Captain McCron lay dead in the center of Wesker's dimly lit office. The incompetent H.F.C. soldier's neck had been savagely broken. Wesker served the captains punishment well for failing him.

Wesker sat silently at his desk, paying no attention to McCron's corpse. The only thing that concerned him was the S.T.A.R.S. advancing slowly but steadily towards his position. He knew they would find him, the ones not yet dispatched by Subject C-2 yet anyway. And once they did, he would be more than happy to finish them off.

The darkness in Wesker's office easily matched his mood. The power was off but the emergency lights still worked but that was it. All of the computers and electrical systems outside the bio-lab were out of order thanks to Chris. Wesker would make his death extra painful for that.

Clenching his teeth with barely controlled rage, Wesker stood up abruptly and approached the door leading out of his quarters, knowing it wouldn't be long before Chris and his teammates arrived. He would kill them and leave the base himself.

However, no evidence of the facilities existence could ever be discovered by the outside world. Luckily, Wesker always thought ahead.

The whole facility was rigged with enough C-4 to level a dozen buildings. The self-destruct system would destroy the base once Wesker was through with the S.T.A.R.S. True, Dr. Murphy and any remaining H.C.F. soldiers would perish but that was a small price to pay in comparison to the long awaited destruction of the S.T.A.R.S. It was all worth it to Wesker.

And as for Subject C-2. Wesker would find him and leave the base with him. The specimen was far too valuable to be considered expendable. Wesker would reunite with him once the S.T.A.R.S. were finally out of the way and together they would escape the facility before its destruction.

"Not quite as I planned, but it will do."

Feeling his anger diminish within for the time being, Wesker took a deep breath and waited in his quarters, awaiting Chris and his friends for their inevitable end.

Leon could barely see straight when he came to. His head ached and his vision was blurred. Steve Burnsides punch had done its job. It took Leon a few moments to register what happened. He could remember Steve Burnside attacking him and his world went to black but he knew that the girls were still with him at the time.

What if Burnside had attacked them as well? What if…

"No…"

Leon heard a soft murmur behind him. He turned his head and saw Rebecca sitting up and clutching her bruised head, her teeth clenched with pain.

Next he heard what sounded like crying.

Leon gazed down the corridor and his eyes widened. Steve Burnside was holding a sobbing Claire in his arms, his free hand stroking her hair.

All on instinct, Leon scrambled to his feet, drew his handgun and aimed it at Steve.

"Hold it right there!" He shouted.

Claire and Steve quickly gazed at Leon with surprised faces. Long seconds dragged by as they stared at one another before Steve let go of Claire and faced Leon.

"Take it easy," Steve said, gesturing slowly with his hands. "It's all right."

Leon didn't lower his weapon. Rebecca just stood there, completely unsure what to do.

"Leon please," Claire said softly, taking a step forward. "I know this sounds crazy…..but he's back to normal. We can trust him."

Leon cocked his brow skeptically.

"What the hell do you mean back to normal?" Leon asked. "He just attacked us."

"But I can remember now," Steve said quickly. "I remember all of you. I don't know how…..but…"

Steve knew there was no easy explaination to what happened. He wasn't entirely sure how his memory returned to him so suddenly.

"Give me one reason why we should trust him?" Leon asked coldly.

Claire looked stricken. She never told Leon how she felt towards Steve. If there was a time to tell him, it was now.

"I love him," Claire said simply.

Just like that, she laid her cards down on the table for Leon to see. Leon stared blank faced at Claire, completely taken aback.

"Its true," Steve said softly. "Though I still don't know how I remember..."

"That would be thanks to me, my son," A woman's voice said.

Everyone turned their heads and saw a woman in a labcoat walking towards them from the same corridor Steve had arrived from. How she reached them without alerting them was surprising.

"Who are you?" Rebecca asked.

"My name is Dr. Murphy," The woman answered, her voice a bit shaky. "I'm the head researcher of this facility. It was I who released him but it was also I who restored his memory."

Steve and the S.T.A.R.S. wore looks of bewilderment, especially Leon.

"You?" Leon said pointing. "Your the one who released him onto us? Then it was you who released the Hunters too!"

Leon swiftly pointed his gun at Dr. Murphy. Murphy's eyes widened with shock and fear and she held up her hands in panic.

"No! Wait! You don't understand!" Dr. Murphy cried desperately. "It was Wesker who ordered me to release them! I had no choice!"

Leon took a step towards Murphy, his eyes frigid with anger as he kept his gun trained on her, his finger settled on the trigger.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leon demanded loudly. "You helped Wesker! Thanks to you, one of our teammates is dead!"

Claire and Rebecca were frozen in place, unsure how to react. Steve was also still though numbly he remembered Dr. Murphy injecting him with something shortly after he was released from his bio-tube. Regardless, he didn't know if he and his friends could fully trust the scientist.

Murphy regained her composure, knowing she had to explain everything to the S.T.A.R.S.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't defy Wesker," Dr. Murphy said as calmly as she could. "He knows where my family lives. If I had disobeyed him, he would have had them killed."

Leon's gaze switched to a puzzled look but he kept his gun raised nonetheless, not wanting to take any chances. For all he knew, she was armed and lying.

"I didn't want to, but yes, I did release the B.O.W.s," Dr. Murphy admitted. "But now that the communications are down, Wesker can't give out the order. I don't think he even knows I injected Steve with the memory serum."

There was a short pause. Leon nodded slowly and finally lowered his weapon. Dr. Murphy sighed heavily with relief and lowered her hands.

"So where is Wesker now?" Claire asked eagerly.

"His quarters are further down this corridor," Dr. Murphy replied. "If we hurry we can probably stop him. Follow me."

Dr. Murphy turned and walked. Leon looked at Steve and his comrades and they gave him an affirmative nod. He looked back at Murphy and followed her.

Leon was initially hesitant to trust Dr. Murphy, still clinging to the fact she was responsible for Brians death earlier, whether it was Wesker's order or not. He wasn't entirely sure of Steve either but Leon had a feeling that the confirmation of whether they were friend or foe would soon turn up.

Chris and his comrades had advanced further into the dark bowels of the facility. Luckily for them, they still flashlights to guide their way, even though Wesker had installed emergency lights that switched on once they disabled the power generator.

Chris instinctively knew Wesker had to be close. They had checked every room and found no sign of him so they had to be getting closer with every step.

The team finally came across a metal door. It was the last one that they hadn't checked out. For all they knew, Wesker was right behind it.

"Get ready," Chris said, keeping his voice down just in case.

Jill and Barry nodded and raised their weapons.

Chris reached out with one hand towards the panel to open the door but the green light indicating it was unlocked flashed and the door hissed. Chris stumbled backwards and raised his rifle, his heart picking up in his chest as the door slid up...and his worst guess of who was inside was staring right at him.

"Good to see you again, Chris," Wesker said, half-sarcastic, half-pleased that his chance to kill Chris himself had finally come.