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"this" is talking
'this' is thoughts
this is radio/phone calls
this is documents/letters
"this" is Aconite speaking into the Hive Mind
'this' is Krauser speaking into the Hive Mind.
Aconite and Leon watched the reunion of the President and his daughter with smiles, Ashley sobbing into her father's arms as President Graham held as tightly as he could.
Aconite spotted a man in the President's entourage that made her skin crawl and General Haddock.
To the latter, she gave a warm smile and wave; the General has become a friend in the six years she'd know him, that he returned.
To the former, she bared her teeth, her green eye like ice as by this point she'd got her hands on a replacement eye patch to cover her crimson one.
The man in question was, in Aconite's mind, a snake.
His name? Derek Clifford Simmons, he was a high ranking official. At first glance, he was just a typical politician.
But with her investigation at the President's behest, she knew the man belonged to an organization known only as the Family, and that he was trying to get his hands on Sherry.
Aconite had left subtle threats over the years of what would happen to him should he even touch a hair on her head, but the man apparently thought this organization would protect him because he still tried.
She was waiting for the moment he tried because she'd consume him in an instant, orders to capture him be damned.
Simmons noticed her look and sneered, adjusting the lapels of his suit as President Graham turned to them.
"Agent Kennedy, Agent Wesker, thank you," he stated, his eyes filled with gratitude that words couldn't express.
"Just doing our job, Sir." Aconite and Leon said in unison, giving a salute.
President Graham shook his head, knowing that the pair would refuse any praise.
"Mr. President," Simmons called out, causing the man to turn to him.
"Yes, Mr. Simmons?" he responded as he turned to the man, Ashley standing beside her father, looking nervous, having picked up on Aconite's dislike of the man.
"About the subject, I was speaking to you about," Simmons started only to be cut off by Aconite,
"Are you still going on about placing my Godsister under your 'care' Simmons?" Aconite hissed, folding her arms across her chest.
"I wasn't talking to you," Simmons sneered only for Leon to growl at him.
"Watch your tone when speaking to my partner." Leon rumbled, sharing Aconite's distrust of the man. Only a select few knew that they were engaged, mainly the Raccoon City survivors and the President.
"Simmons," Graham began, stopping the man's retort, "I will not terminate Ms. Wesker's rights to Ms. Birkin, she has more than proven that she can handle the responsibility of being an agent and care for Ms. Birkin."
Simmons visibly fought the urge to huff in annoyance, Aconite not helping when she smirked at him.
"I was just thinking that it must be difficult for the child, considering that Agent Wesker is constantly away on missions. It can't be healthy for Ms. Birkin to be alone all the time." Simmons simpered, making Aconite bark a laugh.
"Sherry is never alone; when I am on missions, I arrange for several people to stay with her. Staring with my partner Leon and moving through a list of several others. And she's not a child; she's eighteen." Aconite glowered as she turned to President Graham.
"Sir, shall we move to the debriefing?"
"Yes, let us move to my office." the man confirmed, dismissing all but his guards as they made their way inside.
Aconite had never been more pleased to see her and Leon's house after the six-hour debriefing.
They lived in a modest three-bedroom, two-bathroom house close to the private school Sherry attended.
"Do you think Sherry is awake?" Leon asked, looking at his watch to see it was 9 pm.
His question was answered when the front door flew open with a blonde missile impacting his chest, knocking him to the ground.
"Aconite! Leon! You're back!" Sherry squealed, the eighteen-year-old rubbing her head into Leon's chest for a moment before tackling Aconite, though they remained standing due to the tyrant bracing herself.
"Sherry," Aconite greeted, wrapping her arms around Sherry and buried her nose in the blonde locks.
"Did the mission go well? Was it a biohazard?" Sherry asked, looking up at her sister, who smiled.
"Yes to both, but it's over now. Was everything okay while we were gone?" Aconite asked as Leon got to his feet, going inside with a fond shake of his head.
"Yep, I finished all my course work for the next two months again. I think my teachers are getting frustrated since they don't have an advancement program. It doesn't bother me, though, since I get more time to follow my hobbies."
Sherry started with a shrug as they joined Leon in the kitchen.
"Oh? Do you want to sign up for college courses?" Aconite asked, knowing that Sherry had inherited her parent's brains. Aconite had offered it before but told Sherry that it was her choice.
Sherry had chosen to remain with her own age group but often found herself ahead of the class.
"No, I like having the extra time, lets me enjoy life and all that. I've picked up sketching, so the time allows me to go out and explore. Oh, that Simmons guy showed up and tried to convince me to go into protective custody."
Sherry mentioned as she retrieved her sketchbook to show them, making the couple tense.
"Simmons was here?" Leon questioned in outrage, Sherry nodding as she flipped through the book.
"Yeah, Claire was here and told him to get lost. I wouldn't have gone with him anyway; I don't trust him." Sherry confirmed as she found the page she was looking for, passing the book to Aconite.
Aconite looked down at the image and smiled; it was a sketch of Claire who was asleep on the couch.
"Be careful; I wouldn't be surprised if he tries something sneaky. I have no proof, but I suspect that his 'Family,'" Aconite began as she flipped through the pages, "has connections to Umbrella."
"Right, I got that feeling myself," Sherry muttered as Leon made his way around the kitchen, starting what looked to be stirfry.
"Well, Simmons aside, you gonna explain what happened with Krauser?" Leon questioned, glancing over his shoulder at his fiancee, who nodded.
"He's alive."
Leon whipped around to stare at her, dropping the pan in his hand.
"What?!"
"I got the urge to do something from my virus, so I took him away from the blast zone an infected him with my virus. He's my Evolved now, and answers to me alone."
Aconite explained, taking her eye patch off while Leon picked the pan up with a sigh.
"Okay...why didn't you say that in the briefing?"
"Because I don't want them to know. Leon, I've always said that I'm not infectious, and I make sure it stays that way. Yes, only Graham knows it's my choice and not fact, but I don't want anyone knowing I just saved an enemy."
Aconite sighed, looking at him thoughtfully.
"It makes sense Leon, with the Hive mind she can send Krauser on missions, no one would look for a deadman after all." Sherry piped up, knowing that they'd tell her everything tomorrow.
"That, and killing him would have killed you inside Leo," Aconite grunted as Leon cooked dinner.
"I...cannot argue with that statement." Leon eventually said, digesting the information.
"Anything else you didn't tell me yet?" Leon asked, making her nod and pull out the letter, setting it on the counter.
"My father had Ada give me this." She said, causing Sherry and Leon to look to the letter, then to her, then to the letter again.
"Uncle Albert sent it?" Sherry whispered, remembering her honorary uncle with both fondness and apprehension.
"Yep, had a few talks with him during the mission too. Once when Leon and I were separated, the other when he fought with Krauser. I'll read it, and probably burn it." Aconite huffed, getting up to assist Leon.
"What do you think it's about?" Leon inquired, making her shrug.
"Who knows, probably something about his apparent worry he still has for Chris and me," she said, though she wasn't sure.
"He probably does Nite, we may be on opposite sides of Bioterrorism, but that doesn't mean he can't care. You want me to read it with you?" Leon offered, making her shake her head.
"No, I'm going to go read it in our room, get changed, and take a shower," she stated as she briefly hugged him before grabbing the letter and walking out of the kitchen.
The master bedroom was simple, filled with ebony wood furniture, the queen size bed taking up most of it.
Sitting on the bed, she opened the letter and began reading.
Aconite,
I hope this reaches you and that you are willing to read it.
"No need to worry about that bit," Aconite smiled.
Ada should have left it at your current residence or, directly to you, if she was caught.
Do you have to kill my messengers? Yes, they're all mercenaries or criminals, but still.
"No, I couldn't figure that out."
To be honest, I've been unable to obtain much information on what you've been up to since the destruction of Raccoon City.
"Not surprising, since I've gone out of my way to eliminate my paper trails."
I've heard rumors that Chris and Jill are founding an organization to combat Bioterrorism, are you involved? I believe it's called the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance.
Aconite paused at that, astonished that her father heard about the BSAA since it was just in the beginning talks. It seems he really was looking after them.
It's a good idea, for all that it'll put many plans in jeopardy. Let alone that Chris will be in constant danger.
For all I've done, I still care about both of you, Little Star.
"So you say," Aconite mumbled, it wasn't that she didn't believe him when he made these claims, but his betrayal cut deep.
I have another reason for contacting you this way.
"No, really, shocker."
I can't quite recall if I told you, but shortly before we founded S.T.A.R.S., I had a short-lived relationship with a woman by the name Sofia Muller.
"No, you didn't tell me that, though she did teach me how to play the piano."
She was a brilliant woman, but I didn't value what that meant.
"Just like you didn't value Chris and me."
She was the one to teach you piano if you recall. She possessed true, unmatched talent, that was undeniable. We went our separate ways though, fortunately for her. She returned to her home country of Edonia.
"Why do I have a sudden bad feeling?" Aconite questioned, barely noticing Leon enter the room and sit beside her.
"He ran the poor woman out of the States?" Leon joked, resting his chin on her shoulder, making her jump.
"Leon, what about dinner?"
"It's done, but seriously, he ran your piano teacher out of the States."
"It wasn't that Leon, it was family, even says that here,"
She'd been in the States for educational purposes but left after our relationship ended.
One of the reasons for her leaving was family, but I discovered more.
The most important one was that she was pregnant.
Ice ran through Aconite's veins, her virus shifting nervously.
"Pregnant?" the couple said in unison, looking to each other before returning to the letter.
Without a D.N.A. test, one could debate if the child, a son, is mine or not. Certainly, I doubted he could be mine, as I was under the impression I am sterile.
"Wesker's sterile?" Leon questioned, looking to her for confirmation.
"Yes, or at least, that was what he was told. When I found the information on Project Wesker, I figured that it was true."
"Told?"
"I don't remember who he said told him, but I know it happened before he took me from the lab."
"Huh, interesting," Leon muttered as the pair turned back to the letter.
But I have seen photos of the boy, and he shares too many features with me to dismiss the possibility, not to mention the timeline.
Aconite, I confident I needn't tell you what this means if Sofia's son is mine.
Aconite shuddered as the implication registered, a similar look of horror on Leon's face.
In your mind, I probably have no right to ask this of you, but...
Little Star, please, we both understand what would happen if the wrong people learn of his existence.
I cannot involve myself; it would be a death sentence to the boy. Currently, he is twelve, and I have been unable to risk further investigation.
But you, with all that I do know of your current status, could.
Ada has informed me you seem to be a secret agent, is that what you're doing now?
I wonder who you're working for, whoever they are, they keep the connection well hidden.
I wish you well, Little Star, you and Chris. Take care of yourself; I love you more than you realize.
Sincerely, Albert Wesker.
Aconite sighed as she set the letter down in her lap. It looks like she had a mission for Jack already.
"What are you going to do?" Leon asked, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a black shirt for himself and shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt for Aconite from their dresser.
"I'll have Jack look into it; no one looks for the dead man after all." Aconite decided, walking into the bathroom with her clothes.
"Want me to join you?" Leon questioned from the bedroom, hearing the shower turn on.
"Not now, no time to play Leon. Go eat." Aconite called out, stepping into the shower and purring as the warm water pelted her skin.
"Jack, you there?" she called into the Hive Mind, opening her side of it.
'Yes, what's up?'
"Where are you?"
'Still in Europe, why?'
"Got a job for you already. Need you to look into something for me."
Surprise and curiosity filtered across the bond, a tone of eagerness lacing it.
"Ada gave me a letter from my father when I ran into her in the castle."
'What's it got to do with this?'
"I need you to look into an old acquaintance of my father and I's, a Sofia Muller. She's in Edonia, may take you a while as I don't have a clue where in Edonia. You'll see the reason why I'm asking you to do this if you find her."
'O...okay? I'm on it then.'
Closing her side of the bond, she enjoyed her shower for a while, carefully working the tangles out of her hair.
'Maybe,' she thought as she looked at the pile of shed white hair, 'it's time to cut it. Getting kind of heavy.' she pondered, a crick forming from the weight of her knee-length hair.
"It'd be a shame to cut it thought," she muttered as she stepped out of the shower, looking in the mirror.
She was proud of her hair, being her most defining feature save for her eyes.
"I'll ask Leon what he thinks." She decided as she got dressed before leaving to join them in the kitchen.
Leon greeted her with a smile and a full plate, kissing her cheek, before moving to shower himself.
"Leon," Aconite called out before he got far.
"Yes?"
"What do you and Sherry think of me cutting my hair shorter. Not too short, but maybe to my lower back?" She asked, making them stare at her in horror.
"No." Sherry hissed, she loved Aconite's long hair.
"I like it as is, but if you want to then it's your choice," Leon said reluctantly, wondering where the question came from.
Aconite nodded at the answers, "I'll think about it more. Enjoy your shower."