Thank you to Writers' Anonymous1 for looking this over for me! Thank you again to everyone who is reading/following/reviewing. I really appreciate it and it makes this so much more fun.

Chapter 8

March 1980

"Al?"

No. Not happening.

"Hey, Al?"

Albert squeezed his eyes shut. No, just a few more minutes…

"Albert!"

Fuck. Albert's deep blue eyes snapped open. The room was barely lit by the sun coming through the blinds. "What?" he hissed through gritted teeth.

William was standing at the end of his bed, still dressed in his striped pjs, grinning stupidly. In his hands he held a small package wrapped in brown paper. "Its your birthday today."

Albert breathed heavily and sat up in bed. "Are you going to wake me up every day you deem special in some way?"

"Well it is special," William insisted, tossing the package into Albert's lap. "You turn 20 today."

Right, birthday. Albert reached on the bedside table for his sunglasses. "Indeed."

"It's four in the morning," William frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you really need those?"

Albert glared at him over the tops of the glasses. "Yes. I need to hide my dark circles. I don't want to start looking like you."

William scowled. "Just open the present."

The twenty-year old raised an eyebrow. "Sentimental William." He pulled apart the wrapping on the narrow, thin wooden box. Albert flipped it over in his hands. As he did, he felt the weight shift from one side to the other.

"Careful!"

Albert flipped it over. His fingertips traced the edge of the seam until he found the lock. He pushed the button and the lid opened with a small click. Inside Albert found a small folding lock-blade knife. The handle was mahogany wood with a glossy finish. Carefully, he took it out and opened the blade. The silver knife was perfectly clean, not a single scratch. "It's nice."

William beamed. "I knew you'd like it."

"You were right," Albert didn't care that he stroked his partner's ego. It was a good gift, and a useful one at that. The knife was small enough to be kept in his coat pocket and it would be nice to have something on him in case something went wrong in the lab. Just the other day Dr. Foster was attacked by a test specimen and almost lost a limb because of it.

Satisfied that he had gotten Albert an appropriate gift, William crossed over to the dressers and started pulling out clothes for the day. Once he pulled out what he needed for the day, the younger scientist headed into their shared bathroom.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting ready," William answered. He shut the door behind him.

Albert raised an eyebrow, put the knife box on his bedside table, and then slid back down under the covers. He pulled off his sunglasses now that William was gone and closed his eyes.

Twenty years. It was an odd feeling for him. For most people, twenty was the start of life. The beginning of adulthood. Taking on responsibility and making a mark on the world.

For him, twenty was no different then any other birthday. At twenty, he already had an established career and advanced as high up as was possible, or at least as was possible with Spencer still in charge. He knew more about biology and viruses then most seasoned scientists. He also had enough money saved up that he could retire at thirty and never have to worry about working again.

Albert opened his eyes again.

So what was left in life for him?

Initially, nothing came to mind. He had nothing to look forward to? Now that scared him. There had to be something in life for him…

He thought about the usual steps that people took in life. Most people went on to jobs, built careers. Some also married and had kids. Then they watched as their kids repeated the process.

He rolled over and put his face into the pillow.

Albert was fairly certain he was not the marrying type, or even the type to have children. Though something about passing on his superior genes did appeal to him, the idea of giving up his life to deal with cultivating their growth just didn't seem like something he would be very good at. He already knew how shitty it was growing up with a parent who didn't give a damn and he was pretty sure he did not want to pass that on to another child.

But Victoria would be a good parent, a voice in his mind mentioned. She did well enough taking care of William—

No.

Albert pushed his face deeper into the pillow. He was not going to think about her like that. Once he reached twenty-one he'd start going out to bars and looking for women there. That way, he wouldn't have to focus on his assistant.

The shower turned off and Albert rolled back over. William appeared a moment later, fully dressed with his usually unruly hair combed straight. He gave Albert a nod before grabbing his shoes and starting to put them on.

Albert glanced at the clock again. "It's four thirty, what are you doing?"

"I already told you," William replied. He finished his hair and started to collect his messenger bag. "Getting ready."

"Yes, but it's four-thirty."

"I'm just excited."

"I highly doubt you're that excited about my date of birth."

William gave him a smile that reminded Albert of a child who realized Christmas came early. "Well, my MA-120's might hatch today. Wouldn't it be awesome that you shared a birthday with the greatest biological weapon of all time?"

"Just what I've always wanted," Albert replied dryly. "To live in the shadow of your great creation."

"At least you get to work with her," William reminded him. Albert could clearly detect the note of bitterness in his voice. "I wish she had asked me to sponsor it."

Albert shrugged, trying to act nonchalant to mask the slight delight he felt in seeing William disappointed. At least there was one place where he beat out his younger partner. "Perhaps next time."

"I think once the project is finished, I might ask her to dinner or something," William told him.

Immediately Albert felt color rise in his cheeks and a biting remark came to mind but he quickly squashed it. As far as he could tell, no one knew about his…interest. No, he was not interested…perhaps attraction was a better word, to their assistant. Above all, he most certainly did not want William to know.

"Well?" William asked, pushing him for an answer. "Do you think she'd say yes?"

Albert was fairly certain she'd be more likely to give him an affirmative answer over William but he couldn't decide if this was his ego speaking or a wishful thought. "I don't know."

"Do you think you could ask how she would feel if I did?" William looked a little sheepish. "I mean, don't be obvious about it but like—"

"No," Albert interrupted tersely. "Focus on your projects. You don't need the others to think you're an incompetent leader."

A flash of hurt crossed William's face but he immediately contained it. He avoided Albert's eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right."

"You have plenty of time to date once you have more experience under your belt," Albert said more to himself then to William.

"Yeah," William sighed, obviously disappointed in Albert's response. "Thanks for keeping me on the right track."

Albert grimaced but he was partly glad that William was looking at it that way. "Of course, it is you and me remember?"

It was amazing how difficult it was becoming to concentrate with her around and Albert was thankful more then ever for his sunglasses. Victoria was across the lab table from him, leaning over the table writing notes. From this position, Albert could make out the two half circles of her breasts that peaked out from her V-neck shirt.

He couldn't remember exactly where he heard it, but the phrase "we covet what we see every day" came to mind.

"Anything else?" she asked him.

"Specimen 32-N has also grown two millimeters," Albert's eyes dropped down to the spider he was measuring. He waited for her to make a mark in the notebook. "Specimen 32-O has shown no growth."

"Still?" She stood up straight. Her lab coat fell back into place and covered her chest once more. "I thought by now more of them would have started growing."

"One would have thought."

"I wish we knew whether it was the dose of T-Virus we administered them or if it is just incompatible with the arachnids themselves."

"I'm pretty sure everyone here has that same desire," Albert commented. He stood up and stretched. "Berg killed another Doberman the other day."

"I heard," Victoria nodded her head. "Roberts has been having trouble as well."

"Well, she still has to figure a way to make the T-Virus compatible with plants."

Victoria smiled. "Who would've thought that Burnside would be the only one making any positive progress in this?"

"I don't think anyone expected that," Albert leaned onto the lab table. "I'm sure he'll end up killing one of his snakes sooner or later."

Victoria giggled. "The poor man. He'll be so devastated."

"Indeed."

"How's your birthday going?"

"Like every other day," Albert took off his sunglasses and cleaned them with the cloth he produced from his pocket. "Awesome."

"Really?" Victoria raised an eyebrow at him. "That hardly sounds convincing."

Albert thought about replacing his sunglasses but then decided against it. He placed them in his lab coat pocket. He looked her straight in the eye. She diverged a bit of her past to him, and it was much worse then anything he had to say. Clearly his little mini life crisis wouldn't faze her. "It is a bit unsatisfying."

Victoria tilted her head. "How so?"

"I've gotten my career solidified as well as a retirement fund," Albert explained. "Most people turning twenty are just starting their lives."

"And?"

Albert shrugged. "I am not sure where I would go from here."

Victoria's green eyes focused on him. "You have options. Because you've gotten so much done already, your world is completely open. You can take projects as you see fit or even go where you want."

Albert grunted.

Victoria looked like she was about to say something more when William came bursting through her door.

"They survived for seven minutes," he announced to them. "Seven whole minutes!"

Victoria and Albert exchanged glances.

"That's good, isn't it?" Victoria asked, uncertainly.

"Better then most people," William admitted. "But I was so sure I finally got the right combination!"

"How'd they die?" Albert asked, half disappointed that William interrupted him and Victoria but also glad that William was having just as much trouble as they were.

"Who knows," William plopped down into Victoria's desk chair. "Probably just didn't fully adapt to the virus or the virus wasn't as stable as I initially believed or perhaps the eggs themselves were defective."

"Indeed."

"But!" William pounded his fist against the lab table. "They survived longer then everyone else's projects."

"Take the small victories while you can," Victoria gave him a small smile.

"How is your project going?"

Victoria and Albert exchanged another glance.

"The progress is minimal," Albert replied. "We currently have a zero mortality rate but the subjects show little to no signs of the T-Virus actually taking meaningful effect."

"That's too bad," William said but Albert could tell he was not at all sorry. Though he and William were friends, there was still a very healthy competition between the two.

Three sharp rings from the phone on Victoria's desk halted any more discussion between partners.

"Dr. Birkin and Dr. Wesker's office," Victoria answered the phone in her usual manner. "Hello Mark!...Really? Did he say when?...Alright, I'll let them know. Take care."

"What's going on?" William looked somewhat concerned.

"Spencer is on his way," Victoria replied, resting the phone back onto its cradle.

"He is?" the color instantly dropped from William's face. "Why?"

"Mark thinks he wants to check in on our progress," Victoria began organizing her desk.

"I thought he scheduled a progress meeting in July," Albert crossed his arms over his chest. "Why would he switch it up so suddenly?"

Victoria shrugged. "Does it really matter?"

Albert pursed his lips into a thin line. No, when it came to Spencer, all bets were off. Anything could happen when it came to Umbrella's CEO. "Leave your office to me. Let the others know he's coming."

"Alright," Victoria nodded. She placed the last couple notes away and gave Albert her notebook. "See you both soon."

Once Victoria left, William and Albert made fast work of organizing her side office. They put away the microscopes and the put the specimen back into a cryogenic freezer.

"What do you think this is about?" William asked after they were done. He led Albert back into their main lab and began to straighten his desk by shoving all the loose paper into the bottom drawer.

"I have no idea," Albert answered, looking over at his desk. It still looked fairly clean so he didn't bother with trying to make it look nice. He pulled his spare tie from the desk and started to fix it around his neck. "Maybe something to do with Marcus?"

"You think he made a successful B.O.W.?!" William asked, his voice going up an octave. "He's had the virus longer then we have! In the time that we were creating and stabilizing the virus, he must have already had samples and figured out how to create a successful B.O.W.!"

Albert held up a hand to silence the younger scientist. "Don't be ridiculous, Will. If it is anything to do with Marcus, he is probably still whining about us taking over the T-Virus project."

"Well, it was his virus," William also found his tie. He slipped it around his neck and started to adjust it.

"That he only got with our research."

"I guess…" William finished tying it but the thin part of the tie hung out a few inches behind the wider part.

"Besides," Albert held out his hand to William. "There are a lot of other things it could be."

"Like what?" William took the tie off his neck with a sigh of defeat and handed it to Albert. The older boy noted the difference between William wanting his help and wanting Victoria's help in tying the tie.

"I don't know," Albert responded. He fixed Williams tie and then handed it back to him. "I'm not a sadistic CEO."

William giggled at that. "No, but I'm sure you will be one day."

The door to their lab swung open and both turned their head. In walked Victoria and Johnson leading Umbrella's CEO. Spencer was dressed in one of his most expensive-looking maroon suits and a cream colored shirt. His salt and pepper hair was combed back perfectly and he held a briefcase in one hand.

Albert idly gazed over Spencer but his mouth dropped when another figure entered the lab after him. The blonde woman who followed him wore a fitted knee length black dress under one of the standard issue Umbrella lab coats. "Alex?"

Her ice-cold eyes rolled in irritation. "Hello…Albert."

Albert didn't understand why it always seemed like a question whenever she said his name. Was it really that hard to remember the name of the child she raised for twelve years? At this moment, he wished he had his sunglasses to hide the hurt that he knew was creeping through his mask.

"Close your mouth and stop staring," Alex snapped. Albert quickly did as he was told, color flooding his cheeks. "And how rude of you to completely ignore Mr. Spencer."

"Good afternoon," Albert said to Spencer. He tried to look the man in the eye but was unable to.

"Good afternoon," Spencer's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Will you be so kind as to introduce Alex to your partner? I already introduced her to Mark and Victoria here."

"Alex, this is my partner William Birkin," Albert said mechanically.

Alex barely looked at the younger scientist. "Pleasure."

Albert glanced over at William. He narrowed his eyes at the blonde female but didn't say anything. Albert could tell he was trying to figure out how to react to her.

"Well," Spencer said in his creepily cheery voice. "Now that everyone is acquainted, why don't you boys tell us a bit about your T-Virus projects."

"Sure," William said, motioning to them over to his desk. "The T-Virus project I have been working on is a little different then some of the others you'll see here today…"

As William began showing Alex and Spencer his notes, Albert sunk back into the corner of the lab and put his sunglasses on his face. He hated that despite everything, he did want her approval and the disappointment that he felt for not getting it showed through his stoic mask.

"She's a charmer," Victoria whispered, sliding up next to him.

"Yup," Albert muttered back. "Dear old Alex."

Victoria didn't say anything else and the two just watched William explain in great detail his project. Though the younger boy obviously didn't like Alex or Spencer, he never failed to jump at the opportunity to show off his ambitious experiment.

Spencer managed to appear interested while Alex didn't even try to hide her boredom. She crossed her arms and seemed to stare off into the distance at some fixed point. It was unnerving, how piercing her gaze could be despite the fact that she was just zoning William out.

Then, as if she could feel his eyes on her, Alex turned that sharp gaze onto Albert. He quickly averted his gaze and looked at the floor. He never felt comfortable under her piercing stare but having Victoria next to him made it easier to endure.

"…and that's the progress that I've made so far," William finished. He looked at both Spencer and Alex expectantly, as if the two of them should be falling over themselves in awe at his project. However, neither Umbrella official displayed any sort of emotion and William's face fell.

"Thank you Dr. Birkin for your impressive presentation," Alex said dryly. "I can tell you are a true asset to the company."

Normally, any compliment from a superior would have sent William to cloud nine. However, even William could sense the emptiness behind her words.

"Albert?"

"Yes?" The blond boy straightened up.

"Get your things," Alex instructed. "We have a train to catch."

The Weskers took the Ecliptic Express into Raccoon City. The two sat in the saloon car, with Alex sitting at the bar and Albert sitting in one of the chairs nearby. Neither of them spoke the entire ride but to be honest, Albert didn't know what they would talk about anyway. Besides employment at Umbrella and surname, the two had nothing in common. In fact, he was still trying to decide why she invited him to dinner.

He supposed it could be that she finally felt a sense of obligation to her adopted son. Or perhaps she never liked children but now that he was an adult, he was finally interesting to her. But as he watched her take another sip from the glass she ordered for the ride, he realized the foolishness in this thought process.

Alex didn't say anything to him when the train slowed down and pulled into the Raccoon City station. Instead she gave him a curt nod and moved through the cabin to get to the doors. She did not wait for him but exited on her own. Albert trailed behind her a few paces, almost like a duckling chasing after its mother.

After getting off the train, Alex continued through the station, again not stopping or even hesitating a moment for Albert to catch up. She walked a few blocks down until she arrived at a fancy looking restaurant. Only then did she stop and wait for Albert before entering.

The pair was quickly seated at a table with a fine silk tablecloth and left to mull over the menu. Albert watched her over the top of his menu, waiting for Alex to say something. He was thankful that he wore his glasses so that he could keep his emotions in check.

Alex suddenly folded her menu and leaned back in her chair. Her piercing grey eyes were turned towards him and Albert felt as if she were studying him. The grey orbs moved over him slowly, taking in every detail.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Albert said after long moments of silence.

"Why?" Alex raised a thin golden eyebrow. "I work at Umbrella, don't I?"

"I just thought…" Albert hesitated. "Today's my birthday."

Alex looked completely unaffected. "And?"

Albert felt himself blushing again. "I'm twenty today. Usually people think it is an achievement of sorts."

Again, Alex looked as if her adopted son were reciting a washing machine manual. "Congratulations. You managed to survive two decades."

He pushed his lips into a thin line but didn't say anything. A waitress arrived and took their order. Alex order some kind of shrimp plate while Albert decided to go for a prime rib.

"How do you like working at Umbrella?" Alex asked once the waitress left.

"I like it well enough," Albert answered slowly. She never asked his opinion unless she was digging for something. "It is a fine institution."

"And that Birkin kid," Alex took a sip of her water. "He's quite the superstar."

"He is," Albert admitted, still guarded. "Graduated from Berkley at fifteen."

Alex smiled a predatory smile. "Such talent. Such a shame I hadn't found him years before. I could have used him in some of my projects."

"Used him in your projects?"

"Of course," Alex had a look in her face as if she were thinking about a fond memory. "I think he would have been a great member of my team."

"Indeed." Albert knew that response was complete bullshit. The wheels in her head were still clearly turning but he still couldn't make it passed her stony eyes to figure out what exactly she was thinking..

"Do you work well together?"

"Yes."

"Do you trust him?"

"He's my partner," Albert answered simply. "I have to."

"But he is your competition," Alex pushed. She leaned forward in her seat. "Clearly there has to be some doubt in your mind about his loyalty. We are Umbrella employees, Albert. We backstab, not hold hands and sing kumbaya."

"I trust him," Albert narrowed his eyes. "I trust him with everything."

Alex sat back in her chair, seemingly satisfied with Albert's answer. "Fair enough."

The rest of the evening went by agonizingly slow. "Conversation"—if a person could call it that—consisted of Alex questioning Albert and him responding in clipped one or two word phrases.

Alex's questions tended to focus on Albert's relationships with his coworkers. How was he with Johnson? Was Johnson still a man who stuck to his morals or did years of Umbrella finally get to him? Could Albert trust him? What about Victoria? How did she fit into Albert's world?

Albert kept his answers short because he still didn't know what she was looking for. He knew she wanted information but he didn't know what for. What did she have going on in the background that suddenly became so concerned for his relationships?

Albert did not thank her when the meal was over and he was allowed to head back to Arklay. By the time he arrived, everyone had gone home. The library was empty and the cleaning staff was fixing up the dining hall. William was not in either location so he thought he would try their dorm room.

He took the stairs to their dorm and slipped the key into the door, still lost in thoughts about what Alex could be looking into.

"SURPRISE!"

Albert jumped slightly and took in the scene. Johnson, Victoria, and William were all crowded in William and Albert's room, a cake between them and some presents.

"Happy Birthday Albert!" Johnson said warmly, motioning him in. "We figured you'd need a bit of relaxation after your dinner with Ms. Wesker."

The boy nodded his head and smiled. He smiled. A genuine, relaxed, happy smile.

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