Hi! Here I am publishing my first text on this fandom! Initially I just wanted to add this idea to my list to maybe write about later, but it literally grabbed me and wouldn't let go until I finished. It all started from a short scene that I really wanted to see and things spiraled out of control and resulted in... this. I tried to stay as faithful as possible to the characters but the events inevitably lead to being more OOC so I hope you enjoy and don't hesitate to let me know what you thought!
English is not my language so please excuse any mistakes or meaningless turns of phrase. I took the time to reread carefully by comparing with the original text to see if the translation fit but you never know.
Spring had arrived in Raccoon City and with it the sun was making its return, his effect on the morale of the population perceptible everywhere in the air. This was also the case for Wesker, who had already started his usual routine over an hour ago. The good weather was also working on his mood, leading him to hope for a day without too much paperwork. He didn't see report writing as a problem, but sometimes staying cooped up in his office all day made him itch. Especially when there were other, far more stimulating activities waiting for him. Unfortunately for him, his day wasn't going to turn out the way he'd planned. The captain was in the process of collecting his belongings to leave for work, pondering the possibility of a last-minute outdoor training exercise, when there was a knock at the door. Intrigued and unaccustomed to a knock on the door, Wesker retrieved his weapon and tucked it into the back of his pants, one hand resting on it as he went to open. If he'd expected a mistake, a lost person, an enemy out for revenge for some reason, or Umbrella outright changing its mind and wanting to get rid of him, he wasn't prepared for what he saw. In front of him, a young woman who looked to be barely 30 was smiling gently at him, although he could see that she seemed very nervous. Wesker stared at her through his glasses, waiting for her to justify herself, which she did after a moment of tense silence.
"- Are you Mr. Wesker?" she asked nervously. The man frowned before answering with a somber "yes", still waiting for her to get to the reason for her presence.
"- My name is Mila and I work at the orphanage-" Wesker cut her off, already beginning to lose patience with her pointless ramblings, only wanting her to tell him the reason for her coming.
"- Come to the point and stop wasting my time miss."
His tone didn't hide his impatience, despite his polite formula. He could see the girl becoming even more nervous and she opened her mouth to resume when something caught her eye and she looked down at her feet. Wesker followed her gaze and what he saw only added to his confusion. A young boy, not even knee-high, was hiding behind the young woman's legs, his small hand firmly clasped on the woman's long skirt as he tried to glance at Wesker, before returning to hide when he saw the latter watching him. Seeing that Wesker had spotted the young boy, she began to play nervously with her fingers as she resumed.
"- Mr. Wesker, perhaps it would be better if we talked about this inside. she began, making a small gesture towards his house.
- No" he replied without wasting any time and began to close the door, judging that he had wasted enough time. Whatever she wanted, she'd said enough to let the man know he had no interest in listening to her. He was about to close the door when he heard her shout "Wait!", the young woman trying to stop him by sliding her foot and hand into the doorway. Surprised, he abruptly reopened the door, his expression even harsher than before, trying to intimidate her in the process, and although it seemed to work, she seemed determined to tell him why she had come.
"- Please sir, it's very important." And without wasting any time, no doubt for fear of further rejection, she continued. "We received a call from the Edonian social services a few days ago for a young boy who had just lost his mother. The social services there are saturated, so when they asked him about his family and he confessed that his mother had told him his father was American, they sent him to the territory. Then he was tested when he got to Washington and-"
Wesker sighed, tired of her endless explanation, and cut her off again with a deeper frown.
"- I don't care about your story miss, stop wasting my time and get to the point or leave."
She was still playing with her fingers when she finally dropped the information.
"- He's your son Sir." She placed her hands on the young man's small head, staring at Wesker as much as she could through his glasses.
He remained silent for a moment, letting her words sink in before sketching a small smile.
"- I don't know what led you to that conclusion, but it's impossible." He was about to close the door again when the girl called out to him again.
" - I've got the genetic tests to prove it." She said, quickly pulling out a folded envelope from her jacket pocket. Although he didn't believe a word she said, he was still curious as to how they had reached him. He took the envelope from her hand and quickly took out the papers. As he began to peruse the documents, she took the opportunity to resume her story.
"- In Washington, they ran DNA tests and did a search of police files, in case the progenitor had any priors but instead...well since you're in law enforcement, your information was listed and it matched...So they contacted us two days ago so we could take over to keep you in the loop..." She finished her sentence in a whisper.
Wesker had only vaguely listened to his words, too focused on his examination of the genetic analysis reports. After a careful reading he could only agree with the conclusion of the genetic match, but he still couldn't admit that it was his data. The woman seemed to be watching him curiously, waiting to see what would happen from that moment on. He squinted when he spotted an unfamiliar name on the document.
"Jake Muller" he read aloud before raising his head. "That's his name." Although he said it as a statement, the girl nodded in confirmation.
"-How old is he?" He asked, more in an attempt to find something that would show he had nothing to do with the child than out of interest.
"- 5 years." Replied the woman, her optimism returning as she thought he began to care about the child.
"- Do you have his mother's name?" He then asked.
"- Alica Muller" Wesker remained impassive but winced inwardly. He'd known a woman with that name, an Edonian, during his time in the army in the early 90s. He was becoming less and less fond of the way information fit together.
"- And what do you expect from me?" He asked, curious to know more about what she expected him to do now that the information had been revealed to him.
"- Well, we were hoping to see if you'd be willing to take Jake in, now that you know..." she said, lowering her voice towards the end of her sentence.
The captain raised his eyebrows, surprised at the lengths they were willing to go to for a single child they weren't even sure would find his family. He expressed this last thought aloud.
"- You went to a lot of trouble for him without even knowing if it would work?
-If there's the slightest chance of a child not ending up alone in an orphanage, then yes it's worth it." Replied the young woman, suddenly determined in her mission.
Wesker settled for an unconvinced "mh" as he raised an eyebrow.
"- And what happens if I decide not to take him on?"
Worried by the prospect of his refusal, the young woman opened her mouth before closing it again abruptly. She took a breath before answering.
"- He'll be declared an orphan and his responsibility will fall to us." she said nervously. She covered the boy's ears with her hands before continuing, lowering her voice.
"- You work in the police force, surely you know that the Raccoon City orphanage has a lot of difficulties and adoptions are rare. I don't want to pressure you, but I'm sure he'd be better off with his father than with us."
The woman's tone was suppliant as Wesker bristled at the way she had called him. A long, tense silence followed, the young woman waiting for any sign of his decision while the man took his time to analyze all the information. Normally, he wouldn't have taken the time to think about it and would have dismissed them out of hand, but there was one element that posed a problem. During his last visit to NEST, William had complained about the lack of test subjects, and in between cursing the delays this would cause to his research, he had informed him that Spencer was planning to remedy this by further infiltrating the orphanage to test children under the guise of medical examinations. He had no problem with Birkin having fun testing his viruses on children - indeed, he found the situation ironic, the man having a daughter himself - but the idea of the scientist eventually discovering the boy's genetics and the information reaching Spencer bothered him to no end. He wouldn't allow Spencer to test all sorts of things on his genes. Especially with his planned betrayal. Spencer might find through the child a way to thwart him before he could carry out his plan. This was not an option. He finally snapped out of his thoughts and offered his best fake smile before inviting the pair inside. He saw the relief in the young woman's attitude as she entered, the child still clinging to her legs. The young woman didn't try to hide the fact that she was looking everywhere, impressed by the luxurious display of his interior. He lived on the outskirts of town, in a large house at a good distance from the other dwellings. The interior was decorated with simple but elegant furniture, all devoid of personal elements. He gestured to the sofa and watched them settle in before taking a seat opposite them. With no means of hiding, he was finally able to get a good look at the boy. He had short, bright red hair and frightened, intense blue eyes that he knew matched his own. He saw the child analyzing him in the same way. He turned his attention back to the young woman.
"- What happens next?". The girl turned her attention back to him.
"- Does this mean you acknowledge Jake's paternity and agree to become his legal guardian as his father?" He nodded, a smirk on his face that the young woman didn't interpret as what it really meant. Her good humor was back as she couldn't seem to keep still.
"- In that case, his things are in the car and I also have some papers for you to sign."
As she stood up and headed for the door, Wesker followed and called out to her before she could get out.
"- Do you want to entrust him to me right now? Isn't there some procedure to follow before that?" The woman turned to face him.
"- As I told you, the orphanage has some...difficulties. The rooms are too small and there are too many children. The management has decided to lighten things up a bit, if that will make it easier for us to place the children. We'd have to do some work, but we can't really afford it." He nodded in understanding, clearly seeing the loophole that Spencer was going to exploit and she gave him a small smile. She went out and left him there, alone with little Jake, who hadn't dared move from his place on the sofa. He fiddled nervously with the fastening of his jacket and glanced at Wesker from time to time, before quickly lowering his head when he saw Wesker looking at him. Fortunately, the young woman soon returned with a sports bag and a document pouch. She set the bag down beside the sofa before returning to her seat and starting to pull out papers, smiling at Jake as he watched her busying herself. She turned the papers in his direction as he resumed his seat.
She pointed to the first sheet with the pen she'd taken out and began her explanation.
"- Here you acknowledge that you are Jake's biological father and here-" she pointed to another document. "You affirm that he is now in your sole custody. With the acknowledgement that you are his father, he will automatically take your name."
She handed him the pen, which he retrieved without taking his eyes off the papers. He didn't like the idea of signing these documents without having carried out his own tests, but he didn't really have any other way out. He could always entrust the child to Birkin as a test subject if the tests didn't match up. Satisfied with the way he once again had every outcome of this situation under control, he leaned over and began to sign the documents. While he was signing, the woman brought out more documents and waited for him to finish before explaining them to him.
"- This is his consular declaration of birth abroad, since you're an American citizen and he was born in Edonia. This confers American citizenship on him." He nodded in understanding and she straightened.
"- Although we're simplifying things, a social services officer will be by next week to make sure Jake is safe and well taken care of. After that, it'll be a fresh start for both of you." she concluded, smiling at Jake.
"- Does that mean you're leaving?" The small voice of the boy who had so far remained silent surprised Wesker, who turned his head to look at him.
"- Yes, sweetheart, but now you're with your family." She crouched down and held out her arms, and without wasting any time Jake got up and ran to give her a hug.
"You'll be better off here little sweetie" she told him, half choking on their embrace.
"- Will you come back?" he murmured worriedly.
"- I promise.
- I'm going to miss you Mila.
- I'Il miss you too Jake." And with that she kissed him on the forehead before rising to her feet. She collected some papers and left others before heading for the door. Wesker escorted her out and before opening, she faced him again.
"Take good care of him.
- You can count on it." With that, they shook hands and she left. Jake had joined him in the doorway and was watching her walk to her car. He waved as she turned to get into her car and watched her pull out of the driveway. He closed the door and returned to the living room with a deep sigh. He removed his glasses and placed them on the kitchen counter before rubbing his eyes. Although he had the big picture in hand, he now had to deal with the details. That's when he remembered that before the intrusion, he'd been on his way to work. He must surely be late by now, and a glance at his watch confirmed his suspicions. Well, with the amount of evenings he stayed later than the end of his shift doing paperwork, he could well take a few days off with no problem. He had reached for his phone when a little pressure on his pants made him look down.
"- Dad?" He could see the boy's nervousness and how unsure he was by calling him that, and although Wesker was taken aback by the title, he realized that it was the child's only cue since he hadn't yet told him his name. He looked down at Jake and waited for the boy to explain.
"Where's the bathroom? I need to pee." Wesker took his hand and guided him into the house. This was going to be quite a test of his patience.
Two weeks had already passed since Jake had arrived. He'd spent his days off looking for what he needed to make the guest room child-friendly. He wasn't keen on going down this route without having had a chance to do his own tests yet, but he knew it was essential if he was to at least sell the front to the agent. In the meantime, he could see that those boring strolls through the stores had at least boosted Jake's confidence in him. The little boy seemed to open up more in the face of what he thought was a show of interest. Wesker had also enrolled him in a school. Now that their rhythm had been established and the social services officer had left satisfied with his visit, the blond had been able to return to work a few days ago. His return to the office had not gone unnoticed, with his subordinates attempting to question him until he firmly replied that it was a personal matter, his serious tone discouraging them from trying to pursue their questioning. This new situation had forced him to make new adjustments to his jobs. He left the station early, taking some work with him, to the astonished looks of his team, before picking up Jake from school. His work in the lab was the most impacted by his new situation, although he had found a balance. He waited until Jake was in bed before leaving discreetly. He had also decided not to go every night and planned to adapt his personal laboratory in the basement with more equipment so that he could continue his research directly at home. Although he was reluctant to the changes Jake was making to his life, he had to admit he liked the idea of a lab he could have total control of, independent of Umbrella and hidden from their view. Tonight Wesker planned to pick up the last virus samples from Arklay, but first he had to make a detour to NEST. The blond had discreetly drawn the child's blood while he slept before leaving. He had also taken a sample of his own before drove to the marshalling yard that concealed the entrance to NEST and parked before taking the elevator up to the laboratories. He walked through the immaculate white corridors, the sound of his footsteps echoing in the silence of the halls long deserted by its staff. He crossed the footbridge that separated him from the Birkin laboratory. At the entrance, he deactivated the disinfection system before passing through. Never mind Birkin's reprimands and the argument that he'd be dried off completely right after through the other airlock. The doors opened and the back of a white coat greeted him, too focused on his work to even notice the new presence. It was only when he broke the silence to greet her that the woman unhooked her gaze from the screen in front of her.
"- Good evening Annette." She nodded at him before returning her attention to her reports.
"- Wesker. Will's in the other part of the lab." She waved her hand vaguely behind her. He smiled to himself and moved in the direction indicated, where a blond head was bent over a microscope. He put his hand on the man's shoulder, causing him to jump. He knew that William was becoming more tense as his research into the G virus progressed. The man turned and a faint smile appeared on his tired face.
"- Al. Good to see you around." His expression became serious again as Wesker moved away to sit on the desk opposite, crossing his arms over his chest. "This isn't a social call, I take it? What brings you here?" One quality he appreciated in the younger man was that he got straight to the point without wasting time.
"- I need you to do a genetic analysis for me." These words captured the scientist's attention, and he straightened his head to look at him, waiting for him to continue.
"- I need you to check the relationship between two subjects." Birkin raised a questioning eyebrow as he continued. "Two test subjects whose parentage I need to check to compare the evolution of a virus and its mutations." William nodded, not questioning his colleague further as he held out his hand. Albert retrieved the bag containing the two vials of blood and handed them to him. The man glanced at the packet before asking.
"- And why don't you do it yourself?
- Lack of time." he replied simply. The man chuckled to himself.
"- Your cop act takes up all your time hm?" William never missed an opportunity to tease his colleague about the man's projects, which kept him away from the laboratories and his field of expertise. Wesker chose not to respond to the provocation and Birkin noticed, continuing:
"- When do you need this for?
- Now. " With a smile, the man looked at him again. "That'll get you out of your G research." William laughed softly and began taking the vials out of the bag.
"- Very well, I'll have the results in thirty minutes." Wesker nodded and left the room, leaving the man to get on with his new task. He returned to Annette.
"- I've got thirty minutes to spare, perhaps I can be of assistance?" Annette turned to him and nodded before starting to show him what she was working on.
Half an hour later, William poked his head out of his office with his notebook in hand. He tapped his notebook against Albert's arm to draw his attention from the documents he was perusing.
"- I've got your results." Wesker then turned to him.
"- So?
- So there's a match, they're related." The older man nodded and stood up, ready to leave now that he had what he'd come for.
"- You should think about getting some sleep William. How long has it been since you've been out of this lab?" he challenged.
"- You too, Annette." He added as he passed the woman to reach the exit. The scientist rubbed the back of his head with a sigh.
"- I'm about to have a breakthrough.
- That's what you said last time." Wesker replied wearily.
"- Albert wait!" As he stood at the laboratory door, the captain stopped and turned to find the shorter man standing in the center of the room, nervousness and fatigue making him look older than he was.
"- Uh..." the man scratched his head again, a nervous tic when he knew he was in a delicate position.
"- You'd have to take care of Sherry-
- No." he cut him off without letting him finish. The other man looked pleading.
"- Please Al, we're not far from a major breakthrough! We need to stay in the lab at least a few days!"
- And Annette can't handle it?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.
- I need her here.
-Then get a babysitter.
- Certainly not!" frowned the man. From the corner of his eye he could see that Annette was following the conversation attentively, pretending to read the report in front of her.
"Look, we're not asking you to take her to the park, you don't even have to look after her! You just pick her up from school after your shift, she eats and sleeps at your place and that's it! Annette put her to bed before she came, you pick her up tomorrow morning and that's it." He turned to the young woman. "We'll make it up to you," she added. Wesker rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses before turning back to the door.
"- In that case, you shouldn't have had children." he grumbled. "So that's a yes?" asked William, a hint of optimism in his voice. Wesker grunted in response and threw over his shoulder.
"- I'm not doing it for you." The little blond's smile widened "You like her, don't you?"
"- I just want to see the G virus completed as soon as possible." he replied with a smirk before leaving the scene.
Instead of going in the direction he'd come, he headed for the facility's private subway. He still had to stop off at Arklay to pick up his samples.
The next morning, Wesker got up earlier than usual. With less sleep, Jake had been more difficult, but in the end they'd managed to leave the house on time. He wanted to arrive at the Birkin house before Sherry was up, so she wouldn't panic when she found the house empty. Albert had no doubt that she'd been alone for hours before, but waking up without one of her parents when Annette had been there the day before might scare her. Besides, they'd have to take time to pack a bag for her. Once there, he helped the boy out of the car and, seeing how sleepy he still looked, decided to carry him on his hip. He didn't want to have to drag him behind him, and the child leaned against his shoulder, drowsily. He opened the door with the spare that William had given him when they were training and stepped inside. The soft light of the first rays of dawn gave the home a false welcoming feeling. Wesker laid a half-asleep Jake on the sofa and glanced at his watch. It wouldn't be long before the girl's alarm went off. Shortly afterwards, he heard the buzzing of the device and the girl appeared on the staircase. The girl rubbed her eyes when she saw him.
"- Uncle Albert?" The man hated it when she called him that, and he knew it was the Birkins' fault. He'd been surprised the first time he'd found out, but had decided to let it go. He had no time for William's childishness, and a familiar nickname remained an easy way to gain a child's trust.
"Mommy's not here?" Asked the young girl as she joined him.
"- Your mother's gone to work. I'll look after you for a few days." Without further questioning, Sherry turned to go get ready when he stopped her.
"- I need you to pack a bag with some things, you're coming home." The little Birkin nodded and went back upstairs to do as she'd been asked. Wesker moved to the sofa to wait for the girl, and Jake took the opportunity to snuggle up to him again, clutching his uniform in his hand. Wesker usually changed at the RPD in the early hours when no one was around, but he had wanted to save as much time as possible this morning for his detour to the Birkins'. Without paying any attention, he placed a hand on the boy's head and waited.
About twenty minutes later, the little blonde reappeared dressed with her school bag and another, larger bag. "I'm ready."
Wesker stood up and picked up Jake, "I'll buy you breakfast on the way." He informed her as he retrieved the girl's bag. He saw her blue eyes widen in surprise when she saw the little boy in her arms before smiling with joy.
"- Who's that?
- Jake." The girl couldn't stand still as they walked out of the house.
"- Is this your son?
- Mh." Was the only answer she got before climbing into the car.
A week with a new dynamic had passed. Things hadn't changed much from what had been established with Jake. He'd added the blonde's school to his morning circuit and had installed another bed in Jake's room. As it happened, the girl had been delighted with this arrangement, more than happy with the company of another child. For his part, Wesker was becoming impatient as Birkin was slow to come and collect his daughter after the deadline of a few days had passed. He'd gone down to NEST the day before to make his displeasure clear to them, and faced with the parents' lack of reaction, he'd threatened to abandon the girl by the side of the road, which only provoked a laugh from the man, surprising him. "If you do that, she'll be taken to the station, and then she can tell how her uncle Albert who's a policeman abandoned her. How long do you think it will take them to make the connection?" Faced with the blond's provocative snide look, Wesker had lost patience and grabbed him by the front of his blouse.
"- You have until Wednesday to come and get her." With that, he headed for the door before stopping.
"Obviously you don't know the murder rate in the area. A lost little girl would be a prime target." And he was off.
He emerged from the memory when there was a tap on his office door. "Come in." Redfield appeared in the doorframe.
"- Hello Captain!"
- Good morning." He replied in a drawling voice, the contrast with his subordinate's good humor clearly visible. Chris took notice.
"Am I disturbing you?
- Yes, make it worth your while." Faced with his superior's cold response, Chris seemed to calm down. Wesker hadn't been particularly busy when the younger man had struck, but his situation with Birkin had put him on edge. His captain's cold welcome had made the young man a little more nervous about the reason for his visit.
"- Uh, I wanted to know if you'd already organized the team duty for Easter Monday? I heard Marini say he'd already done his for Bravo so..."
The man turned to the calendar behind him. It was Friday and Easter was this Sunday. Shit. He must have already prepared this a while ago so he searched his notebook and was satisfied to see that everything was indeed already organized.
"- You're part of the permanence Redfield. And inform Miss Valentine that she is too." The blond saw the surprise on his pointman's face.
"- But Captain, Claire's coming back to town this weekend and I wanted to take her to see the parade." Wesker rolled his eyes behind his glasses.
"- I've granted Barry his leave, you just have to make arrangements with your remaining teammates, I don't care but at the end of the day I want two names and that'll be final." He saw the dark-haired man smile again and was about to leave when he twitched.
"- Two names? Usually you volunteer for shifts on holidays.
- Not this time. Get out." Without waiting, Chris left the office. As soon as the door closed, Wesker sighed and threw his sunglasses on his desk before rubbing his eyes. Now he realized that because of the deadline he'd given William, he was going to have to deal with Sherry as well as Jake during his time off.
The weekend passed slowly as Wesker worked on the files he'd brought back with him. The weather was fine, so the children were out playing in the garden, leaving him to work in peace and quiet. In any case, the house was big enough for him not to be disturbed by their presence when they were inside. They had just finished eating, and the man was putting away the files he'd been working on over the weekend when two tornadoes ran up to him at full speed. Both were smiling conspiratorially.
"- Can we go and see the Easter parade?" asked Sherry, trying to coax him with puppy-dog eyes as Jake jumped up and down in anticipation.
"- No" he answered them bluntly, the young children looking at him with shocked faces.
"- But we didn't even have chocolate yesterday!" The little blonde tried to plead. Wesker frowned, making his blue gaze harder. He wasn't wearing his glasses with them, they'd scared Jake and he'd decided to take them off so they could learn to live together more quickly. "Grow up Sherry." She tried to glare at him, but quickly turned her head away and walked out of the office, holding Jake in tow.
Several quiet hours passed as the blond continued his work when the phone rang. He didn't bother to look at the caller as he answered.
"- Yes?
- Captain? We've got a problem here at the office." It was Jill. At the mention of a problem, he straightened and focused on the conversation. What kind of problem required him to be called in on his day off?
"We've got mh, two kids who say they know you and-
- Coming." Wesker cut her off before hanging up. He was about to tear his hair out. He ran to the garden to check, only to find it empty. He swore under his breath before retrieving his keys and heading for his car. He retrieved his spare glasses from the glove compartment and sped off. He arrived at the station in record time and didn't bother to enter the underground parking lot, parking in front of the station. He hurried out and climbed the steps before entering. His entrance attracted the attention of the receptionist and Officer Branagh, who was talking to her. The latter tried to call out to him, but the captain paid him no heed as he made his way upstairs to the STARS office. He opened the door, and the sight that greeted him made him lose all patience as all eyes were on the newcomer. Chris was leaning against the wall, coffee in hand, not far from his sister sitting at a desk next to Sherry. In another chair not far away was Jake, with Joseph leaning against the desk next to him. It was a nightmare. What he'd wanted to avoid until now was happening and he couldn't stop it. Before anyone could speak, the door opened behind him again and Jill entered. Finally it was Chris who decided to explain the situation.
"- Captain, we found them at the Easter celebration with Claire and they looked scared and lonely. When we asked them if they'd got lost, they explained that they'd run off on their own and knew someone at the police so we brought them here and that's when they told us about you." He nodded as he processed the information and went to open his office door, removing his glasses with his free hand. He looked sternly at the two fugitives and motioned for them to enter the room. The pair hurriedly complied, aware of their guilt, and lowered their heads as they passed the blond man. The latter followed them in quick succession and closed the door behind him. The officers exchanged surprised and shocked glances, and before they could wonder if anyone knew what was going on, they heard their superior's voice through the door of his didn't even have to strain their ears to understand his words, and all were astonished by the man's level of anger, something they'd never seen in him before. They even heard the girl's trembling voice as she tried to apologize, while the man lectured her on the dangers of her act of rebellion. As if the situation wasn't tense enough, Chief Irons decided it was the right time to appear and burst into the office.
"- Where's Wesker?!" he barked at them.
The latter chose this moment to reopen his door and Irons almost pounced on him.
"We need to talk. You're coming with me." he demanded. He glanced behind the man and frowned further.
"- No. I don't have time for this." Faced with this refusal, the chef became even more annoyed and redder.
"- Fine, then we'll do it in front of your subordinates. I don't want to see another one of your brats in this precinct, or I'll take care of it myself." The man had punctuated his words by pressing his finger against the captain's chest, and it took the utmost calm not to twist his wrist for daring to touch him. Seeing the look of pure hatred on the blond man's face, who had no intention of looking away, he left the room, slamming the door behind him, startling a few people in the process. It was Joseph who finally broke the silence.
"- Wow, that was intense.
- Captain, I didn't know you had children." Chris chimed in, voicing the thought that had been plaguing him ever since they'd brought the little ones with them.
"- She's not mine." He saw fit to point out, wishing he could say the same about Jake.
"- Yes, that's what she explained to us," Jill added. "You know," she continued, "they told us they'd just wanted to enjoy the party and eat chocolates, so maybe you'll have to-
- I'll pass on your parenting advice, thanks Jill." He cut her off. Surprised by the interruption, the young woman's mouth dropped open wordlessly before she fell silent. Wesker ushered the children out of his office, and they could see the little redhead's red, tear-swollen eyes as Sherry tried to hold back hers. He mumbled some thanks for bringing them and grabbed the youngest's hand before leaving the office. No words were spoken as they made their way through the station to the car, where Wesker realized he had melted chocolate on his hand, Jake's being covered in it. He swore under his breath before quickly wiping it off and heading for home.
The rest of the evening passed in stony silence, the children too guilty to dare make a fuss, which didn't bother Wesker. He went to bed with them and, instead of going down to his basement to work on his samples, found himself too tired and decided to go to sleep. He was about to switch off his bedside lamp when he heard a knock at the door before seeing the handle slowly lowered. Jake pointed to his red head as Albert sighed, rubbing his face. They were going to be the death of him, if they didn't drive him crazy first.
"- I'm afraid to be alone." He explained, the fear in his eyes letting him know it was directly related to the day's events. Then he saw that Sherry was right behind him. Wesker wanted to say no, because he didn't want to have to put up with them at night when he was already spending the day looking after them, but he also knew what would happen if he refused. They'd have nightmares and wake him up in the middle of the night, ruining the sleep he desperately needed to assume his duties the next day. He looked at them sternly to make them understand the terms of the agreement.
"- Don't make a habit of it." And with that, they nodded before climbing up to join him. He turned to extinguish the lamp and, after letting them settle in, welcomed sleep with open arms.
Over the next few days, things went back to normal, although the duo were calmer. They finally reached Wednesday, and a knock at the door in the evening surprised him as he worked on his reports in the living room to keep an eye on the two children. He got up and opened the door to find a Birkin with eyes even more rimmed than the last time he'd seen him, his slumped posture only making the fatigue that was weighing him down even more visible. He stepped aside to let him in. Sherry quickly abandoned what she was doing when she saw her father and threw herself into his arms. Wesker thought he was going to topple over under her weight, but he held on.
"- Has Uncle Albert treated you well?" he asked snidely as the little girl pulled away a little to get a better look at him. "Probably better than you." Wesker muttered to himself. She simply nodded with a smile and let her father get to his feet.
"- Thanks for taking care of her." The young man began before being interrupted.
"- Is your breakthrough successful?" The young man started scratching the back of his head again.
"- It's complicated. "he began.
"- So that's a no." Wesker hardened his expression and forced him to meet his gaze.
"Don't think I'm going to play babysitter every time you think you've made a breakthrough." he clarified. William merely nodded in understanding. Wesker saw him tilt his head as he looked behind him, his anxiety giving way to surprise. The blond followed his gaze and saw Jake playing on the floor. When he turned back to Will, the latter was looking at him quizzically.
"- What's that?
- Jake." he replied. Birkin seemed satisfied with this answer and didn't ask for more, which may have seemed a disconcerting reaction but wasn't to the older man's displeasure. He would surely hear more about it later, when the other man had regained some lucidity after his prolonged time locked up in his lab, sleepless. Without further ado they left the house, and when they were gone, Jake called out to him.
"- Dad, is she coming back?" He asked, his little face full of hope.
"- Of course." He replied, not wanting to have to comfort the child if he started crying, mentally wishing that he would never have to find himself in such a situation again.