Chapter 6: Routine

Erin, one of the guards who spent most of his time with Emma, chuckled watching as the young woman pulled at the bottom of her pencil skirt. She had been doing this all morning, well that maybe an exaggeration, she's only been dressed and active for the past two hours. The brunette sent an annoyed glance at her companion, before tucking her bangs into her B.S.A.A authorized bun. It felt good having a purpose again, or at least doing something other than fearing what can happen.

"How do I look?" She sighed, turning to Erin.

"Very businesslike." He replied.

"Are all Pencil skirts this tight, or is this one special?"

"You would have to ask Alexia that one, I've never had the pleasure of wearing one."

"Good answer, now where do I report?"

The doors opened revealing a well-manicured Alexia. Both Erin and Emma's eyes danced along the silver skirt suite the blond wore, before any greetings were exchanged. A large stack of papers called for Emma's attention, as the blond greeted the two. Where all of those papers her assignment? If so, how long would she be given to complete such a task? She wondered, absently-mindedly muttering a greeting of her own. No use in being rude after all.

"You'll oversee communications." Alexia smiled, handing Emma a large stack of encrypted messages. "Wesker said that's what you do in the B.S.A.A office. Which I am glad not to be doing."

Emma nodded, her eyes locking onto the coded papers. It looked simple enough, a basic coding which most businesses used when they wished to keep prying eyes from the message. She could do this in her sleep, which in itself was a comfort. Day one seemed to be an easy one.

"You'll be in my office with me, while I try and get other work done." Alexia smiled, "Here's your key card, for the elevator. There will be days where I am out of town or unable to pick you up in the mornings, so after pulling teeth I managed to get you one. Though there is a condition for it, in order for it to work, you'll have to swipe first and then a guard, Wesker, or myself will have to swipe afterwards."

"Understood, I'm ready to work whenever you are." Emma half smiled, hugging the papers to her breast.

Every morning consisted of Emma waking up and getting ready for the day before eating breakfast. At seven in the morning she would be escorted to Alexia's office by either one her guards, or by the blond whirlwind herself. From there she worked on encrypted messages until the end of the day; often eating lunch as she worked. On days, she couldn't complete the mass of papers assigned to her, Emma would take them back to her room and work on them until bed time. She easily fell into the routine she was used to.

"Emma," Alexia murmured from her desk, breaking the hours long silence between the two.

"Yes?"

Emma replied with an edge to her voice, as she paused in her work. The dark-haired woman wasn't particularly chatty when working on encrypted codes. Usually one wrong move could get quite a few people killed, or at least, that's how it was when she worked as a Nav-tech. That's one of the reasons she loved doing the encryptions on loose leafed paper, something about having a physical copy set her mind at ease when she worked.

Most messages she cracked here weren't as important, typically just personal e-mails or monotonous works published by scientists. There were some that caught her attention, such as latitude and longitude coordinates or something which mentioned the Umbrella corporations.

"I managed to convince Wesker to throw a holiday party…" Alexia sighed leaning against the desk. "I told him I'd do the planning, but something came up, and I'll be flying to London in the morning…"

"Are you asking me to take on the responsibility of the staff party for you?" Emma questioned curtly, locking eyes with her friend.

"Yes… I have an outline of what has been approved by Wesker, so you won't be dancing completely in the dark."

"Fine," Emma sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'll help out, just remind me before you head out."

With everything said Emma continued with her work, once again sending the two into silence. Her eyes danced across the paper she was working on, checking to make sure the words formed into coherent sentences. The page was a normal report discussing the most recent disappearance of a woman. Emma's brows knitted together as she read the description of the missing person, she sounded eerily similar to herself. The thought was an amusing one, but as she continued working the realization slowly dawned on her. She was deciphering B.S.A.A documents, and the one she was holding was her investigation papers.

Hot tears rushed forth as she discretely tucked the paper to the bottom of her work pile, something she often did to avoid working too long on a frustrating page. She would finish it later, along with any other B.S.A.A works she came across. For the most part she was sure she hadn't pass any other important documents to Wesker, nothing had red-flagged her thoughts before. Emma sighed, trying to calm the rapid beating inside of her breast. If they knew she was missing, there was even more hope that she'd survive this situation. For a long while she had given up hope of ever seeing her loved ones again, but this news sprung a new hope.

The dark-haired woman glanced to the small clock on her desk. Lunch would be coming any moment now, meaning that Alexia would leave the room to give Wesker the stack of papers Emma had finished, along with a few of her own. The blond would then join the other members of Umbrella to eat, leaving Emma alone for almost a whole hour. During that time, Emma would work on finishing the report to see what the investigators found and from there see what she had to do to help with her rescue. For now, she looked back to her work, translating what looked like a recipe for a pasta dish.

"Okay Em, it's getting to about that time already." Alexia sighed, stretching as she used her feet to push back her chair. "If you could separate everything and then organize it in the most important to the least, that would be peachy." Her body cracked as she worked out her sore muscles. "Ever since you've started working on the encryptions, Wesker seems to be in a better mood. 'Efficient Work,' he says."

Emma only half listened, as she pushed all her half-finished work to the side, and placed her finished work in the order asked of her. Instead of separating all the work, she separated it whilst she encrypted it. Four piles on her desk, one for the most important, another for things they should look through, another for least important, and under her arms were the papers she was working on. From there all she needed to do was separate each pile in the order, and then stack them for transportation.

"Are you even listening to me?" Alexia pouted, noticing Emma's quietness.

"Partially, you were talking about how Wesker enjoys the way I work, and then you started talking about what's being served in the cafeteria I believe." Emma smiled, finishing up the rating system. "There you go, all ready to be scrutinized by upper management."

"You are going to get fat, if you keep eating cheeseburgers and fries for lunch." Alexia snorted, taking the papers and leaving the room. "Try a salad, every once in a while."

Once alone, Emma breathed a content sigh, she didn't think she could contain the excitement for very long. There was hope that she could escape, and survive doing so. The usual chef placed her burger, fries, and chocolate shake on the empty right hand part of her desk, before making his usual joke. Emma chuckled, as she always did and thanked him for his work, as he walked from the room. Now she was home free to translate her report. She neatly pulled the pages back onto the pile, and started her diligent work once again.

"Emma?" The familiar voice of Wesker tore through the silence of the room.

The brunet paused in her work, a chilled panic pulsing through her veins. Did he know what she was doing? She wondered, watching as he neared her desk. Both parties knew how much she hated interruptions during her work, thanks to an incident where she snapped at the blond male. Unlike the other times where Emma was punished for her actions, Wesker merely smiled and lightly caressed her cheek before continuing with what he had to say.

"Yes?" Emma sighed, resting her pen over the papers.

Though her eyes remained locked onto Wesker's, all her other senses remained on the investigation report. She was almost finished with it, and she wished more than anything for her captor to leave without noticing what she was working on. Who knew what he would do with it, or her. A cold sweat danced down the back of her exposed neck, as he sat on top of her desk, his fingers playing with a page he brought in.

"You've missed a line of translations, on this report." He smiled, watching as her eyes dropped to the page.

Her brows twitched in annoyance, as she took the page from the blond. Sloppy work, Emma Singh did not do sloppy work, and yet this was a page she worked on the other night. Wesker's signature chuckle distracted her, drawing her attention back to him. His eyes glowed an unnatural gold color from behind his sunglasses. An unintended gasp left Emma, her fingers pushing her chair from her desk.

"You are too hard on yourself." He smiled, grabbing the arm of her chair, and pulling it forward. "Some rest would do you good. I'll take what you have done, and give the rest of you work to someone else."

His fingers let go of her chair, and reached for the pile on her desk. Panicked, Emma glanced down the report and desperately wrapped her fingers around his in an oddly intimate fashion. Both stopped what they were doing, as their eyes locked. She swallowed hard, watching as his eyes glowed brighter.

"I was assigned this pile." She stuttered, pealing her hands from his. "I wouldn't feel right if someone else finished them."

"The guards, told me you've been pulling all-nighters to complete your work," he smirked, taking her right hand into his. "Sloppy work, happens when one is not fully rested," he purred, as his grip tightened.

"W-wesker, your hurting me." Emma shuttered, as a painfilled squeak left her lips.

"I can't have sloppy work coming from you." He breathed, as a low cracking noise came from her hand. "Do you understand?"

Tears spilled from her eyes, as her free hand tried desperately to pull him away from her. She nodded eagerly, as quiet sobs spilled from her lips. When he released her hand, Emma took the throbbing appendage and cradled it into her body. He watched as she pulled her left hand into her body, and curled into a ball inside of her chair. During what he called the interviewing stage, he had seen her curled like this many a time, but the exposed leg from the pencil skirt drew his attention. After a moment of listening to her sniffles, Wesker tenderly caressed her cheek with his hands ignoring her flinch.

"I'll say it again, you need rest." He purred sweetly. "Since you are worried about your piles being distributed to others, I will let you work for another two hours, and what isn't finished will wait right here for you."

"Th-thank you." Emma stuttered in-between hiccups.

"Your time will start after we take you to the infirmary, so you can get your hand looked at." He almost fully smiled. "Come now, let's go."

Sometimes it was easy for her to fool herself into thinking Wesker was a gentleman of old times, and others she saw him for what he was. He walked to her side, gently pulling the chair out so she could stand with little trouble. Emma glanced up, taking in the calm features of his face, as she stood with her right hand cradled against her. It wasn't broken, that much she knew from previous experiences that didn't happen here, it was probably sprained which would significantly slow down her work.

For the second time during her captivity, Wesker offered her his arm for balance, and for the second time she accepted his help. His fingers patted her left hand gently, as the two walked in silence down the halls to the infirmary. During the interviewing process Emma got to know the doctors very well, and now that she was mostly docile, she only saw them in passing. The people who worked for Wesker tended to be rather kind, and very hardworking, with the exception of only a few. Emma got a long with almost everyone, making her captivity easy to forget and then there was Wesker.

"Emma, how are you doing?" The nurse questioned, drawing Emma's attention back to the world. "Oh, dear your hand, sit right down. The doctor will be right in."

"Thank you," Emma sighed, as she sat on the examination table. "This is unnecessary really, it's not even broken."

"You know that?" Wesker chuckled, sitting in a nearby chair.

"I broke three bones in my right hand while rock climbing with Leon two years ago," She shrugged.

"Quite the daredevil."

He was mocking her, Emma could tell by the flutter in his voice which mimicked a quiet chuckle. She sighed, sending him a slightly annoyed look, before laying back onto the examination table. In a way, he was right rock climbing didn't seem like something she would do, and it wouldn't have, except Leon and Chris forced her to try new things all the time. Something she was very grateful for, especially now. The doctor walked in soon after, his eyes dancing across Wesker's features before glancing at Emma.

"You've hurt your hand?" The doctor questioned, causing Emma to sit up.

"Yeah, I don't think it's too big of a deal, but Wesker was kind enough to escort me here."

"It's always better safe than sorry." The two smiled at each other, before the doctor started examining her hand. "It doesn't seem to be broken, but I'd like to get an x-ray just to make sure."

"Sure thing doc." Emma sighed, already taking off any metal object she as on. "As long as I don't have to strip down again, we are good."

"Again?" Doctor Vaughn glanced at Wesker momentarily.

"It was a poor joke, sorry."

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave sir." Vaughn breathed, nervously.

Wesker nodded lightly, before walking out of the room, giving Emma and Vaughn sometime alone. Emma placed her hand neatly onto the x-ray table, waiting for the kind doctor to place the thick lead vest on her. Though worry touched the lightly wrinkled face of Vaughn he kept very quiet, his fingers adjusting the vest for Emma's comfort. Even if there was something he could get her to confirmed that Wesker had done this to her, there was very little he could do for her.

"How did this happen?" He questioned carefully, as he walked to the protective barrier.

"I cracked my fingers in-between the doors," Emma sighed, her voice shaking a bit.

After decades of Chris telling her she was bad at lying, and later Leon confirming it, Emma's voice tended to shake. With her free hand, Emma's fingers lightly swiped away some lose hairs, her eyes following the doctor as he took the first set of x-rays. Once given permission, she flipped her hand, and waited till everything was done.

"It'll take an hour or so, but I'll call you back once I know exactly how to deal with your injury."

"Thanks," Emma smiled, "I'll see you in a bit."

Though her fingers still throbbed, they felt a world better after some time had passed. Now she needed to get back to work, and who knew what Wesker had been doing during the x-ray. Panic thrummed through her as she started to walk from the room, what if he saw what she was working on? She wondered, what would he do? The door opened quietly into the hallway, and standing before her with his smug smirk was the infamous Albert Wesker. Seeing his face calmed her a great bit, a sigh leaving her lips as she closed the door behind her.

"Miss me?" He chuckled, standing up to normal height.

"N-not really," she breathed, side glance down the halls. "I half expected that you would have given my work to another during your absence."

"My word is my bond," he shot back, slowly leading the way back to her office. "You will decipher the line you skipped, and then I'll leave you back to your work."

Emma nodded, unsure of what to say. Should she thank him, or would that just be stroking his ego more? The brunet sighed, glancing back to the blond male, many questions dancing through her eyes about him. She was here for information, as well as her skills for hacking and translation, but why risk loyalty to someone he should consider his enemy? This questioned bounce around her mind many a night, and was often the reason she lay awake some nights. The only answer she could think of, was that this was a dominance play. He takes her, and forces her to go against the best interest of others, in her way of keeping safe herself.

"I-I hate what I'm doing…" she breathed, now reaching her office door.

"What was that?" He hummed, mild amusement roaring through his level voice.

"I should be dead," she sighed, looking to the floor. "Not helping you decipher documents, not planning an office party. Dead, I should be in the ground where vermin devour my flesh, not here."

She gasped quietly, as his fingers wiped away her tears. His perfectly carved features giving away nothing, as his warmth seeped into her cheek. To some extent Emma didn't mean to say any of that out loud, but when Wesker was around her thoughts often tested his limits. They were quiet, a mild panic thundering through Emma's body, until he pulled her into his chest capturing her in a warm embrace. He breathed deeply, taking in her floral scent into his lungs as the woman stiffened up in his arms, an action he fully expected.

"Despite my earlier actions," he whispered, warm air brushing across her neck and ear. "You are doing a beautiful job, we would be at a loss without you."

A low sob left Emma's lips, her face burying into his body to hid her tears. She so badly wanted to hate herself for what she was doing, to hate the Umbrella corporation for polluting the world with little to no cares to hate those who worked for such a business. To hate Wesker for betraying her family, and being who he is, but there was still a portion of her who didn't want that. Though her morals stood against everything here, she couldn't bring herself to hatred. Instead she found herself loving those around her, loving the work she did -even though it endangered so many- and worse of all, loving Wesker.

"Stop crying," He murmured, aggression nowhere in his words. "You have work to do, and only an hour and forty-five minutes to do it in." His fingers lightly touched her temples as he stood to his full height. "Erin will pick you up, when your time is up."

Wesker left her rather quickly after that, leaving Emma in silence. Normally she would have sat there and allowed fear to fully show, but today she needed to find if there were more B.S.A.A. papers hidden in the las of her pile. With a calming sigh, Emma sat down and started working. Her fingers made quick work of most of the pile, diligently making sure to tuck and pages she suspected were B.S.A.A. papers into the small hand back she was permitted to keep during work. Later, when she knew she was alone, she would take a few hours to decipher what they said.

"Mrs. Singh, I'm here to take you to the doctor, and then to your room so that you can rest." Erin breathed, breaking the sound of frantic paper movement.

"Can I please have just a little longer." Emma whimpered tiredly. "I just have a handful of pages left."

"I-I can't allow that," he retorted, an apology dancing in his words. "Wesker did ask that I lock you papers in your desk, so that you can finished them tomorrow."

A weak smile touched her features, as Erin started packing her work into a manila envelope before placing them in the bottom drawer. There were many times Emma found herself glancing down to that exact drawer, it was always locked which piqued her attention that much more. Inside there was a dark green envelop, clearly labeled Emma Singh. Her brows knitted together, as the drawer shut, a clicking sound telling them it was locked.

"Now, let's get to that doctor's appointment."

Emma nodded, tearing her attention away from the drawer and quietly followed Erin into the hallway. Her fingers played at fringes of her bag, her mind more focused on the papers stuffed into the tiny zipper. The mess hall buzzed with slightly panicked words as the twosome walked passed the double doors. Something must have happened to have given the waves of panic feeling through the area. Maybe this was her chance to get away. She thought, nibbling her lower lip. With how long she's been there would it be too obvious if she asked what was happening? After all, it still would affect here, even if this wasn't her chance to leave.

"What's going on?" Emma questioned in almost a whisper.

"Mmm, the B.S.A.A. has been spotted investigating a few of our facilities." Erin hesitated, glancing down to the young woman at his side.

Another spark of hope ignited through her body, as she hid the hopeful smirk. "That is worrisome. I'm sure everything's well within Wesker's capable hands."

"You seem very confident with that," Erin breathed, leaving out the fact that he doubted her reaction.

"I am," She half smiled, glancing to him. "Do you doubt him?"

"Not at all. I'll wait out here for you."

Emma walked back into the infirmary, her mind aflame with excitement. Vaughn glimpsed from the papers on his desk, at hearing the doors open and shut. He nodded to the patients table before dismissing the nurse, who seemed as shocked as Emma at his actions.

"Is there something terribly wrong?" Emma questioned when the nurse hesitantly exited the room.

"Your hand is just sprained," He murmured, lowering his voice after a long pause. "But what I wanted to talk to you about isn't something I'd want getting out."

Her brows knitted together before she eyes the tiny camera in the corner of the room. If he wanted to act as if the conversation didn't' happen, she'd need to produce a backdrop of mindless chatter. Vaughn half smiled, catching onto her plans, grateful for the protection.

"I'm glad that its nothing serious." Emma chuckled nervously.

"I can get you out of here."

A lump formed into Emma's throat, causing her words to come out chocked out. Instinctively, she allowed a cough to erupt from her lips, as if she had chocked on her own spit. Tears rushing to her lids once again, helping with the guise of coughing. The prospect of actually getting out seemed very real. Only thin filaments of doubt wove into the blanket of hope, something understandable when it came to those who worked with Wesker. Vaughn, as any doctor would do, lightly pat her back, still talking in a hushed whisper.

"Everyone will be at the Holiday Party, which is more than enough cover for you to slip away." He breathed, taking her fingers into his hands. "I have a guard who's willing to get you into the communication so you can call the B.S.A.A." He watched as she nodded lightly.

"When I alternate between hot and cold," Emma breathed, carefully. "Should I allow some rest time first?"

He nodded, still speaking with his back towards the camera. "Yes, I'll check on you again soon, to make sure all is healing well."

"Thank you doctor, for everything." She smiled, her eyes saying all that couldn't be said aloud.

With those parting words, she exited the room, so much of the burden of escape lifted from her shoulders. In almost a months' time, there is a greater chance of her coming home. Her fingers slipping into her bag as she opened the offices doors, taking the small stack of papers out. Then placing them into her back pocket, just in time to see Erin's smiling face.

"Ready to go?" Erin questioned.

"Yes, luckily my hand isn't broken, just sprained." She smiled, this time much brighter.

"That's good. Unfortunately, I won't be your guard tonight."

"Sad, so I'm all lone tonight." She murmured sadly. "Fine, I guess I'll have to entertain myself then."

"Have a goodnight, I'll be back in the morning."

"Stay safe."

Now back into her room, Emma tossed her bag onto her bed as she walked into the bathroom. Wesker was correct that she needed some relaxation, and as a way of bowing to his will, Emma drew a warm bath. Quickly tossing her clothes in-front of the door, she pulled the stack of pages, a pen, and a bath table in place. She indeed was going to relax in the lavender scented bubble bath, while working on those pages. A low groan slipped through her, as she sank into the heated water and relaxing many sore muscles.

"Ok," she breathed, directing her attention back to the pages.

Her first goal was to finishing her missing person's report, just to see where she was in their mind. Emma shifted, so that she was sitting up properly, while she worked. The other pages weren't as important to her, as long as they never made it to Wesker, though there was something that nagged at her to not destroy the pages, and she's only survived on her gut feelings. The only question she still had was, should she still translate the B.S.A.A. papers?

"On farther inspection of Ms. Emma Singh's home, family, friends, and office, we concur that she is indeed missing." A snort left her, at the thought of any doubts in her kidnapping. "However, we cannot conclusively say that Albert Wesker has her. With those Umbrella, has taken, if Ms. Singh has been taken, it would be safe to say she too is dead. Per B.S.A.A. bylaws, we will send her files to those better equipped for this."

They were searching for her now, or at least searching for evidence of who has her, for that she was grateful. Hopefully, with being able to communicate with the others she'd solidify where she was. Confirming where she was, Emma dipped her report into the water, watching as the ink bleed into the soapy water. She stood with her initial gut feeling, as she dried off and hid the papers under the sink. For tonight she would take comfort in the news she's received, as she tucked herself into bed.