AN: I get the feeling this chapter is late. I was busy playing Psychonauts . . . . and Borderlands . . . and Bioshock. Blame college too. I got a lot of assignments right now. Philosophy essays = not fun for me. Midterms suck. :P Good news is, the semester ends soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. Non-canon characters are my responsibility. Delfredi and Veronica are jedispartan217's OCs. She helped me with the plot too!

"That," Stevie complained as soon they were out of the room, with the door shut behind them for good measure, "was the worst 'Playtime' I've ever had in my life."

"Let's pray that was the worst of what Delfredi has set up for us," Kate replied softly as she briskly moved past her partner to take point. The older agent wanted to get away from the room and abandon all thoughts of the last 'Playtime' as quickly as possible.

The dark-haired agent scoffed as she followed, looking around the stark white hallway they had stepped into. "Tch. Aside from his interior decorator, I don't even want to think about what could be worse," she continued, "I mean, did they know I was claustrophobic before deciding to make me crawl through a hole in the damn wall?!"

Kate's mouth formed a scowl. Her nerves were wearing thin. "You think that sucked?" she replied in a low voice, despite her mind telling her to hold her tongue, "Try being isolated for who knows how long with a voice in your head playing with your doubts and fears. That sucks."

Stevie scoffed again, this time rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Bitch please," the younger agent griped, shuddering as she relived her time in the air duct, "you have no idea what happened to me in there!"

"And you don't know what happened to me either," the older agent bit back, her voice growing louder as she became more annoyed, "so that makes us even!" Kate spun around to face her taller comrade, and the two agents stared each other down; hazel-green fixed on pale blue. They stood like that for several seconds, glaring, daring the other to speak first.

Tension hung unspoken between them like a gallon of nitroglycerin. One wrong word and everything would explode. Nonetheless, both women held their ground.

Finally, Stevie spoke up. "You got something you want to say?" she said in a low, serious tone, her expression grave, "Go ahead. Say it."

"Fine," Kate began to talk, then came to realization: the whole argument was trivial. "This fight is pointless! We aren't helping anyone right now!" The older agent turned away and began pacing the width of the hall, as was the norm when her thoughts were on a roll. "We can agree we both got the short end of the stick during that last 'Playtime'-"

"You got that right."

"-but arguing is not going to help us find our way out," the glasses-wearing agent continued, her voice much calmer as she continued pacing, "And I wouldn't be surprised if Delfredi wanted us to argue and have it disrupt our partnership as part of his plan."

Stevie shifted her weight and settled a hand on her hip. "It certainly sounds like something he would do," she commented. "So what now? Are we gonna argue over which one of us was closer to pissing our pants, or are we going to go find our friends?"

Kate ceased her pacing and looked her partner in the eye. "What are we waiting for? Let's go find them."

The agents continued their trek a short ways down the brightly lit hallway. The dark-haired cadet was right; Delfredi REALLY needed to fire his interior decorator. The two women grimaced at the glaring white walls. They had been trained in shadowy, but decently lit gymnasiums, and if the tugging sensation behind their eyes was any indication, the walls were passive-aggressively threatening to give them eyestrain.

A single door to the right offered relief. The agents opened it, only to reveal a comfortably darkened stairwell, with one set of stairs leading downward. A black arrow had been hastily painted on the concrete wall, along with the words 'This way to freedom', no doubt Delfredi's handiwork.

"Looks like somebody wants us to go down here," Stevie commented. Kate stepped forward and peered down the stairwell. This one was dimly lit like the last one, and shadows dressed the lower levels that had less lighting, making Kate grip the rail tightly as she leaned forward to gaze into the darkness.

"What's wrong?" Excella crooned in the older girl's mind, causing her to shiver a little, "Afraid of the dark?"

Kate stood silent and forced herself to stare into the abyss. "I'm more afraid of what could be in it," she spoke under her breath.

"You okay, buddy?"

The older agent looked over to find Stevie looking at her with a confused expression. "It's nothing," the uneasy cadet apologized.

"Right," the dark-haired cadet replied. "I've double checked the corridor out there; the other doors in the area are locked. It looks like this is our only choice."

The two agents began to descend the stairwell, turning on their flashlights when the shadows became too much. Their footsteps echoed in the passage, the sound both comforting and nerve-wracking as they walked. More arrows, this time in white paint, pointed them downward, only these were slightly faded from age, as if they had been part of the original facility.

"'Prison level'," Kate read above one of the arrows, "Why would this place have a prison level?"

"Probably to hold test subjects or unruly monsters. Take your pick," Stevie offered, "Maybe the others are down there."

Kate nodded, and they continued their descent down the stairs. "It's getting colder," the older cadet noted aloud as a chill snuck up her spine, "We must be underground by now."

Her companion nodded. "Leave it to Umbrella to construct a facility like this," Stevie commented.

The girls continued their journey, the stairwell growing colder and colder, making the fine hair on the back of their necks stand on end. After many stories, they hit a floor that offered no path downward, save for a single door. "I think we hit the bottom," Kate noted.

"What gave you that idea?" Stevie joked. Her friend rolled her eyes in response. "Ah well, one way to go."

They opened the door and emerged into a small, unlit office. A test of the nearest light switch proved that nobody had bothered to come down and do maintenance. The cadets turned on their flashlights and swept the room. A single desk, a chair, and another door inhabited the antechamber. A second sweep revealed a single piece of paper, crumpled up and forgotten in a corner. Kate picked up the mangled paper and unfolded it. "Take a look at this," she said. Stevie walked over to stand beside her and began reading.

"To my knowledge, there are three captives here in this facility. Delfredi has decided that they will make the perfect specimens to perform tests on. (And they aren't bad looking as well!) The test subjects are being held in the prison level below. Oddly enough, this floor is equipped with Cryo-Stasis equipment. I'm not sure why it would be here. Probably leftover Umbrella tech."

"This must have been written by Veronica," Stevie spoke, "The handwriting is certainly similar to the note we found earlier."

"Three captives . . ." Kate murmured. "Chris and Mattie might be down here!"

"Yeah, but what about the third guy?" Stevie added, "We've only lost two people. Three if you count Jill, and this note was written before we got here."

Kate blinked down at the note. "I'm not sure. We won't know until we find out."

The two agents pushed open the door behind the desk, revealing the hallway that lay beyond. This was the belly of the prison level. The cells were set up on one side of the hallway, sealed by doors with small, barred windows and a tiny opening to slide trays of food into. Locks also decorated each door. The entire corridor was sparsely lit with swinging lamps, making the shadows dance eerily as they ventured inside.

The prison level was just as silent as the others, save for the combined breathing and footsteps of the two girls as they walked forward, holding their handguns in front of them in case an enemy should appear.

A whisper echoed up the hall. "No..." The agents froze. They were not alone. "...have NOT ... left behind."

The cadets pinpointed the source of the voice to the cell directly to their left. Moving quickly, Stevie and Kate flanked both sides of the door. With her partner offering to cover her, Stevie leaned over, and peered through the slot.

A single figure sat in the center of the room, facing the back wall. Even in the dim light of the cell, certain features were distinguishable. Stevie recognized the prisoner's short, chocolate brown hair and stocky, muscular frame immediately.

"It's her!" Stevie whispered to Kate, who leaned over to peek through the slot as well. "Pst! Mattie! Mattie! Over here!"

The prisoner turned around. "Stevie? Kate? Is that you?" Mattie spoke, squinting at them with unaided eyes; her glasses had gone missing. "What are you guys doing here? Are you trapped too?"

"In a sense, yes," Kate said, "We're here to get you out!"

Stevie pulled out her handgun and aimed for the lock. "Everyone step back," she warned as she rested a finger on the trigger. Kate stepped away from the door, and with one pull of a trigger, the lock that had been fastened to the door broke and fell to the ground.

The two agents pulled the door open and rushed in, only to be tackled backwards by a waiting Mattie. "I'm so glad to see you two!" their friend gushed, "Oh, thank God you're real!"

"Er...glad to see you too!" Stevie returned with a semi-puzzled look on her face, "What do you mean 'real'?!"

"Are you alright, Mattie?" Kate asked, getting straight to business.

Mattie shrugged as she let her friends go. Now they could fully see her, still clad in her BSAA pants and boots, as well as an undershirt. "Still in one piece, but my gear and jacket got taken away, along with my goggles."

Stevie raised an eyebrow. "Your goggles?" she asked, a quizzical expression on her face.

"Yeah! Quint made them to replace my glasses after a little accident during 'Rookie Pinball'," Mattie explained, "You haven't seen them, have you?"

"No, but we're glad you're okay," Kate replied.

Mattie took a glance at her rescuers' attire and began talking again. "So, when did you guys join the BSAA?"

"Not long ago," Kate lied, "We just graduated to cadet status. What happened to you?"

Mattie took a seat on the prison floor. "Well, I was with Parker. We got ambushed by Hunters. He got hurt. I helped him get out, and then I shut myself in so the Hunters wouldn't escape," she recounted. "Speaking of which, how is he?"

"Parker made it back to HQ. He's going to be stuck in bed for a while," Stevie explained, "Mother of God, It's a wonder you're alive right now!"

"There's more," Mattie continued, "after I the last wave of Hunters, a weird yellow gas came out of the sprinklers. I couldn't breathe and passed out. But before I fell unconscious, I saw Chris running towards me."

Kate's eyes widened. "You saw Chris?!"

"He picked me up, and then I passed out," Mattie finished, "Then I woke up here. Since then all I've been able to do is talk to Mr. Ashford here!" She turned to address an empty corner of the cell. "Yes. I'm talking about YOU."

"Ashford? As in Alfred? Are you hallucinating too?" Stevie asked. Mattie nodded. "It sounds like you got hit with the exact same stuff Kate did."

"Only worse. But I can't see her, thank goodness," the eldest cadet added.

Mattie cocked her head. "Who are you hearing?" she asked curiously.

"Excella."

"Yikes."

The older cadet's eyes fell on Mattie's left arm, which was wrapped in bandages from her wrist to the shoulder of the tank top she usually wore under her jacket. "What happened to your arm?"

Mattie lifted her arm for the others to see. "I think I took a scratch from one of the Hunters. I haven't felt brave enough to take the bandages off to check."

"Let me take a look," Kate offered. The quiet agent found the end of the bandages and began unrolling. Everything looked normal, and then the skin became discolored with a sickly yellow tint that covered Mattie's entire arm. The older cadet's eyes widened. "Oh boy. This does not look good."

Mattie looked down, only to have her eyes widen in alarm. She leaned away from the abnormal appendage. "W-What is that?!" she questioned, staring at her arm for a few seconds, then looked to her friends with an expression of sheer panic. "Guys?! What the heck is going on with my arm?! Talk to me!"

"We're not sure. But you need to stay calm," Kate ordered, "We've got some medicine." The quiet agent pulled some of the green herb leaves she had picked out of her back pocket. "Let's try this." She squeezed the leaf, coaxing out the green-tinted gel, and rubbed it onto the discolored skin. Nothing changed. Kate sighed and put the other leaves back into her pocket. "So much for that idea."

"What do we do now?" Stevie asked, looking a little nervous herself.

Kate turned her attention back to her patient. "Mattie. Can you still use your arm?" the calmer agent asked.

Mattie tested her limb, flexing and bending it every which way. "Yeah, it's just sore," she replied.

"Then It sounds like we should be okay, but we better watch it and make sure it doesn't spread." Kate warned. She began re-wrapping the bandage, muttering to herself, "This is probably what she meant by other side effects."

"Who's 'She'?" Mattie questioned.

"Delfredi's assistant," Stevie explained, leaning against the wall as she kept one eye on the door, "A blonde woman named Veronica. Oddly perky when it comes to Tyrant research for some reason."

Mattie scrunched her eyebrows in thought. "I don't recognize her, but I did talk to a woman while I was in here," she spoke. "She was asking me questions about how I was feeling. I take it Delfredi is the man behind all of this?"

Stevie and Kate nodded. "Yep, that's him. What did you tell her?" the dark-haired agent asked.

"The usual: 'Perfectly fine except for my arm'," Mattie answered, "I also told her about Alfred too."

"Have you seen Chris since you passed out?" Kate asked.

Mattie shook her head. "No. I haven't seen him at all," she replied, "Have you?"

Now it was Stevie's turn to shake her head. "We haven't seen any sign of him either," she explained, "I'm beginning to wonder if this whole thing is a trap."

Mattie shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. I've been stuck in here for hours."

"More like a few days, to be exact," Kate thought to herself, not bothering to say it aloud for the sake of Mattie's sanity. "Anyway, we still have to find Jill and Chris before we can leave," she said as she finished re-wrapping her friend's bandage.

Mattie perked up, becoming excited at the mention of her mentor. "Jill's here too?"

"Yes," Kate explained as she stood to her feet, "We were with her for a while, then we got separated as soon as we walked into this place."

Mattie jumped to her feet, wincing as she put weight on her bad arm. "Then c'mon! Let's go!" she cheered.

Stevie and Kate shared an unsure look between them, and then the dark-haired cadet pulled her comrade into a huddle near the cell door. "You think this is a good idea?," Stevie whispered, "I'm not sure if Mattie's in the best condition right now. She'd be safer in here."

Kate nodded. "If that arm gets worse, then we're in trouble," she agreed, "And with her vision impaired, that'll be a disadvantage too."

"So what do we tell her?"

Meanwhile, Mattie watched her friends as they whispered among each other. "What's up with them?" she thought, cocking her head at the strange sight, "Why aren't they talking to me?"

"They're plotting to leave you behind," Alfred leered. Mattie's eyes darted to the far corner of her cell, where the obnoxious Ashford had decided to take up residence. "You see, I told you this would happen," he spoke as an evil smirk crossed his face. "What will you do now, mouse?"

Mattie's eyes narrowed, then she turned and silently snuck up to her friends. When she was close enough, she grabbed both of them by the shoulders. "Oh no you don't!" she warned, surprising Stevie and Kate with her sudden appearance, "You two are not leaving me alone with him! I've had enough of being stuck in here! I'm coming with you!"

There was a short pause as Stevie and Kate tried to figure out what to say. "You're sure you can fight?" the glasses-wearing cadet asked. Mattie nodded. "Even with your eyesight?"

"I can still tell the difference between monsters and people. Jill gave me some hand-to-hand combat training, and I know my way around a knife."

Stevie and Kate shared a quick look, then exchanged a nod. "Alright, you're coming with us," the dark-haired cadet spoke as she pulled her BSAA-issued knife out of its sheath, "But hold onto this. It would be a bad idea for any one of us to run around unarmed."

Mattie took the knife and stuck it into one of the pockets of her BSAA-issued cargo pants. "This'll do for now. They took my belt, too."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Guess they don't want anyone killing themselves," she noted.

The three BSAA cadets left the cell and began walking down the hall, sticking close together for safety. Even with the sparse lighting, there was no telling how far the corridor stretched. They pressed forward, stopping when an object drew their attention. "What's that?" Mattie asked, squinting downwards at the object.

A portable tape player sat on the floor in front of them, surrounded by the circle of light cast by the bulb. Stevie stepped forward and kneeled next to the player. "It doesn't look dangerous," she said as she inspected it, "Think Delfredi left us a message?"

"We won't know unless we listen," Kate answered.

The youngest of the three nodded, picked the player up, pressed a button, and the tape started playing. "If you find this, you have made it to Playtime #3," Delfredi's warped voice spoke, "How willing are you to trust a perfect stranger?" The recording cut off there.

"'Perfect stranger'?" Mattie repeated, "Guess it wasn't just me down here after all."

Stevie and Kate turned to their friend. "What are you talking about?" the younger of the two asked.

"I've heard echoes of other voices from my cell, coming from down this hall," Mattie explained, pointing down the corridor, "I just thought they were part of the hallucination." Her eyes darted to the opposite wall. "Oh, shut up you."

"It sounds like we're going to be meeting them soon," Kate spoke under her breath, "Better stay close."

The three women ventured deeper into the prison level, keeping an eye on each other's blind spots as well as on the cells. There was no telling if something was inside, waiting to jump them when their guard was down. But so far, the coast had remained clear. The prison level was a maze. Several twists and turns had gotten them into an unknown part of the prison floor, having lost sight of the Mattie's cell and the place where they picked up the recording almost an hour ago. As time passed, their suspicions began to rise. Had Delfredi slipped them a red herring?

"Where are they?" Mattie whispered, her voice echoing in the corridor.

"Dunno," Stevie murmured, "I haven't seen anyone. Do you think we walked past them?"

As her partners conferred amongst themselves, Kate's eyes glanced around the area, scanning for clues. Her vision fell on the cell door next to her. She blinked. This door is different, she noticed. The last several doors didn't have a ID plate on them, like most offices did. This one had a metal plate marked '001998-4'. The cell next to it had a similar plate labeled '001998-5'.

Out of curiosity, Kate poked the serving flap open and peeked inside. A large, muscular male figure stood near the back of the cell. His face was turned away from the door, and the shadows hid many of his other features. But the quiet agent could make out a head of unkempt, slightly spiky brown hair.

"There's someone in here," the older agent whispered, drawing her comrades' attention, "I can't tell if it's Chris."

"Let's find out," Stevie whispered before speaking into the slot, "Chris? Chris, Is that you?!"

"...Who's Chris?" the figure replied, dashing the agents' hopes six feet below ground. "Look, if you're here for 'Playtime', you can tell Delfredi to shove it up his-"

"We're not with Delfredi!" Mattie interrupted. "We're on a rescue mission with the BSAA!"

"BSAA?" the man responded, "Can't say I've heard of them."

"Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance," Stevie explained, "Kinda self- explanatory as to what they do. They've been around for a while."

"Then it sounds like you're my kind of people," the prisoner replied, "Now would you mind getting me out of here? I heard that you were lost, and I know a way out of this goddamn maze."

The three agents looked between each other, sharing a doubtful expression. They turned away from the cell and entered a huddle.

"Should we let him out?" Stevie asked, hoping to get her friends' opinions, "He might be able to help us."

"We don't know if his information is good. It could be a trap set by Delfredi," Kate argued, "This is probably what he meant by 'trusting a perfect stranger'."

"He's been here longer than I have, it sounds like," Mattie added.

"And he really doesn't like Delfredi," Stevie added, "We know that much."

"So what should we do?" Kate asked her comrades, "We could try to find the exit ourselves if we're careful."

"I assume you've seen his pets already?" the prisoner spoke, interrupting their huddle. The trio looked over to the door to find that the man had gotten up and moved to lean against the door to speak to them more directly. "Even if all three of you are armed, it's going to take a lot more than that if you want a fighting chance to escape."

"And you think can give us that chance?" Stevie questioned.

The man gave a short chuckle. "I've already been in prison once, and four sets of eyes are better than three."

"How do we know you won't backstab us?" Kate asked, coldly folding her arms under her chest.

Another chuckle. "You'll have to release me to find out."

"Final thoughts?" Stevie asked her friends, "This guy sounds like he knows what's going on here."

"We outnumber him, and we've got guns," Mattie pointed out, "We can take him on."

The final vote rested with Kate. ". . . Fine," she agreed, "But don't let him get too close. If he takes one of us hostage and grabs a weapon, we'll be in trouble."

"Alright then, it's settled," Stevie said, "Mattie. Do your thing."

Mattie cast her eyes aside. "Uhh, slight problem," she reminded them, "They took away my gear, remember? My lock-pick was in there too."

"Think you can improvise?" Kate asked.

The half-blind agent gave the question some thought. "Perhaps," she replied, "Got a hairpin?" Kate nodded and reached to the base of her ponytail, producing a hairpin for her comrade.

"Thanks," Mattie said as she took the hairpin and went to work on the lock. After a series of clicks, the lock came undone. She stepped back as the door swung open.

The prisoner stepped out. It was easy to see how he could have been mistaken for Chris with his wild hair. Under his drab clothes, his body showed that he continued working out while he was imprisoned. Both sleeves of the light jacket he wore over his shirt had been ripped off, revealing a certain tattoo winding up his right arm and a pair of handcuffs dangling from his wrist. The sight made the agents' jaws nearly drop.

"There we go. That's better, isn't it?" he spoke, smirking down at the three agents as he leaned in the doorway.

"Ay! Billy! You talking to someone over there?" a voice echoed from the cell to the right. This one was also male, and by the sound of it, had a Spanish accent.

Billy rolled his eyes and mouthed something along the lines of 'God help me'. "No, I'm talking to the wall, moron," he replied.

"Then why do I hear the voices of three ladies?"

"It's just your imagination, dumbass!"

"Bull!" The sound of boots was heard from the next cell, and soon enough, a pair of eyes appeared at the slot. "Wow. There really are girls here. You liar."

"I never said they weren't." Billy retorted.

"Eh, who cares?" the second prisoner replied before focusing on the girls. "So, you ladies care to let me out?"

Stevie, Kate and Mattie exchanged perplexed looks. "Hadn't planned on it," the oldest of the three spoke.

"Then don't," Billy advised, "He has a habit of getting on people's nerves and then never getting off."

"I only did that to you, by the way," the new prisoner replied.

"Seriously though, don't let him out," Billy added to the women, "You'll regret it."

"Aw, C'mon amigo!"

The women looked between each other. "He sounds harmless enough," Mattie commented.

"I don't see any problems," Stevie added, shrugging her shoulders.

"We don't even know who we're talking to!" Kate objected, catching her friends by surprise. " I don't know about you, but I'd like to know who this guy is before we let him out."

"Hmm... I got an idea," Stevie spoke. She turned to the cell holding the unknown prisoner. "Hey, dude! If we let you out, will you tell us your name?"

"Course I will! A name's a small price for getting out of this mess," the captive replied in a cheerful manner.

"Then it's settled!" the dark-haired cadet added brightly. "Mattie?"'

Mattie walked over to the second cell, her comrades' eyes fixed closely on Billy Coen as she began picking the lock. If he tried anything funny while Mattie's back was turned, he was going to see the receiving end of two angry girls with handguns. After a few seconds, the lock clicked open and fell to the ground. Mattie pulled the door open towards her, and the prisoner could be heard moving around before appearing in the doorframe.

The prisoner wore the same clothes as Billy, only the sleeves on his coat had been rolled up to the elbow instead of ripped off. He had somehow gotten his greasy brown hair to stay back, except for the short bangs that framed his forehead. A mustache decorated his upper lip as well.

"Carlos Olivera, at your service ladies," he introduced himself, "Now, which one of you should I be kissing first?"

Stevie's fist connected with his jaw four seconds later.

AN: Don't forget to leave a review! It motivates me to keep going!