Chapter 13: The Results Are In

Stopping, shaking her head, and then moving forward, Sheva couldn't make up her mind. Was going to Wesker really all that good of an idea? Hadn't she learned her lesson by now just how cruel and abusive he was? By now, she could call herself a masochist. But she had already told Piper that'd she'd go to him and she told herself that she would face Wesker now, even if she was ready to pass out any given moment.

She thought about tossing the hard shell case she brought with her, inside a few syringes, and just going to him empty handed. But she knew she needed some sort of trade for his attention, even if it was something that could possibly ruin her life. Anything in the name of love, she sarcastically thought.

She came to the end of the hallway, her breath caught in her throat as she raised her hand pathetically and gave three tiny knocks with her fist on the tall wooden door. There was no response, so she knocked again. Once again being met with silence, Sheva gulped and turned the knob herself, slowly opening the door as its hinges squeaked, almost sounding as if it was mocking her anxiety.

Tip toeing inside, she held her breath as she closed the door silently behind her. She yelped and jumped when she heard someone clear their throat forcefully. A little too slowly, she turned on her feet, holding back a whimper when she caught sight of the one and only Wesker in his bed, sitting up as the blankets fell to his hips and covered his bottom half. He was shirtless. Good God, he was shirtless. Sheva was ready to take the blood sample herself and trade it for his attention and possible affection. But it was the cautious look in his own eye that kept her from doing so. Instead, she stood straight and took a few steps inside his room.

"I see you've finally gotten some sleep, hmm?" she inquired with a small voice.

He did not respond, just continued to watch her as she scanned his room with wide eyes. When she walked to the far right of his room towards the large scaling windows, he decided to get on with her unexpected visit.

"Is there something you wanted?"

"Who, me?" she played dumb, laying a hand on her chest and looking behind her innocently and then back to him. Sheepishly laughing, she told herself to be brave and to stay strong.

Wesker got out his large bed, revealing that he wore black linen lounge pants as her eyed her. He kept from getting to close; he didn't want another incident similar to their last encounter to occur. That was a horrible situation on its own, he could not let it happen again. When she fidgeted with nerves, he caught site of the small and familiar case she held. Now he was interested.

"Spit it out, Miss Alomar," he encouraged her with a bitter bite to his voice. "What is it you wanted?"

Just wanting to get this over with, Sheva took a deep breath and focused on one thing in the room—preferably not him—and summoned enough courage and strength.

"Well, Bertie, I was just thinking that we're going to be stuck with each other for some time and we're going to have to get along. So, I thought maybe I should give you something you want. A blood sample perhaps."

Without much thought, Wesker already liked the sound of what she was saying, his feet taking steps towards her to get the precious sample. But like a fool, he was stopped when she told him she wasn't finished. Of course there'd be a catch. There was always a catch.

"I'll give you a sample of my blood. But, only if you treat me better. I'm not a child and I surely don't expect you to treat me like one. Nor am I scum under your shoe. You will treat me with respect and nothing but. Do you understand?" She was proud to hear her voice strong and stern.

With a roll of his eyes, he strode towards her, snatching the case from her. "Fine, fine," he murmured as he tried prying her hand off the case. He growled when she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her.

"And you have to promise me you won't do something bad with my blood. I want to be involved with the research and I want to know everything that goes on. If you so as much think about creating something horrible with my cells, you will be sorry," she warned, meaning every word of it.

He wanted to laugh. What a petty little threat she managed to mutter. But that's all it was; a threat. Wesker knew that she was all bark and no bite. Most everyone was. That was how he managed to do the things he did in life, accomplished the tasks he did. Wesker would bark, but when it was time to bite, he'd bite hard.

Grabbing her wrist, he trying pulling her hand away but she was persistent. He growled under his breath but complied, looking into her eyes lazily as she burned holes into his.

"I'll make you pay, Wesker," she reaffirmed. "By God, I will make you pay. Promise that you will do nothing, create nothing with my blood. Only research. Are we clear? Promise me."

Not really too sure what she would do to "make him pay", Wesker nodded gently, agreeing to the promise. She released his chin, sighing and handing him the case. He said nothing and did nothing as she raised the sleeve of her shirt, holding out her arm, all the while avoiding eye contact. He watched her carefully as she gazed to the floor they stood on. He could see just by the sheer expression of her eyes that she didn't want to do this, anyone could see that, but it almost felt like she was doing it for him. And she was. She most likely wouldn't be doing this for anyone else and Wesker knew that. He kept from shaking his head as he reached with his hand to gently grasp her arm.

It was a touch not even he could deny, but he did his best to. What kind of godly man was he if became vulnerable to a human, a Spencer no less? Her skin was soft and her hand was light, a small electricity transferring from her skin to his. He wanted to shiver. The feeling she gave him was just too foreign, too human.

This time he did shake his head, taking a syringe from the hard shell case she brought. He took out the small elastic band and tied it around her forearm, letting his fingertips remain on her skin a little too long. He pressed his thumb into the crease of her elbow, feeling her heartbeat pump violently in her veins. He almost stopped himself from saying, but the words slipped past his lips before they could be contemplated.

"If you don't want to give your blood, Miss Alomar, you don't have to."

Her eyes shot up to him, surprise occupying her gaze with a hint of genuine joy. It was obvious as she tried to hide a smile, shaking her head softly and pushing her arm into his hand. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear with her free hand, she urged him to go on.

"Thank you, but I've made up my mind," she told him. "And honestly, I'm quite interested in what the results are. As long as you keep your promise, I trust you, Albert."

And it was then that he knew he would have to keep that promise. He wanted put as much distance between her and himself, but he told himself for the remainder of his human state of health and mind, he'd treat her well and keep her promise. But once he got ahold of Prototype and PG67A/W, he would become the God he used to be and return to the lone life on his own and forget about her. But until then, he'd treat her fairly.

Sheva was admittedly relieved that he had told her she could change her mind. That was how she knew not only could she trust him with a sample of her blood, but also that the same man she had fallen in love with years ago was still there, hiding in the shell made of iron. But moments like this that she hoped weren't too rare, he would show that side of himself. And she fell back in love with him all over again. Goodness, she was hopeless when it came to Wesker.

He was quick with the needle and extraction of her blood, wanting to get this part of it all over with. He had to admit, he was rather enthusiastic to get started on research and testing her blood. Already aware of her "golden" DNA, he knew the results would not disappoint. Having her watching him would prove to be more than irksome, but with her breathing down his neck or simply observing him would be a small distraction at best. Maybe her presence would be enjoyable, though he rather not think of such a notion.

"When will you start the testing?" she questioned curiously.

"As soon as possible." He sealed all tubes and secured everything into the case before zipping it back up. He nearly dropped the case when Sheva chose to ask something extremely preposterous.

"So, who's going to kiss who this time?" she joked, trying to ease the tension. When Wesker glared at her, she shrunk in posture, embarrassed immensely. "It was a joke. It's just for the past few times we've seen each other, we…you know. I kissed you first and then you kissed me… I'll shut up."

Her cheeks burned with humiliation. She bit her lip when he pinched the bridge of his nose, so obviously annoyed with her distressed rambling. Needing to space himself and collecting attire from his wardrobe, he disappeared into his bathroom to dress himself appropriately.

"What has happened between us in the past few encounters will not happen again, do you understand?" he stated with a loud and stern voice. He emerged from the bathroom, dressed in the usual black attire of slacks and a pull over sweater. Sheva was just happy he didn't wear any sunglasses.

"Mhm, sure," she nodded.

With that, Wesker strode past her and out the door, heading for the lab below. Sheva chased after him, following him until they got the lower levels. When they entered the lab, Wesker went straight to work, pulling out microscopes, slides, petri dishes, and more. Like a wave of realization, it all hit how real everything was for Sheva. The overwhelming curiosity and fear of testing her blood would begin, and though she had slight knowledge of previous results, she couldn't help but feel that this time would be different. For better or for worse, discoveries were imminent.

With a tired sigh and scoff, Alyssa sat up in her bed as she grabbed her laptop from the nightstand. The lone light came from the small lamp on the same nightstand, the moons light blocked with deep burgundy curtains. The apartment remained silent, save for the sound of speedy typing as Alyssa navigated to her email's sign in page. When she logged in, she clicked the most recent unread message with the subject titled, "URGENT: Australian Spencer estate investigation results".

The internet connection didn't seem to want to play along, taking longer than way necessary. Being too tired for this and it being ten past two in the morning, Alyssa kicked off her dusty rose colored comforters and set her computer to the side. A yawn roared from her throat as she stood and went to the kitchen to start a fresh pot of coffee.

She had been able to get to sleep after going through files sent from HQ, enduring having to read what they needed her to do when it came to dealing with TerraSave and some political reporters. It was until five minutes ago that she had slept like a baby in what felt like years. But that luxury of peaceful slumber vanished when her phone rang with its harsh tone and calling was Barry Burton with what he claimed to be very important news. He barked with his booming voice to get off her ass and check her email, for there was apparently some extremely crucial information that not even he could process.

It was as he was saying goodbye that he mumbled to her with a drained voice, "you're going to have to tell Chris. If he hears it from me, he won't believe it. But with you and how you're always down to business, he'll accept it as true." And with that, he hung up and left Alyssa to question every part of that last statement.

Now she drug her feet back into her room as the coffee machine chugged to life, reminding her that it was time to get a new coffee maker. Another thing on my list, she thought bitterly. Slipping on her robe, she plopped onto her bed and pulled the laptop back onto her lap, happy to see the page had loaded finally. She snatched her reading glasses and squinted at the text, her eyes scanning every word.

It began with day one, the captain relaying that they had found little to nothing in their first few hours. Papers said nothing, computers systems were wiped clean, and not a living soul roamed in the mansion. The only thing that might have brought some interest was the capsule like containers in the basement portion of the estate that was converted into a lab some decades ago. Most seemed neglected except for one that seemed to have been in recent use, but they couldn't be sure. It was something that had to be left up in the air until they could gather more information about the place and which Spencer inhabited it.

Day two, things got more interesting. They might not have been able to learn what had been held in that container, but they were able to reveal that the substance that had dried up in the corners of the tube was the same substance that had been filled in the container that Wesker had been kept in until he escaped. With this evidence, they could assume that whatever was in the container was more than likely human.

Day three: last and final day. They hadn't expected to come up with anything after the last two little fruitful days. But with the order, they continued on. What they expected to be nothing turned into something when they dusted the surface of some counters and desks, surprised to find fingerprints, recent ones at that. Nothing else was found, but the prints were possibly just what they needed. They called it a day and sent the fingerprints to be tested and scanned as the investigation team readied to come home.

Little did they know what was going to be revealed on those results, or rather who was going to be revealed.

The first of the results belonged to someone who had never been connected to the Spencer's until now, Piper Mulligan. She was a mystery. Her background seemed clean; hard times in her teen years, but she seemed to pick up just fine when she graduated from college with a degree in Biology. There were gaps in her history but nothing that would raise questions. So why on earth was she at the Spencer estate?

Alyssa wrote down Piper's name on a stationary note pad with a red marker, noting that she needed to research the woman further. She combed her disheveled bed hair away and went back to reading the email.

There was one more pair of fingerprints that they had been able to find, this pair being a bit more of a challenge to scan and pin point. The results were confusing, claiming that it was someone who it couldn't possibly be. But after four more tests, the researchers knew that this had to be the actual owner of the prints. The fingerprints belonged to…

Alyssa kept from gasping, but she froze into a statue as she reread the name. Feeling faint, she shook her head. No, there has to be something wrong, she told herself. That person is dead. She felt as if she was going to throw up and faint all at once, but before she could do any of that, she had to call Chris. It wasn't until now that she understood why Barry didn't want to relay this information to him. There was no saying how Chris was going to react, but Alyssa was going to have to be the one to tell him.

After punching the keys on her phone to dial his number, Alyssa waited impatiently as the tone rang and stood to pace around her bedroom.

No, this couldn't be right. But they tested the prints five times! It had to be right.

"For fucks sake, Ashcroft," Chris's groggy voice growled into the phone. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Chris! Don't hang up on me," Alyssa said quickly, freezing on her feet as she took a deep breath. "Some very, very important information has come up about the investigation on the Spencer estate in Australia."

"Great. Hooray. Now let me go back to sleep and tell me all about it on Monday."

Alyssa nearly screamed into the phone, letting a high pitched hiss invade his eardrums. "This can't wait until Monday! Do you know where Millie's 24 hour diner is?" She heard him sigh and rolling over as he yawned loudly.

"Yeah, I do. Now goodnight, Alyssa," he mumbled, his voice drifting off as he was falling back asleep. He was snapped back into life of the conscious when she yelled into the receiver.

"Listen to me, you buffoon! Get your ass up and dressed and meet me at Millie's! If you don't, then I'm coming over to your condo and I'm going to pull you out of bed. Just do as I say or…or…"

"Or what?" he sounded amused.

"Just meet me at Millie's, jerk!"

And with that said, Alyssa snapped her phone shut and took a moment to think everything over quickly. She zoomed off into her closet and gripped for a simple white tee shirt, light denim jeans as she slipped into flat boots. Racing for the front door, she snatched her purse and slid her phone into her pant pocket.

She wasn't sure how she was going to tell Chris. There possibly wasn't really a best way, but there couldn't really be a worst way. Alyssa scoffed at the thought. Of course there was a possible worst way, but that didn't matter. How was she going to tell him that those recently made fingerprints belonged to the long forgotten, and presumably dead, Steve Burnside? With a hard shake of her head, Alyssa slammed the front door behind her, all the while the coffee machine giving a pathetic whine and finally giving out.

Author's note: Bum, bum, bummm. What's Steve got to do with all this? *whistles innocently* Sorry if the Sheva/Wesker moment was slightly bland. I wrote this up in a small time frame of four hours. I usually take at least a few days to write so that it's not forced, but it happens and I was running late with writing. I wanted to update so I could spill the beans to guys!

Sasusakui: Haha, I laughed at the mention of the "OBJECTION" and your mother saying, "overruled." C'mon. We all know what Sheva's really in this for. *wink wink* Knowing Wesker, he'll smell the fear on her…
Comix777: Shh, don't say it too loud. Piper is keeping her eye on you and you never know what she might just have up her sleeve… Mutation you say? Maybe… I'm sure Piper would be very tasty, haha.
Ultimolu: There will be blood! D:
agnesreed: Iffy? I hope you're just iffy about Piper and not the writing. D: I think it's time for Piper to come clean, eh?
Sheva Redfield: Thank you, dear! Have a lovely day.

With so much going on in this chapter there can only mean more to come. We know Wesker's going to test Sheva's blood, but who knows what that man has in store. Alyssa is going to have to tell Chris about Steve. And Piper's got some explaining to do. Are you surprised about Steve? Please review!

-Sarai