I could say that I've had a pretty fucked up life. My parents died when I was 4. Right after that, my bitch of a sister locked me up in Rockfort Island. The man that was in charge of me treated me as a lab rat and I was administered with probably all of the viruses that Umbrella had developed by that time. After 3 years of experiments the Redfield siblings freed me from there and took care of me for about a year. Then my uncle from my mother's side found me and took me to live with him and his wife. That's when I'd become a Sledge. I took my foster parents' last name (which is also my mother's maiden name). I didn't want to be related to that bitch more than I had to.

Chris and Claire kept in touch with me. I would often go to America and visit them, or they would come to England to visit me. Chris had me trained in hand-to-hand combat. This was very useful, because from time to time I would get jobs from the governments that included B.O.W.s (You could say I was a hired girl for special missions only, because only a few people throughout the world knew what had happened to me). I'd usually meet my sister during those missions, but we were always on different sides. I've hated her enough before, but now my hatred was bigger than ever, because 6 months ago, in Edonia, she killed my Team members and because of that, one of the closest people to me, Chris, went missing for half a year.

- Please put on your seatbelts. We will be landing shortly. – A voice said bringing me back to reality.

After not a very nice discussion with my mother I went to the airport and bought the first ticket there was to go to the place that Piers had found Chris at. The fastest flight was 05:15 PM on the 29th, so I had to spend more than a day on the airport. It wasn't that bad actually. The thought of seeing Chris would keep the enthusiasm in me. And to be honest, I kind of wanted to see Piers, too. I know that I haven't been acting nice with him, but that doesn't mean I hate him. I even grew quite fond of him over the months. Hey, if you were in my situation, you'd understand. I'm sure. Probably. Maybe. I don't know. I mean, during those 6 months Piers was the only person whose calls and e-mails would bring a smile to my face because of the never ending hope that maybe this time he found Chris. So yeah, over those 6 months I started to like him and there's nothing neither strange nor romance-y about it, right?

The flight cost me a lot, but since I didn't use the money that Simmons sent me after Edonia, I could've afford it. *Simmons. I'll get you, you prick.* I thought when my thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of the plane landing. I grabbed my backpack and left the plane.

I saw Piers standing in the airport. I contacted him while I was still in England and told him when my flight would land and he said that he would come and meet me. When he saw me, he waved at me and I waved back and walked straight to him. I couldn't do anything with that stupid grin on my face.

- Hey. – He greeted me with his trademark stern face.

- Hi, there. – I answered still grinning like a Cheshire cat.

- What are you so happy about? – He eyed me with curiosity as we started moving towards the exit of the airport.

- I don't really know myself. – I answered laughing a bit. – Next question.

PIERS' POV.

Minnie had this huge grin plastered on her face ever since she left the plane. I had to admit, while smiling she looked like a completely different person; like a normal young woman who had the ideal happy life and not like a kid who had seen more throughout her twenty few years of life than any twenty year old should see.

- I don't know. – She smiled at me as we left the airport. – I guess I'm just happy to be back… to be out of home. - *What was that hesitation about?* I thought suspiciously. *She's acting weirder than she did back in Edonia, if that's even possible*. – And to see Chris of course. Speaking of which, when will I see him?

- We'll go get him in the evening. – I told her as I led her to a car that I parked not too far away from the airport.

- What? Why?

- Because I don't know where he is now, but I know where he will be in the evening. – I motioned for her to get into the passenger's seat while I took the driver's.

- And where is it? – She asked seriously, no trace of the previous grin left on her face. I wanted her to smile again. She looked cute while smiling and now the same kid with a cruel childhood was sitting beside me. – Piers? – She interrupted my thoughts.

- A bar not too far from where we're staying. – I saw how her face frowned. – We still have a few hours to kill, so I'm taking you to the hotel. You probably want to take a shower and have some rest before…

- Have you seen him? – She cut me off.

- What?

- Chris. Have you seen him? – She asked again.

- Yeah, why?

- How is he?

- He's… a different man, Minnie. – I told her keeping my eyes on the road. The girl just nodded. The rest of our drive to the hotel was quiet.

When Minnie told me the date of her arrival, I booked her a room and now I was walking her to it.

- You're probably tired from the trip. – I said when we reached her room. – Rest up. If you'll need anything, my room is next door.

- Thank you, Piers. – She smiled and opened the door. Insensibly a small smile found its way onto my lips as well. – I'll see you later. – She said as she walked into her room. I nodded and entered my own.

*Damn, I'm glad she's here.* I thought as I sat down on the bed in my room. I wouldn't have thought that I'd actually be happy to see that little troublemaker, who had absolutely no respect towards her superiors, again. The little troublemaker with a really cute smile. The way she treated me in Edonia was intolerable then, but now those days seem so far and I might even go as far as to say that I missed her. A lot. Even though she used to get on my nerves, she was something different than everything else and I liked it. In these last 6 months my mind was occupied with finding Chris, but once in a while I would drift away thinking about Minnie. *What am I thinking?! I don't have time for these things! She's cute, yeah. She has a nice body, yes. Her character, you can get used to it. But I had a war to fight. A war that won't end any time soon; which meant that I had to keep my mind focused on the war and not on that girl even though I'd very much prefer the latter.* And yet again, my mind drifted off to the petite black haired girl that was staying in a room next to mine. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

- Come in! – I said.

MINNIE'S POV.

I was sitting on the bed, a towel wrapped around my body. The shower was really something I needed after sending almost 36 hours in an airport and then another 5 on the plane itself. It was really nice of Piers to have a room ready for me.

I looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall. It showed 11 a.m. The bar that Piers was talking about opened up probably in the evening, so I have at least 6 hours to spare. *What the fuck will I do for so long?* I thought, but then an idea hit me. I quickly put on my jeans and a button up shirt and left my room. I approached the door that was next to my room and knocked.

- Come in! – I heard Piers' voice, so I cracked open the door and popped my head in. Piers was sitting on his bed, looking a bit surprised to see me.

- Mind if I drop in? – I asked him.

- Not at all. – He said standing up and walking towards me. I entered the room and closed the door behind me.

- So, what is it? – Piers asked when he stopped in front of me. *Didn't think that far, eh, Minnie?* I scolded myself in my head.

- Well, I figured that we still have at least 6 hours to kill until we go get Chris, so I… I didn't have anything to do, so I thought that maybe we could be bored together? – I asked him. At first he looked strangely at me but then he let out a very silent and almost untraceable laugh.

- Sure. Take a seat. – He motioned towards the bed. I plopped down on it with my legs Indian style while Piers sat on a chair in front of me.

- So what happens when we bring Chris back? – I asked to end the silence.

- We've already contacted HQ about it. We have a mission tomorrow and we want Chris to lead us there.

- What kind of mission?

- We'll be going to China. It seems that there was an outbreak of C-virus as well. *C-virus. Then that means…*

- I want to come, too.

- What?!

- I want to go to China with you. I've worked with the BSAA , I'm sure you'll find me useful there.

- I can't argue with that, but… Why would you want to go there? It's not your job. You'll be putting your life at risk for no reason.

- I want to make sure that the C-virus will be destroyed and extinct for good.

- I'll contact HQ and let them know. – Piers agreed, not putting up much of a fight. I'm sure he thought that I was doing this for Finn. It's true that I still feel like I owe the guy. But Finn wasn't the only reason. There could be a possibility that I'll meet Ada there. Then I can have it over it.

- Was it hard finding him? – At first Piers was confused, but then he understood that I was talking about Chris.

- It wasn't easy. – He answered gloomy. – At first we searched all of Edonia. From there we moved north and got a lead that a man who looked like Chris moved East, so we changed our direction. It was more of a witch hunt to be honest. But then HQ reported that a similar man was spotted somewhere in this town. The record showed that he didn't stay in one place too long, so we had to act fast. When we came here, we spotted Chris in that bar below. Right after that I contacted you and told HQ that we'll bring him back in time for our mission in China.

- You think he'll agree to go? – I asked.

- Of course not. But our job is to make him come with us no matter what. He's wasting his life away, Minnie. He's just a shadow of the man that he once was. – I lowered my head a bit, thinking about Chris. – To be honest, Minnie, I didn't want you to come here.

- What?! – This was unexpected. Not to mention it made me angry.

- Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't want you here. Actually, it's quite the opposite. But I don't want you to see Chris the way he is now. I know that he's like a brother to you and that you two have a very strong bond. But the man that you will see today is nothing more than an abusive drunk. I don't want you to see him that way, but you're probably the only person that I know who can make him remember anything.

To be honest, he lost me way back when he said that he wanted to see me. There was this stupid smile on my face that just wouldn't go away. I don't know why (or maybe secretly I did), but he made me happy.

- Did you hear what I've just said? – He asked, looking me straight in the eyes.

- Yeah. – I lied a bit. – Don't worry. Everything will be fine. – He just nodded. – Chris is a great man and nothing can change that. I owe him my life, so I will do everything to help him.

- You're talking about that Island? – Piers asked, referring to what I just said, and I just nodded. – What did they do to you, Minnie? – He asked concerned. I looked at him closely, debating in my head whether or not I should tell him the whole story.

- Are you sure you want to know? – I asked and he just nodded. – Ah, to hell with it. While in Rockfort Island, the lunatic that was looking after me administered me with Umbrella's viruses. I was injected with the T-virus, T-Veronica virus and the G-virus. I don't know how or why, but my body accepted all of the viruses. That's why I didn't suffer any mutations.

- T-Veronica? I've never heard of such a virus before.

- Probably because it was a piece of shit.

- What do you mean?

- In order for the host to accept that virus without any mutations, the host has to be put in very low temperature for many years. I didn't need that because I was injected with the T-Veronica and G-Virus at the same time. And since the G-virus has regenerative abilities I was saved from the mutations.

- Wow. You really had to go through something.

- Yeah. And Chris got me out of there, so I owe him and his sister everything.

Right after I stopped talking, Piers' phone rang and he picked it up. After a few moments he put it down and turned to me.

- We have to go. – He said as he stood up. – Chris just entered the bar.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was already 5pm. *Wow, time flies with him.* I thought as I stood up from the bed. Or tried, at least. Because I was sitting in the same position for almost 6 hours my legs fell asleep. So when I tried to stand up I failed miserably and fell. Luckily for me Piers was nearby and caught me before I could contact the floor.

- Are you OK? – He asked holding me tightly in his arms. I grabbed his shoulders for support and tried to stand on my legs.

- Yeah, I'm fine. Just my legs fell… - I raised my head and was eye to eye with Piers. Literally. It looked like the distance between my face and his was just a couple of centimeters. I looked straight in his eyes and he did the same. I don't if it was just my imagination, but it felt as if the sniper was slightly leaning into my direction. And I didn't turn away. I felt myself leaning in as well. It felt as if our lips were starting to brush one another's then there was a loud knock on the door that made us jump away from each other.

- Piers! We have to go now! – Said the voice from behind the door.

- Jesus. – I murmured still startled from the unexpected knock.

- I'll be there in a few. – Piers answered as he grabbed his BSAA jacket and put it on. – We should go. I'll tell about our plan on the way to the bar. – He said as he put his hand on the small of my back and gently escorted me out through the door.

Hi, everyone! First of all, I want to say that I'm really sorry for not putting any new chapters for quite some time. I had a reallt huge problem with the internet and was unable to post the story. But hopefully, it got fixed for good and I won't suffer from any more technical difficulties. So I still hope that are at least a few of you who haven't given up on waiting for the new chapters, because trust me, I didn't give up on writing and completing my story ^_^ I really hope that you enjoyed reading this and I'm looking forward to your feedback.

Also, a WARNING. The story is rated M for a reason. It's not just because of the language. There will be a chapter in the future that will contain adult themes, if you know what I mean. But don't worry. I know that there are people who don't like reading stuff like that, so I'll make sure to warn you before the adult scene and you will be able to skip it, if you don't like these kinds of things.

So everyone, have a nice day, evening or night and "see" you all in the next chapter ^_^