Standard disclaimer 1: Everything Resident Evil belongs to Capcom and pals, the rest is mine. Standard disclaimer 2: Before you tell me "No way that happens in real life" when you reach the "Did you feel that?"-point of the story, I'll have you know it has happened. Not to me (duh), but to a couple I knew. So deal with it.
Chapter 1: Umbrella
Hunnigan would've wanted to let the exhausted goddess of vengeance continue her slumber, but she knew she shouldn't. Helena had been asleep almost the entire time since she'd returned from China two days ago with her body on bruises and rocks in her chest, weighing the tired heart down. She was dehydraded, injured in places she hadn't even realized she could possibly injure, hungry, but mostly just... exhausted, emotionally and physically. Hunnigan had indulged her desire to just sleep until now.
She set the tray down on the nightstand and slid into the bed smoothly. Helena lied on her stomach, hugging a pillow that was tucked firmly underneath her chin. Hunnigan pushed a lock of hair aside to reveal Helena's ear and leaned in, softly breathing into it before capturing the lobe between her lips and pinching lightly. Helena's lips curled into a sleepy smile and she let out an approving hum.
"You have to eat something," Hunnigan whispered.
"I know, but just give me five... fifteen... fifty more minutes," Helena mumbled and reached to entwine her fingers with Hunnigan's, pulling the other woman's arm around her and tucking it firmly against her chest.
"Five minutes," Hunnigan smiled, moving to spoon Helena, nuzzling into the side of Helena's neck.
"If someone had told me two years ago that I'd be here today... Well, frankly, I would've called a lot of the recent events bullshit, but..."
"Shh..."
"I don't know what I'd do without you anymore," Helena muttered and turned to face Hunnigan.
"The same thing you always do, you'd figure it out," the older woman said and leaned her forehead against Helena's.
"Well, promise me I won't need to find out."
"I'm not going anywhere," Hunnigan assured and Helena smiled. She then moved lower on the bed, snuggling into Hunnigan's chest and closing her eyes. She'd realized long ago that this was the only place where she felt genuinely at peace and safe.
Truthfully, had someone told Hunnigan two years ago that she'd be here with the agency's problem child today, she too would've been very sceptical. It had been a rainy day almost two years ago when Helena had ducked herself underneath Hunnigan's umbrella, uninvited and without as much as a hello.
"Hunnigan, right? You recommended me for the job."
"Indeed. Your record is impressive despite your indiscretions."
"Heh, I'm glad someone thinks so."
She'd walked with Hunnigan all the way to her apartment building, casually and openly chatting about her life, her sister, her possible transfer to the D.S.O. and how it would be convenient because it would mean she wouldn't need to travel abroad for months at a time like she often had to do while still at the CIA.
"Okay, I realize this sounds like I'm buttering you up in the hopes of talking you into actually hiring me, but I swear I'm just chatty."
"You'd be wasting your time even if you were, I've already let my opinion be known and that's as far as my influence on the matter goes anyway."
Having to travel less would've been nice, she'd wanted to spend more time with Deborah... not that the livewire partygirl Deborah had ever really considered just staying in and hanging out with her sister much fun.
"Well, this is me. You wanna come in to dry off for a while? You're welcome to borrow the umbrella for the rest of the way if you want."
In all honesty, the rest of the way was barely a block from Hunnigan's building and Helena was already half drenched anyway, she could've just gone on... but she'd accepted the invitation. The moment they'd entered the apartment and closed the door behind them, something had... shifted.
"...did you feel that?" Helena had asked and Hunnigan had swallowed hard. She had felt it. She still had no word for it, no explanation, nothing that would've helped her describe the feeling exactly or justify her and Helena's actions... other than pleading temporary insanity perhaps.
"Yes."
Not a second later from her response, Helena's arms had been around Hunnigan, their lips interlocked in a passionate kiss as Hunnigan led them toward the bedroom, leaving behind a trail of clothes as they'd hastily undressed as they went.
Helena was by far the most passionate lover she'd ever had and knowing Helena's temper, it wasn't really a surprise. Less temperamental people were of course safe and easier to deal with, but the cost was passion. Safe as they were, they were often also predictable and somewhat boring, at least as far as Hunnigan could say. Helena on the other hand knew when to flip her around and pin her down, when to bite rather than merely nibble, when to claw rather than merely scratch.
All in all, it was uncharacteristic behavior for both of them really, but especially for Hunnigan and especially since Helena was a potential co-worker. What could she say, temporary insanity was her only defense. One other strange aspect about the whole thing was how natural it felt. There'd been no awkwardness afterward, no regrets either, it all just felt... right. Helena had slowly begun to integrate into Hunnigan's life and vice versa.
Work was work and the only spoken promise and contract between them was that they'd keep their personal lives strictly separate from their professional life. Considering how easily so many people before them had failed at it, Hunnigan had pessimisticly expected things to eventually fall apart because of that, but Helena had surprised her once again.
Helena was a lot of things, but above everything, she was reliable and loyal. If she said she'd be somewhere or do you a favor, she'd be there and she'd do it. Something as simple as "I'll pick you up at location x at time x" didn't seem like a big deal... until you were repeatedly stood up and left to take care of yourself despite someone having promised to be your safety net. For the first time in her life, Hunnigan found herself not needing to make a plan B when the other person inevitably let her down. It had taken a lot of getting used to. As much as she did trust Helena, there was something that bothered her.
"Helena?"
"My fifty minutes aren't up yet," Helena murmured.
"Five minutes, and yes they are. I want you to tell me something."
"Something," Helena parroted dutifully and Hunnigan chuckled.
"I'm serious, you brat," she then said and Helena opened her eyes.
"All right, what is it?"
"When everything went down in the first place, why didn't you come to me? Don't you trust me?"
"Ah," Helena breathed and ran a hand over her face, "It isn't about trust, I trust you with my life, you know that. But you gotta admit, it all did sound kind of far-fetched if you weren't there personally like I was," she explained and Hunnigan nodded slowly.
"And if I'd told you, I would've put you in danger too. I figured I'd... do what I had to and deal with the consequences later, but... I don't know, I wasn't really thinking straight for obvious reasons, but I was just trying to protect you."
"Okay," Hunnigan nodded again, and she meant it.
She sat up and leaned her back against the headboard of the bed before reaching to grab a glass of water from the tray she'd brought with her earlier. Silently, she handed it over to Helena who downed the cool drink, only now becoming aware of how thirsty and hungry she actually was. Hunnigan then handed her the plate with the food on it and Helena quirked an eyebrow.
"A little heavy for breakfast," she smirked as she accepted the plate of lasagna that was getting cold.
"It's six in the evening and you specifically asked for lasagna the last time you were awake long enough to mutter a word," Hunnigan narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her stomach, "If you don't want it, I'm sure Catnip will have it."
"No, it's mine!" Helena pouted, moving to shield her food with her arms and growled a little. Hunnigan rolled her eyes and got out of bed.
"Speaking of, I gotta take him for a walk."
"Have I told you think you have a strange sense of humor?" Helena inquired then, blatantly ignoring good manners and speaking with her mouth full.
"It would be even stranger if I had a pet mouse and I'd named it Catnip," Hunnigan grinned and let out a short whistle. The black and white Boston terrier named Catnip snorted and snuffled eagerly as he scampered toward his mistress, his claws clicking on the floor.
"I bet of you had a cat, you'd name it Fido or Rover."
"Nonsense, I'd just call it Dog," Hunnigan shrugged innocently as she put the leash on Catnip and began heading out with him.
"I dread to imagine what you'd name your children!" Helena called out after her.
"One, Two, and so on based on the order in which they arrived!"