Does She Even Care?

Ada was watching Steve as they walked down the blank mindless halls once more. A stare she gave that usually meant that she knew what he is thinking or she was wondering what was about to happen prior to her interruption between Steve and Yumi. Steve gave a double-take glance every time he had noticed her staring at him. A soft gentle cocky smile half-closed eyes darted at him. It was a bit of a sassy look that came from Ada. Steve was getting annoyed and was about to speak but she does first,

"So, have you had any memories come back to you?" her voice was gentle, but her stare had not stopped

Steve shook his head softly, "Just bits and pieces. I know I was in a prison for a while. A month-long maybe? It's pretty hard to know just by..." he stammered some. "I dunno. it's difficult to know everything just by bits of memory," he scoffed, annoyed for this needing to be so complicated.

Ada's stare killed the grin as she saw how irritated he looked over this. Finally, her stare broke as her eyes then faced forward, "Trust me, I wish things were easier for you. You were thrown into this."

Steve shook his head in disagreement, "I can't know that for sure. Not until I remember everything." Steve spoke stern and cold. It was clear he was not going to like remembering anything from the space between being at home and being here. Ada sighed softly.

Steve then noticed something a bit odd. he did not exactly recall this hall that they were walking in. "uhh, where are we?" he spoke concerned to his surroundings. the halls sure looked like everywhere else inside this hell-maze but this place was unkempt compared to the halls where people live, sleep and study.

Ada smiled softly as she then turned to a door and opened it, revealing a pretty spacious room with a bed and some spare clothes and a desk. Steve was a bit of a dunce, unsure of what the point of coming here was for. She stared at him and gave an exasperated sigh, "It's your new bedroom. I dusted and cleaned this whole room for you to sleep in an actual bed."

Steve's eyes widened a bit, shocked that Ada was even willing to take the time to do something like this. Steve scoffed in light disbelief, "Ada... This is awesome," he took a few steps in as he lied through his teeth. If he said that he was fine in the infirmary, Ada would have probably snapped at him telling him off and would give him the silent treatment for the rest of the day and act moody on the next. "Thank you so much for this."

"You suck at lying, kid" Ada chuckled out, to which Steve froze up, then sighed. "It's best to not try to hide from me, Steve. Learn to lie before you lie to the double agent," she sighed and looked a bit frustrated to his response. she was clearly hiding her anger. "So what's not to like?"

Steve turned to look at her and could see the visible frustration in the expression she was giving, "Well..." he needed her calm before he spoke anything. "For starters, I really dislike being away from everyone I can't trust," he joked.

Ada stared at him in disbelief, "Oh, the people who you cuddle with on a bed is someone you don't trust?" she teased before she nodded solemnly, "Got ya'."

Steve gave a look that showed he gave up in trying to be nice. His whole body became more defenseless. His arms hung and he hunched more naturally as he stared over to her, "Fine! I like the infirmary. It has water and food nearby and I like the company! ok?"

Ada scoffed in frustration. She did not care about arguing. Steve could tell that she was mad, probably because she had cleaned this room or had someone else clean it so Steve could have a place to sleep. She gave Steve a look of discomfort before she turned and gestured him to follow her, "I'm going to be starting a mission tomorrow. I need you and Jason to look over the facility while I'm gone," She walked out of the room as she spoke. Her heels clacked and echoed down the pale tile halls.

Steve paused all motion to those words. He was not expecting this type of punishment. For Ada to leave them on their own while there's a chance the whole facility might have already been compromised by the BSAA. Steve then recalled her visible fear when Jason said it was the BSAA that was after them, "...You're running..." Ada's feet halted as she stood there. She didn't turn to look at him. "That's it, isn't it?!" Steve's voice rose as he left the room, "You can't face these BSAA people, so you're just gonna' run?! Abandon ALL OF US?!"

In a flash of motion, Ada Tackled Steve. His body shoved to the wall of the hall. Steve audibly grunted in slight pain. Her hand and arm pressed to his shoulder as she whispered in gritted teeth, "Those people have a crazy hard-on for people like me to end up dead or to never see the light of day. Personally, kid, I very much enjoy my freedom and I plan to keep it firmly in my hands instead of some insecure government that watches over the world! I told you before. Don't expect me to always be around."

Steve had his head and eyes lowered. His eyes at her cleavage but he was not focussed on it. He just did not want to look at here eye to eye. She had yet to prove herself to him that she is a good person. All this time, he felt like he could trust her, but she clearly has her own agenda to attend to. I'm just not involved with the agenda, it seems... "Freedom you earned?" his voice quiet but stern. Steve stood over her while she had all of her weight on him. Her expression of anger slipped. she had fear in her eyes. She kept attempting to push Steve as he took one step after another. Her heels slid on the tile floor, "Unlike you, I have made friends here. People I can trust and people who care for me."

"Ya, people who want to use and experiment on you. They protect you and treat you kindly, cus they know you are not exactly human," Ada looked angered and shocked. Ada was no pushover. She knew how to take anyone down, she had never met someone willing to show her that they are stronger than her, not in her face, at least.

Steve did not want to take her bullshit this time. He needed to show her he is stronger than she thought, "At least those lies are full of kindness, while you just throw us to the dirt to help you run faster. This is why none of them would take your side, Ada! You're a coward!" he barked at her as her body pinned to the wall. The nerve she has to accuse me inhuman. Hypocrisy at its best! Steve's eyes flared in the deep orange hue as he glared into her eyes.

Ada snapped as her fist cracked onto steve's face, "I'm a survivor."

A sudden pain stung the bridge of his nose as he stumbled back. His hands covered his mouth as he grunted. Blood poured and pelted the tile floor. He could feel his broken nose immediately heal itself. He knew he had no time to let it heal it's own. He pinched the bridge and squeezed until it was back in place. a loud pop was heard when it healed and he let out a soft cry.

His eyes squinted as he wiggled his nose to make the pain pass faster. His eyes opened. Ada was gone. He peered around before he confirmed that she was nowhere in sight. Steve stood there as he just realized what he did. The one person who was on my side is who I chose to give an attitude... great work, idiot. He gave an exasperated sigh as he slowly walked his way to the infirmary. He then heard a sizzling behind him. Steve turned to see the blood on the ground that Ada spilled from his nose boiled on the ground. He tilted his head in confusion, "Oh, shit. Now what?" The blood then shot up in a hot glow, Incinerating itself until there was nothing but a charred spot on the dusty tile. The look on Steve's face showed an appropriate look of shock and utter confusion.

Steve still did not know much about himself, or what exactly he is capable of. No telling what he can do with everything this virus gave him. Steve's blood is apparently very flammable. For a moment, his eyes were stuck to the sight of his blood sizzling, staining the tile of the floor. The granite shattering and cracking to the sudden shift of heat. The stoned layer underneath charred and smoke slowly rose. The sight of it reminded him of when he and his dad went camping. The fire in the firepit they both made that day was the first time he ever made a fire. Watching the fire burn was relaxing and calming, in a cathartic way. He was captivated to the sight of the natural, small desolation and sighed. Cleary, his emotions were out of hand. He felt as if he needed to make up for it. Apologize to Ada, and make things right with her, if he gets the chance.

He continued his walk and chose to enter the lab. James was there, studying something through the microscope. Steve knocked on the door of the lab and as usual, the man gets startled to the sound and gasped softly, grasping his chest and calmly exhaled. The skittish guy constantly got jumped by the most simple things, "Hey. do you have a few minutes?" Steve spoke softly before he got closer to James.

James gave a nod as he put the microscope towards the wall of the counter, "Of course! How can I help you, Steve?" his faint British voice echoed in the lab

Steve felt his nose. The stinging ceased seconds earlier, "how dangerous is it to have my blood leave my body?"

James took a moment to respond. His eyes focused on steve's as he showed a concerned look, "Why do you ask? did you get hurt? if your blood touched anyone or anything, it needs to be reported,"

"Ya," Steve shrugged, "That's... What I'm doing."

James gave a glare, "And did you report Miss Yumi about your nose?" Steve blinked and then looked around for a mirror. he had no clue how bruised his nose looked, "There are no mirrors here, Steve. If your blood were to leave your body it should steam up and coagulate, your body temperature is significantly hotter than any normal living body but other than that, it should be like any other blood. Why?"

Steve felt a little flustered he did not know his nose still looked broken. Steve walked to the closes Exacto knife and cuts his finger. James gave a look of pure shock and confusion to Steve's sudden action of self-harm. Steve then wiped his finger on a sheet of paper leaving a trail of blood in the sheet. The crimson slowly started to soak into the white of the paper. "Steve! if you wanted me to examine a sample, you could have jus-"

FWOOSH!! The paper then burst into flames. Steve yelped and dropped the paper to the ground and stomped it out with his shoe. A thin layer of blood scented smoked enveloped the air. James was completely baffled to this discovery. Frozen in motion after seeing the rush of fire get stomped out.

"Agh... Sorry," Steve mumbled before he chuckled awkwardly, "I didn't think it would explode like that, but my point stands. How did that shit happen, just now?" Steve checked his finger to see no cut on it. It healed up.

After a moment of silence, James just silently thought to himself. He then rushed over to Steve with a syringe and an alcohol swab, "Give me your arm." Steve did as demanded from the scientist and in a matter of seconds, the needle struck his arm and was drawing blood into the syringe. Steve had a moment of panic thinking the blood would explode the syringe. His eyes shut tight ready for glass and blood to spray everywhere. A moment passed. Then another moment. His eyes opened to see the needle out of his arm and James, examining the deep red liquid in it.

"....James?" Steve muttered with a stern tone. This was Steve's blood and he needed an answer.

"It's hard to explain to someone who barely understands basic anatomy," James spoke out as he then tried to put a drop of his blood on a microscope sheet. Suddenly the drop of blood popped and shattered the thin sheet. James groaned. "I have a theory," he spoke and sighed, "But it seems it may be impossible to prove this theory correct or inaccurate. I'll try to explain it in a way that makes sense,"

"oh, so even a scientist thinks it makes little to no sense" Steve laughed softly. James did not even smirk.

James spoke, "You know what's inside a blood cell, yes?" Steve nodded and James continued, "From what it seems, your blood cells panic when unfamiliar oxygen touches it. The cell's membrane starts heating the outer layer of your blood cells and the sudden expansion causes the blood to ignite into fire."

Steve looked at him like that scientist had lied about being in college and graduated to become a scientist. "So, my blood heats up when oxygen touches it. That's your theory," Steve said with his voice drowned in sarcasm. "I think that is very apparent."

"It's your body, Steve!" James scoffed as he rolled his eyes. he walked back to the counter with the microscope, "If that is everything, I'm a little held up with work."

"What work?"

"I'm trying to figure out if the Las Plagas was a naturally developed parasite, or was a modification of a parasite that already exists," he scribbled something on a notepad before he continued to study whatever was under the microscope.

Steve barely understood a word of what he had said. "Sounds like a Mexican dish... Ok. I'll leave you to it," Steve spoke as he exhaled and walked out.

James thought to himself and sighed. He was not much to talk or even speak up but he clearly just wanted to focus on his work. After hearing that there was a chance that this whole facility was compromised he was already finding ways to stock up all the information he had to give the BSAA. If he could not run, he might as well make things easier.

Steve walked to the infirmary and did not see Yuka in the room. He gave a heavy sigh before flopping onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. He was frustrated at it all still. Ada leaving, his anger not being controlled, people assuming him a monster, being unable to leave the facility, the fact that zombies and B.O.W.'s are in this facility. Steve was just upset that things were going the way they were. He decided rest would probably be for the best, as he closed his eyes.

He did not know how much time had passed but it was enough for him to lose consciousness. Steve Slept there for possibly hours. He did not realize how exhausted he was until just then, as he slept through most of the night.

The door then opened. Steve shot up and looked over. It was a man in a lab coat. "Hello, there! Is there something wrong?" Steve stood up and started walking to the man, "The nurse is out at the moment, but I can check you out if you wish."

The moment Steve had gotten close enough, the man, in a rage tackled Steve. The man's arms wrapped around Steve by the shoulders. The grip was tight and strenuous. Steve immediately caught on.

A zombie!

Steve gripped the man by his shoulders and pushed with all might. The man's body through itself back, with a sickening rip, the arms still clung to Steve as the zombie fell to the ground, armless.

Steve staggered back, baffled to see an undead in the infirmary. another body ran straight into the room with a pistol at hand. Jason aimed and fired at the zombie's head instantly rendering the corpse truly lifeless. The look at Jason's face was fear and anger.

"You ok?" he muttered with gritted teeth.

Steve had cotton mouth. He couldn't find the words so he just nodded as he then grabbed the arms that gripped him and threw them to the ground, making a disgusting splash.

Jason lowered his arm and closed his eyes trying to calm his nerves, "I was watching the cameras when I saw the elevator with someone I've never seen before."

"Wait- Seriously?!" Steve shouted in shock.