My heart leapt as a gentle knock at the front door reached my ears. Quickly I leapt up and sprinted towards it and tore it open.

I stopped dead in my tracks as my stomach jumped to my throat when I saw his face.

'Ella'

7 Months Earlier

I clutched my "Welcome Home" sign, it would be any moment when he would walk through those metal sliding doors and he'd finally be home. My heart was racing a million miles an hour; I could barely keep my patience or rather impatience at bay.

When he called me to inform me he was on his way home I practically broke down, it had been weeks since I had last heard from him and any day in between them I was waiting for someone else's voice on the other end of the line informing me of his death.

He was alive!

However he sounded so broken over the phone, he tried to conceal the grief in his tone but I knew immediately that something terrible had occurred during this mission. I didn't press him, it seems selfish now but at that moment all I cared was that he was safe, everything else came second.

People surrounded me as they reunited with loved ones while others were here on business or vacation, walking by and hurrying along trying to get out of here as fast as they could.

The grind of the sliding doors sounded and out he stepped, still in his BSAA gear, minus the bulletproof vest and button up shirt and instead dressed down to military pants and the green Henley the wore underneath the uniform.

He looked utterly exhausted.

I let out what was between a laugh and a sob, feeling the immediate sting in the corners of my eyes as tears promptly formed and rolled down my cheeks.

'Piers' I managed to choke out. He looked over to me and he himself broke into a watery grin. I jumped over the short railing of the greeting bay and threw my arms around his neck, sobbing into his chest.

'Hey…hey' His soft voice cooed above me and I tilted my head upwards and looked at him.

'I'm home, no need to cry'

I smiled and nodded as I tried to pull myself together. His lips met with mine and I eagerly responded to him, sighing into the kiss, a sigh of relief.

This was real and he was home. I pulled away reluctantly, fingers resting upon each of his broad shoulders.

'Let's go home'

A soft smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

'Please'

He laced his sturdy fingers with my slender ones, picked up his suitcase in the other and we began to depart for the exit.

We were fairly quiet on the ride home. This was fairly normal when he'd return home from tours. His hand was still firmly grasping mine, I hadn't pulled away and I suspected if I made to he wouldn't have allowed it anyway.

His hazel eyes were trained on the road and his other hand gently gripped the wheel. I leaned back into the passenger seat of our large four wheel drive and sighed once more with content.

He looked over and smiled, bringing my hand to his lips and pressed them softly on my knuckles.

'It's so good to be home'

'It's good to have you home'

He smiled once more, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. I could see the pain that reflected back in them. Once more I didn't press him, he'd tell me in his own time. Our rule was no talk of work on his first day back.

'I'm sorry I missed your birthday' He muttered sadly, his eyes were now back on the road.

I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

'Don't be-'

'And Christmas and New Year'

'You had no choice, as long as you come back home I'm happy. That's all that matters'

His brow furrowed slightly. He was angry with himself, typical. Always blaming himself when he had no reason to be.

'I'll make it up to you'

'You're alive, there's nothing to make up for'

This tour was different from any other he'd returned from, he'd never been so serious coming home. He'd witnessed death and he'd handed death out like candy on orders, he knew what he'd signed up for. Something horrific had occurred this time around.

'We'll get through this'

He looked over at me in surprise then gave a sad grin. He knew he couldn't keep anything from me for long, if at all. Not that it was hard. At work he was guarded, clear headed and ran on pure instinct, adrenaline and orders. Whatever it took to get the task at hand done.

In the privacy of home he unintentionally wore his heart on his sleeve. I felt flattered, as only a very select few in Piers' life was allowed to see him with his walls down.

'Let's get home first'

I nodded in agreement and closed my eyes. I felt relaxed for the first time in two months, two months that seemed like an eternity.

The soothing sway of the car in motion has ceased and I opened my heavy eyelids as he switched the engine off and unbuckled his seatbelt. We were finally home, I looked over to the front door and smiled; knowing this time I'll be entering it with him once again.

I stepped out of the car and fumbled within my small backpack for the keys and unlocked the door. I walked in first and held the flyscreen open for him as he hauled his luggage inside and then swiftly closed the front door behind him.

When I turned he was facing me, almost staring me down.

Without a word he pinned me against the door and crushed his lips against mine. His actions were hungry and possessive and I immediately melted into him, just as eager in my response. My palms ran over the hardness of his chest and the softness of his hair. His musk was intoxicating and I simply couldn't get enough. His hands in turn roamed my body; he was not gentle in his touch. He lifted me up and locked my legs around his waist; he turned as we stumbled into the bedroom.

I collapsed atop of him, our heavy pants filling the bedroom, our bodied slick with perspiration as we recovered from our raw and emotional reunion of intimacy.

I went to roll beside him but he held me in place, still within me. I looked down at him as we panted in unison. He grabbed my chin and leaned upwards to briefly brush his lips over mine, before closing his eyes and resting his slick forehead to mine exhaling heavily.

'You alright?'

'I am now'

His hands on my hips tightened before sliding up my back and resting at the base of my neck.

'I love you, so damn much'

'I love you too Piers'

He sighed again

'Promise me, promise me I'll never lose you Ella'

I pulled back slightly and looked at his almost desperate expression.

'I'm not going anywhere, I'll always be here. Promise'

He seemed content with my answer and pulled me into another brief and breathy kiss.

I pulled away as a sly grin formed over my lips.

'You know, there's a nice juicy steak just waiting to be cooked in the fridge. Your favourite'

He laughed

'Add an ice cold beer to that and we're good to go'

'Waiting right beside that big juicy steak'

'How did I deserve you?'

We both laughed as we untangled our limbs from each other and slowly made our way to the bathroom.

After a long shower and pulling on fresh clothes I began to prepare dinner, sipping an ice cold cider as I chopped up the vegetables. He tried assisting but I told him to sit his ass down and let him catch up on TV shows he'd missed.

As I cooked I couldn't help but throw frequent glances over to my partner, my everything. I couldn't stop myself from grinning wildly.

He was home.

3 Days Later

I woke up in darkness.

I looked to the digital clock on my bedside table;

3:19am

It wasn't unusual for me to wake up during the night and I simply rolled over to press myself against Piers but I rolled onto cold empty mattress. His side of the blankets were pushed back. I sat up immediately and turned on the lamp beside me, the room was empty save for myself and the bathroom light wasn't on. I stood and pulled a flannel dressing gown on and walked into the dark living room.

Empty.

I walked into the equally as dark kitchen and saw his broad silhouette hunched over the small countertop. As I neared the stench of bourbon filled my nostrils.

'Piers? You ok?'

He turned and stood.

'Babe! I'm sorry if I woke you'

I shook my head.

'No, you didn't…what are you doing out here? And bourbon? You barely touch anything harder than beer'

He sat back down and threw his head back, draining the tumbler of liquor before setting it firmly on the counter with a loud thud. I walked straight over and wrapped my arms around him, he just sat there his face in his hands.

I straightened and went to turn the stove light on and filled the kettle, readying the coffee. He usually took his black but he occasionally enjoyed cream when he was upset. I mixed in a teaspoon of sugar and set the mug in front of him and placed the tumbler in the sink before clumsily climbing atop the counter and settled cross legged and ran my fingers through his hair.

'Want to talk about Edonia?'

I gulped down the remnants of my third coffee when he let out a finale exhale.

He'd unleashed everything that had happened. The effects of the new virus taking over the small European country, losing the majority of the team and leaving his Captain Chris Redfield in a critical condition in a hospital in Austria.

Piers having pulled him out single handed to safety while being hunted by new and more powerful species of B.O.W's;

Heroism can really come at a price.

I had met Chris Redfield quite a few times now. He was a charming albeit intimidating unit of a man. He was very polite and caring of the men in his charge, I could see why Piers absolutely idolised the man. As many times as I tried to tell him he denied that he too could be on the same tier as Captain Redfield someday and could possibly take his place someday as he was already his right hand man.

Now I could understand why he had been so out of place since he'd returned home. The BSAA said they would inform him as soon as the Captain was discharged or…anything else. Yet still no word and I could see why he was practically losing his mind with worry.

I looked down at him from my perch on the counter; he'd sobered up by now and his fourth mug of coffee had been drained.

'I'm so sorry you had to go through that, but Piers. You're a goddamn hero. I know you don't feel like it but you are. I know you've lost men and I can't even imagine to know how painful that must be, from what I understand they become your family too. You'll get through this and I'm sure Chris will too, they said they'd call you for any news good or bad. He's still recovering too, the call will come'

He nodded wordlessly and he placed his large hand on my knee. It was searing hot but it was comforting.

'I'm here for you'

'I know…thank you'

'Thank you for trusting me with something that must be incredibly painful and difficult to talk about'

He gave a small smile and stood, placing our mugs in the sink before walking up to me to pull me into a kiss.

'Let's go back to bed hey? I'm exhausted'

I nodded, taking his hand as he helped me off the counter-top. I blanched and almost fell over. My legs were limp and filled with pins and needles from sitting in the same position for so long.

He caught me and we both broke into a fit of giggles.

Once in bed he lay his head on my chest as I cradled him in my arms. It didn't take long for his breaths to grow long and steady, indicating that he'd fallen asleep and soon my own eyes closed and my lids grew heavy.