Can We Keep Him? (Wesker & Co./Invite)

Wes was dazed and confused after everything that happened that day. They had certainly not gone all this way just for Wes and his brother to be homeless again. Not to mention Bishop was frustrated and just…stormed off when everything was said and we had to leave. Maybe Wes did something to make him mad...? Maybe Wes didn't do enough to fix it? Heaven knows. He wandered aimlessly, dragging his feet through some quieter streets mulling it over way too much.

He originally intended to have a nice meal indoors with a family member who actually believed that life was worth living even if you had a quirk. The nerve of this guy to tell us that it wasn't worth it after months on the road and across miles of ocean...

Regardless, there was no use dwelling on it. Even if he probably still would for days afterward. Instead, he tried giving himself a pep talk for once.

>>“One thing at a time, Wes. What would bro tell you to do?"

>>"Dude, you gotta steal some food. All by yourself, Wes. You're well equipped to handle something like this. Just get it done, so you can rest and hide somewhere nice and I'll find you once I vent some steam out of my system!"

The imagined version of his brother's advice was right. He really needed food. Bishop would want him to figure things out on his own until someone familiar caught up with him again...probably.

He began to use his newly found focus and observation skills. Luckily, it didn't take him long to shake the rust off. Delivery truck. LOTS of bags of food. Middle school lunches. Very understaffed...Maybe he could actually get away with this!

The food delivery vehicle was parked quite far from the destination school and still had a lot of boxes to go. What food were they moving?...if he was a fox he could probably smell exactly what was...

>>"No. My powers create nothing but problems. I can't do that again. Not alone like this..."

He observed discretely from the adjacent block, sitting down at the empty bus stop and scratched his head anxiously. He stopped to look again as the food was loaded by a single individual, operating the dolly while on his phone back and forth in a very slow manor. It took him minutes to come back to the truck after each load at the rate he was going.

His stomach rumbled.

>>"Well...I've never been caught before doing similar things. All I have to do is get in position and then Bishop will..."

His stomach rumbled more, appropriately interrupting that thought process.

>>"Bishop won't be here. You gotta be on your absolute best if you don't want to get caught. There's no safety net. You gotta get in and grab something small and inconsequential that no one will notice is missing."

His stomach was much too eager to converse with him at this point. It almost interrupted his mental train of thought.

>>"And the best way to do that...is to be something small and inconsequential that no one will notice until the food's missing."

Would he REALLY be doing this again? Wasn't there any other option? As a matter of fact, there was, but they would all be very unreliable in the position he was in. Being recognized by witnesses, even if he got away with it, would make it difficult to feel safe anywhere at all. He stands out way too much. The thought of being on the lamb again made him feel physically nauseous. The thought of getting caught and separated from his brother never to be seen again made him feel even worse. If he was so doubtful that he could steal anything cleanly without his brother around, there was only one way to do it without becoming a picture on a wanted list...or worse. He had to use his quirk again.

>>"It...it will be okay. You can handle this...right? No one will even be able to catch you or understand why you're even there in the first place! Besides...foxes have smaller stomachs. You'll have even less impact on their meal this way."

With that he stood at the edge of his seat and watched for the coast to clear. Bishop usually grabbed the clothes he'd leave behind, so he had to leave them behind around the corner. Luckily this area wasn't as foot-traffic heavy, and he found a time to take his clothes and tie them up in a shirt bundle, placing it up inside the branches of a tree, and then activated his quirk.

Maybe his clothes would still be in that alleyway when he got back. Though it was doubtful, Wes was feeling lucky this time. He ran out on all fours with a mission. The chemicals in his brain reminding him of his hunger as a human were nothing compared to how he felt as a hungry fox. He HAD to have some. Do or do not, there is no try.

Another dolly was moved onto campus grounds and the truck was left unattended once again the moment he jumped into the back. It seemed like what was stocked in middle school lunches in Japan was much higher in quality then he would have ever expected...because absolutely everything was more then just a passable meal. Did he mistake this truck for a restaurant delivery vehicle? The symphony of wonderful smells made it hard to decide or concentrate.

>>"Wes, just DO IT already. You don't have all day."

Like the soprano voice in the scent symphony, the smell of chicken sailed high above the rest in angelic fashion. This would HAVE to be his target. He jumped over a few cardboard boxes and located the ones with bags of chicken. As he less-then-carefully tore open the box with his teeth the prize revealed itself. The bags were small enough that even a fox like him could take it "to-go". After checking to see if the coast was clear, he snatched the tied end of the bag with his teeth carefully and took his leave.

Wes' heart pounded, and his mouth watered profusely as he quickly trotted away from the school. It was a proud trot…but the sound of yelling behind him ignited the fear he needed to floor it. Paws hit the pavement with amazing speed as he zigzagged through the streets and foot traffic. Wes prayed that no one would pay enough attention to go after him or try to stop him. If Bishop had been there, things would have been different...right?

The bag started to tear...He needed to take a detour around the back of a convenience store where hopefully no one would see him. Still...he felt like there was eyes on him. Did someone get curious enough to try following? He wasn't entirely sure. No one could be seen as he nervously clutched the bag tightly, but a few strange background noises here and there could have been evidence to the contrary. It was hard to say. His exceptional hearing was next to useless with his heart pounding so loudly in his ears.

Drool caused the tearing bag to fully slip out of his maw completely and onto the ground. Whatever made him paranoid at that moment was immediately forgotten. The smell of chicken instantly spread into the air and Wes could do nothing else but engage himself completely in the raw meat. He was a slave to his hunger, his nose and his teeth. But he quickly accepted his fate in carnivorous bliss bite after bite. For the first time in 2 months, Wes couldn't have been more thankful to have his quirk to help him. Maybe being a fox wasn’t quite as bad as he made it out to be. It least during these few minutes of indulgence he could manage some self-assuring thoughts, while the moment lasted.

deltra of gangnam style

Before he could completely process what was happening, all 4 paws were quickly lifted right off the ground. The partially chewed piece of chicken dropped out of his mouth and his teeth began to resurface from a sizable sea of drool. He had the chance to quickly vacuum up a decent chunk of food in that brief time, but he was certainly not full yet and every part of his body was itching for more food.

He had never been lifted up like this before. As he dangled barely off the ground by his neck hackles, it was somehow even more difficult to move his legs. Another unknown force cradled his stomach but also used some finger strength to more strongly assure that he couldn't get away.

>>I've never been...picked up...like this before. I'm...too small to run away like this. Dammit...this quirk never helps me do ANYTHING right, does it?..."

Once the nutrients from his recent meal began to soak through his body more thoroughly, his brain could finally start to absorb all of what was happening to him. He was grabbed by one of two...very strange...people. Were they actually people? Wes saw in his peripheral vision that they both had some kind of plant hair and freckled green skin. And somehow... they smelled uncomfortably like mushrooms and dirt, more intense then anything he'd experienced before. Had the two of them not said a single word to each other either this entire time? Not to mention, they were...wearing mushrooms...? But still, there was more to worry about then these people's strange appearance.

He was being PICKED UP by someone he DID NOT KNOW.

A COMPLETE STRANGER.

He tensed up even more. This was definitely not what he had in mind when he stressed about being caught for stealing. He was restrained AND outnumbered. It probably couldn't have gotten any more hopeless. The fox began trying to turn his head around and bite his unseen handler, but nothing seemed to work. Hanging by the scruff of his neck was exactly where they wanted him and there was no way to reach either hand with his teeth to fight for an escape route. As the other one suddenly kneeled down and got incredibly close to his face, an intense and primal fear in Wes caused him to try even harder. Fight or flight. Growl-barks fell out of his quickly snapping jaws and his limbs flailed in an attempt to either appear vicious or find an opening to escape, whichever came first.

The other one did not flinch whatsoever and began to smile wider, holding a piece of chicken in front of his face. The hands of the first one were still solidly clutching the skin above his neck and his minuscule body weight from below with full strength.

Wes felt his stomach sink in dismay as he hung there thoroughly helpless and confused. His nose proceeded to sniff quietly at the food dangled in front of him, but all of his previous drive to eat more had already left his body. Adrenaline still brought him waves of energy, but there was no other way he could think of to use it all. His lungs worked hard still as his breathing continued, heavy and quiet. The smell of the two of them steadily intensified the longer he was trapped with his sensitive nose so incredibly close to them. In an overwhelmed state, he tried desperately to reason with himself.

>>"Okay...they may want to capture me but they haven't hurt me...yet...Should I turn my quirk off? I really can't do any better if I don't at least have claws and teeth and a run speed to match. I really need my clothes back...This is just hopeless. Bishop, where are you?...I could really use your help, bro. There has to be something I can do. There's nothing I can do. What do they even want with me?...How did they find me? Am I really that slow? Does this really have nothing to do with the chicken I stole? Is there anything left around here I can use to get away from them?"

Wes' eyes darted around a bit in his surroundings. But he couldn't find anyone around or anything he might be able to use to help his situation, even if he turned his quirk off and tried to surprise them (and inevitably humiliate himself in the process). He had been too skilled at locating a relatively hidden street corner to feast undisturbed. So undisturbed, in fact, that no one even seemed to be around to hear the commotion he had caused previously. It wasn't looking very good for him. Still, he tried to listen to his own reason. Or at least, what his brother would probably say to him if he was there...maybe.

>>"One step at a time Wes. Just conserve your energy. You're too freaked out to eat out of a stranger's hand or even out of mine right now. Maybe since they tried to feed you it means they'll take the food you stole with them? Maybe they have more food you can steal later when you get away? Just...see how this all goes first. And keep looking for any opportunity to escape; don't give up on that no matter what. Sure, I might be far away. And sure, I might not find you for hours...but I'll find you eventually. That's what I do. You can certainly keep yourself alive until I find you, right Wes? Keep remembering who you are until I come back for you."

His body continued to twitch and his anxious energy buzzed through his muscles. Who was he kidding? There was too much he just didn't know. He had many different thoughts about how to potentially remedy the situation, but could hardly focus on any of them. He was stuck, mentally and physically, from any action whatsoever in his light panic. He hated the idea, but he just had to wait and see until he had a chance to try to get away. No freaking out like some helpless wild animal. Just conserve your energy for when it matters...

Who was he kidding? When would it even matter that he conserve his energy in the first place? These two were thoroughly prepared to capture him without uttering a single word to each other...

>>"I'm such a f**k-up...Where are you, Bishop?..."

deltra of gangnam style

These two plant...sisters?...seemed to occasionally look each other in the eyes once in a while but continued to never say a single word. Perhaps Wes might have heard a few gasps of excitement here and there? Or maybe his mind was playing even more tricks on him...In his state of adrenaline, stress and disorientation, it was very hard to fully distinguish reality. It didn't make the situation he found himself in any easier to read, certainly.

Being carried like this was a strange feeling for him, and definitely a first. It was all a bit chaotic as everything flew by. But as the day turned to afternoon Wes felt more and more like it was just a not-so-glorified car ride with all the windows down. How long had they been running after the two grabbed him? It didn't really matter at this point. The unexpected travel time was a chance to slow his breathing just a bit and try to think clearly. Maybe he'd wake up from this nightmare if he closed his eyes for just a moment...

In the dark of his eyelids, it was surprisingly easier to absorb all the various city noises buzzing around him. but at the speed his surroundings went by, it was hard to stay focused on any in particular. Only a distant splotch of background noises. And hardly anything other then effortless breathing from his captors, as usual...

"It's like being kidnapped by a cloud", he thought to himself, mostly half-asleep by now.

The wind whistled through his radar ears as he waited for a chance to be anything more then just a helpless supernatural kidnapping victim. But something distracted the fox before he fell asleep completely...something was off.

He opened his eyes and looked down.

>>"There isn't a single sound of footsteps while they're running this fast?! Was there some sort of toxin left in that bag of chicken or...?"

Wes began to realize that these two girls were basically born to get away with stuff like this. Getting away might be just as impossible as he had thought at first, when trying to bite them was proven completely useless. And the more the fox pieces together escape scenarios in his head, the more he felt his options quickly diminish.

>>"These girls are putting me to shame...I can't run on 4 legs nearly as quietly as they can on two legs...and they're both more then twice my current size..."

His ears pulled back in anguish.

>>"I can't do anything right in this body as usual...and if I don't find the right moment to change back I might start to hit my limits for real...I can't let myself get trapped in some fox-sized cage or I'll never have room to change back...and then..."

He stared off into space through an unending supply of confused and unaware city dwellers as he pictured himself stuck like this forever. He tried to forget what it was like after his quirk first activated, how much reminding he needed to recall that he was ever human in the first place...

The light crowds were barely able to turn and look at the scene passing by. Maybe they were running too fast to even get a read on what exactly was going on. No one would try to stop these two at this point.

>>"I need to find clothes somewhere...anywhere...I could be arrested if I change back right now. I have no idea where I am...no idea where we're going. I don't want to be arrested like a pervert and questioned for days. They'd probably hate quirk-users from the get-go... they'd probably just arrest me to put me directly in jail or ...maybe they'd try to deport me...and then Bishop would just be here alone as if I abandoned him a second time..."

His stomach growled again, loud enough for everyone involved to hear.

>>"Damn...they didn't let me finish my chicken. I haven't had that much food in front of me since the yacht ride..."

Drool started fluttering out of his mouth in the wind. Wes probably got a decent amount of slobber on the plant-girl's hand and arm, but he hardly noticed. He sighed heavily but continued to breathe fast and quiet against the greenish fingers supporting his small rib-cage. His eyelids were undeniably heavier then before.

>>"I guess...I should be glad that they haven't killed me yet. If I...could only leave a...trail of bread crumbs for my brother...then I guess...I'd just eat all the bread. If...I'm gonna be found dead and unrecognizable...somewhere, at least I'd...have a full stomach...There ya go Wes...now you're...really...thinking like a fox..."

Wesker's thoughts trailed off as sleep quickly and tightly grabbed hold. Too much had happened to him that day to stay awake anymore, no matter what he tried to do to stop it.

deltra of gangnam style

The poor fox boy had a fitful round of sleep that afternoon. There were a collection of sudden movements from his captors dodging pedestrians and jumping around obstacles in their way that jerked him into consciousness frequently. But no matter how much he tried, Wes didn't have the energy to fully awaken again; his body wouldn't allow it. Considering everything that happened over the last few days, he hadn't eaten or slept nearly enough to do anymore then fall asleep time and time again. The Atkinson's plan for a roof over their head and a new family member in their life fell through and winter was hitting hard already. Hardly anytime to sleep over the last 24 hours...not to mention struggling his way towards a decent meal resulted in...all of this. Mental and physical exhaustion gripped his body and mind tightly.

The feeling of being trapped in a chain of events filled Wes' fever dreams as well. He had off and on snippets of laying out in a field of tall grass, in fox form and unable to switch his powers off. Other foxes in the blinding sunlight kept approaching him through the expanse claiming to be his family, speaking in the same voices as his mother and father. But there were tens of them milling about, and EVERY single one either sounded like his mother or his father. He tried to call out for Bishop or his real parents, but the only thing his mouth would bark were phrases like: "I'm so glad you came back"..."Thank goodness I found you"... and "let's go home together".

One of his "Dads" went up to him saying: "Gimme a call when you need me and I'll tell the mobsters to go away so you can go home. I just know they got the wrong kid." The other fox handed him an earpiece, bloated in size to fit in his large radar ears. Wes yelled out in panic:

>>"No! Please, they'll kill you if they found out I'm related to you! They can't EVER find out we're related!"

Wes lunged at the ear piece and bit down hard. He felt his teeth sink down on the plastic device, and to his surprise, solidly through his Dad's paw.

His body jerked awake and the fox found himself laying down on a bed. A...surprisingly comfortable bed, and he had bitten down on a wad of sheet fabric. He pushed the wad out of his mouth but didn't rise from his position.

>>"Oh damn, this bed is the most comfortable thing I've sat on since th-"

His ear itched and he took his back paw over to scratch it. The mushroom was kicked at, but didn't leave the girl's determined grip. Wes' stomach quickly sank as the situation presented itself in front of his eyes. He had 1,000 questions and hardly wanted an answer to any of them.

>>"You almost shoved that entire thing DIRECTLY into my ear holy F*CK! Get away from me, you weirdos! I have no goddamn clue what's happening here but I'm OUT!"

The fox's ears pulled back in fear and disgust and with his tail between his legs. His limbs flailed in fear until he collided hard against the headboard. The pain forced him to stop for a second and awakened a bit of common sense, for perhaps the first time in over 24 hours. He recollected his thoughts, slowly at first.

>>"Okay, okay, okay...okay. Just breathe, Wes. They're strange and alien and they're doing weird stuff but...they have chicken. It's not trash chicken; it's actually cooked. You aren't in a cage. They might actually be trying to help...maybe. Just...talk to them, and eat some more so you can think straight."

He scanned the situation just a split second more. On the floor to his left, there was a ton of loose clothing. Wes was desperate to be able to communicate and finally be human-sized again. So without a second thought he lunged for the floor, shoved his muzzle into the bottom end of the first shirt he could find, and turned his quirk off. Markings under his fur gave off a light glow, then dimmed as his body quickly reshaped itself to a human-sized Wesker. Like he often did when turning back to human form, he was already partially enveloped in an article of clothing to save himself a slight amount of grief and self-consciousness. The difficult part was getting his arms through the arm holes.

He struggled and flailed his arms for a few moments but managed to get the shirt on--backwards. It more then fit him, which saved him any more embarrassment then he'd already been through so far that day. Still short of breath, he went from his hands and knees to a sitting position, knees to the floor, and spoke English for the first time in more hours then he cared to remember. His thoughts filled themselves in like a maxed-out printer queue.

>>"That chicken smelled like heaven on earth but please stop being silent and creepy and trying to shove that thing in my ear. I really don't know where I am, who you are, where my brother is, or if the chicken I haven't had a chance to finish digesting is going to hurt my stomach because it was never cooked and...well...I'm not gonna lie, I absolutely need more food or I'll probably collapse again...so I won't run away...for now. As long as you let me recover, and eat some more. Is that gonna work out for you?...Is...that what you want?..."

He gestured with his hands that he wasn't armed and lowered them to indicate 'I'm calming down' with his body language. Although his mind was anywhere but relaxing as he waited nervously for a response.

He took this moment to realize that it was no guarantee these two knew how to speak English. Or anything at all, for that matter. He was outnumbered, but maybe he wouldn't have to fight anyone off and could get something resembling an explanation if he took things more slowly this time. But the other half of him seriously doubted it would be that easy. He'd either fight or beg in the state he was in now at this rate. It was all so up in the air. He'd already let his brother down enough with everything else that happened today. In Wes' eyes, there was no way to prove himself this time. Being left alive, hands behind his back and forced into fox form in a cage for some kind of weird entertainment value was the only Plan-B he had room for in his pessimistic lizard brain.

deltra of gangnam style

Wesker's heart skipped a few beats when a firm footstep made way inside the house. He could hear the resonance through the floor. And from the looks of things, the other two weren't so thrilled either. What type of thing could people like them be frightful of? After all, they could probably bite a finger clean off if they wanted to...so what was there to be afraid of?

He thought for a moment.

>>"...Oh gosh this must be family. Some sort of mushroom-creature parental figure is going to burst its huge basidiocarp through the door wondering what's going on...if he was found out, that is."

Another part of his stomach dropped at the thought of needing to use his powers to hide. How many more times was this going to happen? Just when he wrote himself a mental ultimatum that he shouldn't recklessly use his powers and be left helpless to some sort of unforeseen circumstance, it again seemed like the best option. There was another way, right? There had to be another way...

He heard the person speak in a low, confident voice. Through the wall, the voice was just as foreboding as he pictured it would be. Lower tones of a person's voice are always more prominent when heard through house walls, after all.

>>"Hello?.... Girls, are you back?"

Wes quickly scooted back until his hands hovered over the circular handle space in preparation to slowly open the closet's sliding door and rush inside on a moment's notice. The girls both sprung into action as if they've hid things from the deep downstairs voice in their room a bunch of times before. After one of them squeezed outside the door with the whiteboard, the other gestured to the fox boy that he shouldn't talk or he'd get found out. He mentally measured the situation a bit more.

>>"That doesn't make this very easy...I was hoping to hear their voices and communicate how to strike a deal, or have one of them go locate Bishop for me if I did something for them...anything to improve my situation...but now..."

Wes became more aware of the lack of clothing he had and how much less excited the twins looked the moment they saw him in human form.

>>"Even if I had to be a fox again for the rest of the day...it certainly wouldn't be as humiliating as being found in a room with two girls, wearing one of their t-shirts... and nothing else..."

The thought of any kind of success using his quirk seemed like an easier option when compared to the much worse option of trying to hide as a human in this situation. His intentions would be completely misread...A mushroom monster might not take any kind of explanations.

Even if this time, his adrenaline didn't scare him into it. Wes making the choice himself, or at least thinking about it that way helped him deal with the microscopic strands of pride he had left. His powers got him out of a jam chased by a rival gang and...well...at least it kind of helped. Bishop did most of the work as usual, but... Wes got pretty far off of powers and adrenaline that day. Now, Wes had the luxury of using his head this time!

...but still he wasn't entirely sure of his own logic. It could always get worse. He could still get trapped somewhere...it was a gamble either way. So he waited to dart into the closet, hand silently on the handle...waiting to either hide or change forms. It was hard to really know what to do as the mystery man stomped around downstairs.

deltra of gangnam style

MADE BY MINNIE OF FTS & GANGNAM STYLE