Chapter 13: The Lion's Den

The meeting with Trish and the other BSAA higher-ups seemed to have lasted way longer than normal, but Chris was eager to get home and check on Jill. Trish didn't even have time to say his name after they adjourned; he was out of there so fast. Chris got in his truck and raced home. Hopefully, Claire was there watching over Jill as well. He parked his truck and went inside the house. He found the women sitting together in the dining room at the dinner table. Chris could smell the aroma of chamomile tea coming from the mugs on the table.

"Hon? How are you doing?" Chris asked, coming over to sit next to his wife. He rubbed her shoulders, pecking her on the head.

"I'm feeling better," Jill said. "I just…don't understand what came over me."

"I told you guys to stop eating at that cafeteria," Claire grumbled, leaning back in her chair with arms crossed.

"But I'm fine."

Claire rolled her eyes at her big brother. "Ya because you have an iron gut and can eat anything. Oh! Jill! Maybe you're pregnant!"

Jill slowly shook her head, staring at the steam from her tea rise from the mug. "No…as much as that would be wonderful…I have a terrible feeling it is something else, something bad. I just wish I could figure out what it is."

They were quiet for a moment, Chris still rubbing her back lovingly. They heard the door open and slam shut. Chris got up, old instinct always keeping him on guard even in his own home. As Leon called out to them, he settled back down.

"In here, Leon!" Claire said.

The DSO agent found them in the dining room. He looked just as pale as Jill. They didn't like the look on his face, and he didn't bother sitting down.

"Remember how Evan Fox was at the FSO Headquarters? Well, now it all makes sense. He was getting every single detail from all of us. Chris, Jill, Claire, Sherry, Jake, Rebecca, Billy, Carlos, the Burtons, myself, and Raccoon City. Now what connects us all? What do we all have in common?"

Claire, Jill, and Chris looked between each other, trying to think of the answer. There could have been many answers, but apparently Leon was looking for a particular one.

"Wesker," he said after they were quiet too long. The name made Jill flinch in her condition.

"So?" Chris said, agitated he would bring the name up while Jill was upset.

"Ada was at my apartment, you guys. She told me Albert Wesker is alive! That is what HUNK was talking about! Evan Fox somehow revived him. He is coming for us."

Chris shot up, hot with anger. "How dare you come into my house and spill such bullshit! Especially in front of Jill!"

Claire got up, knowing the two men were going to butt heads. Jill covered her head, hearing the news, whether real or not, upsetting her further and she put her head to the table, feeling her emotions want to rise out of control once more.

"Why would I lie about something like this?" Leon growled.

"Not you, but you actually believe everything Ada Wong has to say? How dense do you have to be?"

"She was serious! I know Ada, and even she would not lie about something like this! Dammit Chris, get your head out of your ass and listen to me for once!" Leon retorted.

"Guys, settle down! Jill is upset as it is!" Claire ordered, walking over to Leon. She put her hands on his chest. "Let's take this into a different room."

Leon and Chris were glaring at each other.

"Get him out, Claire. I'm not going to listen to lies and put Jill through this again."

"I know it's hard to accept from all that has happened to us…to you and Jill, but dammit Chris this is happening! Don't shrug it off. You can't pretend it's not real, he is back!"

"I saw him die with my very eyes! There's no way someone could revive him!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Jill screamed.

They all became silent. Jill was at the brink of crying. Chris felt horrible. He hadn't seen his wife like this since her PTSD treatments years ago. He sat down, grabbing her and pulling her into him.

"Shh, I'm here."

The front door again opened and slammed shut. They heard running footsteps. Claire cautiously left Leon's side to see who it was, only to have Sherry crash into her coming around the corner. She was crying too. She grabbed Claire and hugged her.

"Sherry, what's wrong?!" Claire gasped.

"He took Jake! I couldn't stop him!"

Chris and Leon looked to Sherry at her words, sickness hitting their stomachs now. Leon glared at Chris for a moment and moved over to Sherry and Claire.

"Who, Sherry?"

"Wesker! I saw him with my own eyes! He is alive and he took Jake!"

Jill cried out, Chris had to tighten his grip around her as he held her close. Now they understood why she was sick. She somehow knew her nightmare had reawakened. He was sick now, the glass like security he had finally managed to keep hold on their lives over the years, shattered just like that.

"We have to get Jake back!" Sherry shouted.

"We will, Sher. We will," Claire said softly.

888

He dreamed of a time when he could consider himself a child. How his mom would smack his hands away at him sneaking something they needed from the market and telling him that stealing was wrong. His mother had the most beautiful smile. Despite such an illness that left her with hardly any energy raising a handful of a boy, she was gentle and patient. He loved and respected her so much, he gave up his childhood to become something she needed him to be. Her everything. He was desperate to get the money for the health-care she needed. But by the time he was able to bring enough money home, his mother passed away and left behind a man who was still just a boy with no one or nothing but the cash he worked for.

There was a darkness in him after that. He didn't care for anyone or anything. He could recall what a type of man he was, and where he was headed until fate made him crash with Sherry Birkin. Jake was sure he would have become his father had she not come into his life.

Slowly, Jake's eyes opened. His head burned in pain, it was hard for him to see at first. He felt his senses were out of whack again. He groaned, slowly sitting up to feel it was his whole body and not just his head.

He recalled what happened before he lost consciousness. His father stuck him with something. He didn't know where he was now, but he could only imagine given the circumstances and Jake was sure he was going to have to fight his way out of this one. He would have to make sure they were not holding Sherry first. There was going to be hell to pay anyway, but if Jake found out that his father took Sherry too, well, there would be a lot more hell to pay.

"I'm glad to see you awake. Are you feeling alright?"

The voice snapped him even more awake, recognizing it instantly as he clenched his fists and glared at his old mentor and father-figure.

"Not very bright, Rurik. Do you want me to finish what I started. Or more like what you started?" Jake growled.

HUNK remained still in regular mercenary attire. He still looked beat up from when he and Jake met up last. His arm was in a sling from the break. But the dangerous merc himself wasn't fazed by his former student's threat.

"Now do you understand why I did it?"

Jake forced himself to his feet, feeling sluggish and painful. He shook the feelings from his head, glaring at Rurik across the room. Rurik stood by the room's door. They were in some kind of small infirmary room. There were a few beds and medical equipment around.

"I don't give a shit. You know what you got coming right?"

"Why did you tell Wesker that you got the virus from Alex and not me?"

Jake was taken aback. He hesitated upon answering, but soon his glare deepened. "You think I'm stupid? I knew he would kill you if he found out and I want to kill you myself."

If HUNK was disappointed, he didn't show it. He simply nodded. "I see. Well, here I am. Are you going to finish it?"

"Fuck ya I am."

Despite the pain and grogginess that slowed him, he went after Rurik. The elite mercenary didn't move as Jake grabbed him and slung him around with superhuman power into the opposite wall. The wall cracked and HUNK hissed in pain, but grabbed Jake by the throat with his good arm.

"Stop this, Jake! My only intentions have ever been to protect you!"

"Fuckin' liar!"

Rurik saw Jake's eyes become aglow as he was slammed over a medical table. He kept a death hold on Jake's neck but it wasn't fazing his former student. He felt a strike to his right side and it made him yell out just before Jake grabbed a hold of his throat and completely took off his air supply.

"Don't...let...the virus overtake...you!" he forced.

Jake was suddenly thrown off of him by something much stronger. Rurik gasped for air, having almost felt his life slip away had it not been for Wesker just now. The mercenary slid to the ground coughing hard. He didn't understand why, but he felt more pain to his heart over anything else.

"You stupid kid!" he barked as Jake shook himself on the floor a ways from him. "Without me you would have died a long time ago. I've only ever protected you, even if it meant hurting you. I am sorry Jake!"

"Shut up!" Jake grabbed his head. "Fuck, why do I feel like I want to kill everything?!"

Wesker sighed, standing between them. He looked to the wounded Rurik on the floor. "Get out of here. I told you not to come near him. You intentionally disobeyed me. You are lucky you still have use to me, otherwise I would have watched him kill you."

HUNK did not say a word. He weakly got to his feet and left the room, but not without one painful glance back to Jake, who was still holding his head with a clenched jaw. He could see him battling the virus. Rurik hoped that Jake was stronger than his father and didn't allow it to overcome him.

"If you are struggling with the urges this early, you won't last long."

Jake glared up at Wesker. "Your voice makes it worse."

"The virus knows me," Wesker stated. "It knows you are my offspring. It will start out trying to take control here and there, but soon the urges will come more frequently until you cannot fight it any longer."

"I'm not going to become like you," Jake spat.

It felt like the virus released his mind after that. Jake almost collapsed. He was shaking but got to his feet. His head pounded, but other than that he mostly felt normal. He glared at his father who had an evil, very ghost-like smirk on his features.

"You say that now, but the endgame is always the same."

"What do you want with me? Where's Sherry?"

"Sherry is fine. I imagine she is telling Chris and the others that she saw me take you and that they must come rescue you. She has really changed from the darling little girl I knew her as," Wesker said, sunglasses flashing from the overhead light as he turned to scoop something up from the floor.

Jake's heart skipped. It was the locket he bought Sherry. He hadn't had the chance to give it to her yet. Wesker studied it, turning back to him.

"Your feelings for her are so predictable," he said. Jake couldn't tell if his father was disappointed or amused, but he didn't care either way. "Such is fate, I guess. William and I were like brothers. It only makes sense that our children would be drawn together in the end."

Wesker tossed the locket. Jake caught it easily and pocketed it. He felt a little more at ease after that. He knew he needed to be guarded of his father, but he somehow felt Wesker wasn't going to hurt him, at least not right now.

"What do you want with me?" Jake asked, deliberately changing the subject.

Wesker walked over to him, but stopped a few feet away. "It is quite simple, really. You are mine. You are supposed to be here."

"I don't belong to anyone. Especially you."

Wesker chuckled. "You don't have a say in the matter. And neither will Laura." He turned his back to Jake. "With Alex snooping around, I have to change my tactics. Tell me where Laura is. She holds something that can be used against my half-brother."

Jake felt his throat clamp shut. He clenched his jaw. Again, the bastard didn't even know she was dead. When Wesker turned back to him from his silence, he saw how upset Jake was.

"She's dead, you fucking asshole. She has been dead for years."

Wesker was quiet for a moment. "I see."

He turned back around and walked for the door. The door slid open automatically. He paused in the threshold, and motioned for Jake to follow.

"Come on, my son. There is no reason for you to stay in this room any longer. Follow me."

Jake wanted to argue, but he knew his best chance at finding a way out of here and back to Sherry would be to learn the layout of wherever they were. He hoped that Sherry would stay put until he returned. She and the others couldn't risk fighting Wesker to get him back. He would take care of his father himself. After all, he was now in the lion's den.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. It seems my life has just become so hectic this past year to hardly update any stories. But I haven't given up so I hope you guys will continue to be patient! I plan on uploading Nightfall next. By the way, YES I KNOW ALEX IS A WOMAN. I started this story way before Revelations 2 came out. I beat the game. I have no intention of changing in the middle of this story! Now that we all know, next time I write Alex, yes she will be a woman lol. Anyways now that winter is here, I think I may have more free time to write and catch up with everyone! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and please be safe! :)