed its fist into Pier's skull, knocking him out instantly. Its red eyes focused back on the camera, Chris keeping his attention directly on them.

"Meet us at these coordinates," the J'avo's voice echoed. A message popped up on the side of the screen as it finished its sentence. "You have 24 hours…to make your decision." With that, the call was cut, though the image of Piers's battered body had burned itself into Chris's mind.