DISCLAIMER - I do not own RE or any of the affilliated aspects mentioned in this story all rights go to capcom

Rachel King however is my own and totally not just a thinly veiled extension of myself...because that would be sad.

oOo

"It wasn't your fault you know" the voice announced from a dark corner, about ten feet from where he was sitting on the crossbar of the weight machine he had been furiously working for the past fifteen minutes.

Chris looked up, muscles burning and chest heaving, disrupted from his brooding rage by that voice in the darkness. He stared into the gloom, taking a few seconds for his eyes to adjust before he could really make out any details of who it was he was about to give a lesson in learning to read peoples moods; as they didn't seem to notice that his currently screamed 'leave me the fuck alone'.

"I saw through the feed – looked like it went to shit pretty quickly over there?" It sounded more like a question than a statement, but Chris would be damned if he was going to answer it, he was content to continue to stare silently at the now visible figure of Rachel King. The woman had turned up two months earlier, with her likeable personality at odds with her (in his opinion) frankly shady agenda. She had been working in close proximity with both him and his entire team all the while she had been in the base and yet they knew practically nothing about her, Chris resisted the urge to yell at her, scream for her to get out and not come back. Only his curiosity at why she thought it was her place to be here during one of the lowest points of both his career and personal life cooled his rage a little. She was also sitting atop a piece of equipment, but she wasn't breathing heavily or sweating like he was, she hadn't been exercising then. She might have been here before him and in his grief and anger he hadn't noticed her sitting there observing him- and now she was poking him for a reaction? What the hell was this woman playing at?

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"If it's any consolation I can't imagine anyone else would have done any different in that situation". The one sided conversation ended and a heavy silence filled the room and hung between the two for what seemed like an eternity but in reality couldn't have been more than a few seconds. Rachel shifted on her seat – not because she was uncomfortable where she was sitting or due to Chris' unwavering stare – but so she was now facing the man straight on. 'What does it take to get a response from this guy?' she thought to herself in the silence. This couldn't be the first time he had lost some of his team in the field, actually she knew for a fact that it wasn't – but perhaps now wasn't the time to share this little insight.

Taking the opportunity to once again size up the man who had managed to pique her interest more than anyone else in the base she couldn't help but once more be both impressed and, under the current circumstances, a little alarmed by the sheer size of the man. Heavily muscled and standing at around six foot two, Chris was certainly built to be a fighter. But his intimidating size was offset by his personality – Chris wasn't prone to anger, which was little comfort at this precise moment because if she was being honest he was pretty terrifying in the state he was in. She wondered again what the hell had possessed her to follow him in here after what he had just been through? But then she remembered why: Chris was kind, Chris was funny, and he was everything everyone should ever be and more. That was why he held her interest and attention and that was why she had followed, with the hope of easing some of the grief and guilt he would be feeling in the wake of the death of six people under his command. 'Not to mention the state the rest of the world would be in if we all break down now' she told herself, 'it cant all be about him - you're trying to save the world here remember?' but truth be told she felt he needed someone, anyone to lean on right now. Especially because of the gruesome betrayal it had been. Holding his gaze she continued to talk.

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"They'll get her Chris, there aren't that many places she can go that the BSAA or someone who works for them won't find her. It's probably not that helpful but I've sent out some feelers of my own too…" Rachel continued to talk but he wasn't really paying attention. Just listening to the sound of her voice comforted him somehow, it was soft and smooth – the novelty that was her British accent had not been lost on him or any of the team for that matter. Neither had the silky blonde hair, the green eyes that never seemed to miss a thing or the cool, confident way she carried herself in every situation. Even now, confronted with his mixture of rage and grief she didn't look alarmed, her voice didn't shake – he had to give her credit for that. He was well aware of how frightening he could be - he just didn't like to use it where it wasn't called for. He didn't want innocent people to be afraid of him. He didn't want her to be afraid of him.

Chris felt his rage subsiding just a little, he relaxed his grip on the equipment in his hands and his knuckles slowly returned to their natural colour rather than the white he hadn't realized they had been. Looking up he once again found her eyes locked with his, he knew why she was here. They didn't have time for Chris to fall into a state of solitary grief and self loathing at not having been able to save his men. Rachel was right – they had been blind sided, no one could have known they were going to be ambushed, that Ada would use his team as cannon fodder to get her to safety and the turn those who had survived – had protected her – into the monsters they had been sent to kill.

Chris needed to get a grip, in an effort to gain some control of the situation he stood suddenly – not missing the quick flash of surprise and perhaps even fear that flashed in Rachel's green eyes. He felt bad that he had purposely scared her but also pleased to have discovered that something could rattle her cool demeanor, even if only for a second. He also noticed she had positioned herself with a large piece of equipment between them, whether that had been a conscious decision he wasn't sure – she didn't seem to have noticed even if he had.

oOo

The sudden movement from Chris startled her; she had half thought that he hadn't actually registered her presence at all. Nevertheless, the sign that she had managed to get through to him she took as a positive one. Anything was better than stony silence surely?

"I know ok? I know it's not completely my fault" he said, his voice thick and gravelly with emotion and receding anger. 'Finally he speaks' Rachel thought with an inward smile, but this was a small victory to be celebrated later, everything they had been working for and against would come to a head sometime in the next few months. They needed the best and Chris was one of them. If a pep talk was what he needed then that was what she would do, they would lose more people before this was over – there would be time to grieve for them afterwards. Assuming there was an after.