Hello my faithfull followers! I hope you were'nt going too crazy, and thanks sooooooooo much for all the reviews and support!!! I love it!!! This story would have gone NO WHERE if it weren't for your encouragement, so thanks so much and enjoy!

P.S. This is probably obvious, but Dr. Maverick was my own creation =)

Dr. Maverick strode down the well lit halls of the last functioning base of the umbrella corporation.

The last, and largest. With their current population of scientists and their families they could live for over two hundred years without ever needing to surface.

Like any of them would last that long anyway. He thought bitterly, nodding to one of his superiors out of habit as he passed them on his way to his latest subject.

Pressing his finger to a pad near the lab door, Maverick glanced at his newest lab rat through the thick glass as the doors slid open. A dark haired man, not over forty, was laying mostly naked on the table, deeply unconscious. His armor and weapons had been confiscated and replaced by a pair of white 'lab pants' and a blanket.

Well, it was more than he was used to seeing on his subjects.

Glancing at his clipboard, Maverick scanned the 'nurse's' notes. "Carlos Oliveira, 33, unconscious since 1200 hrs today. Type B tranquilizer administered into neck through dart….." He muttered, scanning the brief notes. What kind of nurse writes in military speak anyway?

Sighing as he saw that Carlos had been left with no monitors what so ever, and no adjustment to the cell temperature for someone with nothing but a very thin blanket and pants, he walked over to the next room to get the equipment cart he needed. Strange that this one was left so unattended. The boss seemed so excited about him.

Back in Carlos' room, he began to adjust temperature, and hook him up to an IV feed. He obviously needed the nutrition. Once the basics were done he went through the routine tests, snorting as he thought of how Umbrella could care less whether their living weapons were comfortable or not. They treated the zombies with more respect.

Pulling the blanket up around Carlos' shoulders and turning the heat up another notch, Maverick left briefly to put his data into the computer, still disgusted as he always was to see a human treated like they were. Every test was purely scientific. If the subject had any flaws it was a huge problem until they were useless. Then they were just zombie fodder.

His mind wandered to why he had joined in this disgusting process in the first place as he robotically added the information to the computer database. He had been one of the few survivors that had been running for his life from a swarm of infested birds when an Umbrella soldier found him and took him into the helicopter. At first he thought that Umbrella might actually care, but he later came to realize that they had been looking for him as he was a know genetic genius and had a masters in several forms of medicine. Well, his mom had always insisted that a good education could save your life. He would never have agreed to the job except it was his life on the line, and somewhere in the back of his mind he tried to convince himself that maybe, just maybe, he could be a break for the poor test subjects.

Coming back to Carlos' room, he began drawing blood samples, setting them aside to take to the lab for testing later. Pulling back an eyelid, he tested Carlos' pupils, finding them to react with superhuman sharpness. That didn't seem right. He was out cold; the drugs should have slowed all of his reactions, automatic or not. Glancing up he noticed that Carlos' heart was picking up as well. Maybe the drugs were wearing off already.

Deciding to take the blood to the lab and get the samples started on processing, Maverick sealed Carlos in his room, deciding to come back when he would just be waking up. He needed to be fully responsive for most of the tests anyway.

Bright lights assaulted Carlos' eyes as he came too, his head throbbing painfully from the effects of the drug. Attempting to open his eyes fully, he suddenly flinched back, pulling up an arm to shield himself from the excruciating brightness. The limb felt very heavy, and a needle pulled painfully against his skin with the sharp movement.

Why did he feel so tired? And where the heck was he?

Rolling his head over to see what the annoying beeping was, Carlos found himself hooked up to a heart monitor and an IV feed. Hospital?

No. There was no such thing anymore. Umbrella. That was the only chance. So why wasn't he all autopsied or anything for having bonded with the T virus?

Maybe they were getting to that.

Suddenly the door slid open to his left and he turned his head that way to see a man in a white lab coat enter. He was not much taller than Carlos, but he was probably a few years older, his hair a dusty blond. He was carrying a clipboard and case of something.

Great. Here comes the needles and scalpels.

"Ahhh, Carlos. I'm glad you're awake. You will probably be slightly groggy for a while, but it will wear off soon. Probably faster than normal in fact, you should have been asleep for quite a while yet. Are you warm enough?"

This was not what Carlos had been expecting. Who was this guy? And why was he acting like someone who cared? Feeling like he was in a dream, he nodded in response to the doctor's question.

"Good. I am Dr. Maverick. I will be overseeing your tests here. Not that you have much choice in the matter, but I hope you won't find me too disagreeable." He said with a hint of humor, almost apologetically.

Wait, how was a real, compassionate, human surviving down here surrounded by all these heartless profiteers? Not like there was any profit to be made anymore but still.

Already feeling his head clearing, Carlos pushed himself into a sitting position, suddenly seeing what the doctor had meant about him being warm enough. He shivered involuntarily.

Maverick noticed and turned the heat up some more, looking apologetic. "Well. The good news is, you have me as your doctor. The bad news is you're stuck here. I'll do everything I can to keep you comfortable, but I'm going to need your cooperation to get the results I need. If you are not honest I won't get their data and they will put someone without a soul on your case, all right?"

Carlos nodded, still trying to figure this one out. Good guys weren't allowed to get breaks, were they? Suddenly finding his head completely clear, one thought pushed out all the others.

Alice? Where was Alice??

"Where is Alice?" He asked, praying there was a real human being to take care of her too.

"She is in the level of the testing wing, on the third floor. Right above us in fact." He said, pointing up. "I'm afraid she is undergoing some re-programming right now. Umbrella didn't like the fact that she was able to break their little mind control toy so easily." He sounded smug. As if he liked very much that someone had thrown Umbrella off their high horse for a moment.

Carlos was alarmed. Re-programming? What did that entail? "Are they hurting her?" He demanded, his body tensing.

"Not yet. But certain doctors in here are not as gentle as I am." He sighed, speaking quietly.

"Is there anyway you can take care of both of us?" He asked, unable to bear the thought of what they might be doing to her.

Maverick shook his head sadly. "I may be valuable to them, but they have already chosen doctors for Alice who have worked on her before. They would never let me switch. If I say anything they would probably remove me from your case on account of 'emotional bonding' with the subject." He finished sarcastically.

Carlos felt a surge of adrenaline coarse through him, and his fists clenched. If this doctor couldn't do anything then he would fight every last one of them off by himself.

Dr. Maverick glanced at the heart monitor and then to Carlos as the beeping spiked. "I know you love her. I heard you mumbling her name even through all that sedative, but you need to relax and cooperate."

Carlos sent him a venomous glare, challenging him to just try and make him.

"Listen." He whispered urgently. "I can help you, both of you, but you have to cooperate first. I can keep tabs on her and give you information whenever possible, but if you don't act like you could care less about her they will pit you against each other that much sooner, and you will never have a chance for escape. I can help you get out. Give me a few weeks and I will help you escape. I hate what they do down here, and would sooner join you than stay with them if it wasn't for the fact that my wife and daughter are stuck here with me. Please, give me time."

Carlos took a few deep breaths, trying to let his anger fevered mind see reason. Even with his and Alice's powers they had a much better chance of seeing each other again if he did what the doctor said. Forcing his hands to relax, he nodded.

"All right. What do you need me to do?"

Ok, hope you enjoyed, and be happy to know that after this chapter my muse has a MUCH better idea of where this is going =D Reviews are still more than welcome!!!