The characters from the game belong to Capcom.

A/N:I'm not english native speaker, so you might find some typos or grammar mistakes, I do apologize for that.

Chris looked at his watch; it was sometime around 6:00 in the evening. He collected his papers, grabbed his things and a coat off the chair, and walked out of his office finishing another typical Friday shift. As he took the elevator down to the basement parking, he couldn't help but feel a strange twinge of anxiety and apprehension, and it wasn't because he was claustrophobic or anything. He just couldn't shake off this feeling that something was wrong.

He began to think about his entire day, recollecting every little possible detail that he could remember until now wondering if there was something he left out; if there was some important duty that he failed to perform during his shift that might be responsible for this constant sensation of restlessness. He just couldn't think of anything that he could have missed. His shift couldn't have went smoother; there were no major issues, problems or any sorts of alarming concerns; neither his wife called him about some household emergencies, but still he felt that something very important has been alluding him.

The elevator stopped at the basement and he made his way towards his car, continuing to think on the matter. The only thing that he did out of his schedule was his meet with his wife's best friend, Yana. He had to discuss some unfinished matters regarding Piers and his death. He let out a sigh, unlocking his car and getting in the driver seat, just knowing that the meet he had over the lunch with his late subordinate's wife has been the reason for his uneasiness. As he pulled his car out of the parking lot, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about the meet.

Flashback

Chris was running a little late for the meeting and when he entered the restaurant, he immediately spotted Yana at table near the window at the back of the restaurant. The redhead had also seen him entering, so she waved at him to grab his attention; he gave a nod back in acknowledgment and walked to her table to join her and her son Kyan.

"So, how did it go?", the ginger asked stirring her drink, as he took the seat right in front of her.

"How do you think?", he asked rhetorically, "It was quite annoying as expected", he added with a sigh.

"They didn't believe you!", she exclaimed raising her brows in her concern.

"No, they didn't…", he shook his head.

"So now what?", she asked him, "What are we going to do now?", she showed clear signs of anxiety and fear.

"We'll stick till the end!", he answered with a determined tone.

The woman relaxed on her chair and let out a thoughtful sigh, "I knew it was a bad idea", she looked at Chris intently, "I really fear for him…", she pulled her toddler on her lap, hugging him close.

"Don't worry about anything", Chris assured him, "If anything happens then I'll be solely responsible. Everything is going to be alright."

"And Eva?", she asked in a somewhat distressed tone, "What about her? I don't like playing behind her, and she doesn't deserve any of this!"

Chris couldn't immediately reply and let out a sigh of discomfort, "She doesn't have to know. We are better without her and whatever happened was inevitable…"

"She trusts you!", Yana somewhat revolted, "She trust us! I don't want us to be…"

"We are already too deep into it", Chris cut her off in midsentence, "We will act like how we have always acted, cold and distant. We have to keep this disguise, there's no way around it. I can't risk you and Kyan or my family, and you know you don't have much choice either. We have to make this work! Because this is how things are going to be from now on."

"I know, I just…", she felt a feeling of guilt overwhelm her, "I don't like lying to my best friend."

Chris didn't say anything and took hold of her hand that was lying on the table, and she just smiled softly. He could understand the ginger's sentiments but considering the consequences, he knew what he was doing was right for both him, her and their families.

End of Flashback

Chris snapped himself out of his thoughts, when he saw his house from some distance. He composed himself and tried not to think about the meet too much; he has already come too far and there was no turning back. Yana and he were together in this, something no one could have seen, and there was no denying that.

It hadn't been easy and he was constantly battling against his own conscience, as it warned him against his corruption each and every day, but he knew it was all for good. As more days passed, he was becoming better and better at hiding things and lying if he had to. He was becoming the man who would work in the shadows; a man he never thought he could be.

He knew Evana well enough to know that this detail would never go down with her easily. It was just too much to ask for her. His wife just couldn't understand the situation; she was just too righteous to accept what has been going on. It's not like he didn't love her now; he could still put his life on the line for her and their daughter but he couldn't disregard the bond he had with Yana. They both shared a special and perhaps a twisted connection, something he wasn't really proud of but necessity is the mother of almost everything, and this relationship was no different.

Chris drove and parked his car in the garage and took a few deep breaths, before opening the door and stepping inside his home. It had become somewhat his brand new routine. He put the keys on the key holder by the door and searched his gorgeous wife, who he found to be in their bedroom, playing with their lovely daughter. Like always, she welcomed him with a bright smile, when she spotted him entering the room. He moved towards her and leaned in closer to her face, kissing her lips, before grabbing his clothes and heading for the shower. When he stepped out of the bathroom, the dinner was already set and he sat down to have dinner with his family.

"Loneliness is your only friend

A broken heart that just won't mend

Is the price you pay

It's hard to take when love grows old

The days are long and the nights turn cold

When it fades away

You hope that she will change her mind,

But the days drift on and on

You'll never know the reason why she's gone

Empty rooms,

Where we learn to live without love

You see her face in every crowd

You hear her voice, but you're still proud,

So you turn away

You tell yourself that you'll be strong

But your heart tells you,

This time you're wrong" (Empty Rooms – Gary Moore)

Yana lied awake on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Lost in her thoughts, things had gotten particularly difficult for her since she became a single mother. Kyan was proving to be a problem owing to his strong attachment to his biological father. At times, he would just cry for no reason whilst calling out his father and even though she could understand what was going on her little son's brain but her inability to explain the absence of his father was quite troublesome and somewhat annoying for her.

She turned to her side and couldn't help but see the portrait of Piers and her that was sitting on the bedside table. She lifted it off the end table and stared at it for some time, as if trying to artistically analyze that photograph. She felt an upsurge of anger when she saw that joyous smile on her late boyfriend's face.

"I knew you were trouble!", Yana muttered to the picture, remembering the first time they crossed paths. She breathed out loud and almost slapped the face down on the nightstand, before turning to her back to it and sleep.

Yana's sleep was broken in the middle of the night, when she heard Kyan crying over the baby monitor, "Piers, Kyan is crying", she mumbled in her sleep, not wanting to ruin her sleep tonight. She had been on night duty for so long, "Piers…", she reached out to wake him up, only to realize that there was no one.

She let out a sigh and pulled herself off the bed, and walked to her son's bedroom to tend to him. She changed his diaper, offered him food and tried to put him to sleep but for some reason, he didn't really want to sleep and just kept crying. She couldn't really understand how Piers could make it seem so easy. Kyan would fall asleep within a few moments, when Piers used to put him to sleep.

It took Yana a couple of hours before she could put her son to sleep. She carefully put him back in the crib and almost tip-toed out of his room to get back to hers. She lied down to sleep, extremely exhausted from the lack of sleep and she didn't have too much trouble falling asleep.

(**)

The alarm clock went off at 6:00 am and Yana felt like swinging it across the room, since it felt like she just slept maybe an hour ago or so. She restrained her annoyance and turned off the alarm. She pulled herself off the bed, since she had to start working from today. She walked to check on her son and was glad to see that he was sleeping.

She hurried down to prepare her breakfast and get done with some trivial chores around the house, while her son was asleep because once he wakes up, he'll demand all her attention. Lastly, she went into the bathroom to have a relaxing shower but just when she turned on the shower, she heard her son crying once again.

Yana couldn't help but curse a little and hurried through her shower, then went to attend her son. She gave him a bath and dressed him up, while trying to keep him entertained with his toys and all the silly games she could think of. Somehow in the middle of it all she got herself dressed for the job of secretary in a nearby company.

7:15 AM

Yana pulled up her car to a stop in front of the Evana's house. She almost jumped out of the driver seat and hurriedly rounded off to the backseat. She unbuckled her son and carried him to the house. Just when she was about to ring the doorbell, the door swung open revealing the BSAA agent. They both froze at the sight of each other, and it was obvious from Chris's expression that he was a bit taken aback and bit worried to see her there.

"Morning, Yana… Kyan!", he wished her with a forced smile, "What brought you guys here, so early in the morning?"

"I am just here to see Eva. Didn't she tell you?", she told the man the truth, which made his brow come together forming a frown but before he could say anything Yana spoke a little louder than usual, "Hey Sis! Thank God I have you to save my ass!", looking over his shoulder.

Chris briefly turned to see Evana at some distance and she smiled greeting Yana back, "You girls take care!", he patted the redhead's shoulder meaningfully, "I'll head out to work."

Yana exchanged a brief look with man letting him know that their secret will be kept hidden, before she turned to address to her best friend. Yana handed over Kyan's carriage to Evana and passed on some general instructions about her boy's eccentric habits, before leaving to work.

Evana hummed a random tune she heard on the morning radio, as she tended the flowers in her flower store. She heard the bell of her shop ring and turned to welcome the customer. The tall, blond and fair skinned man walked up to the counter and Evana made walked up to him to attend him. However, when she got near her eyes surprised as she recognized the man, even though he had grown a beard since the last time she saw him.

"Gianni!", Evana spoke in surprise, recognizing the man to be her distant cousin.

"Eva?!", the man recognized her too, "What a pleasant surprise!", he tried to close the distance so they could greet with a friendly hug.

Evana took a step back, not really keen on following his lead, "What are you doing here?", she asked speaking in a very serious tone.

He cleared his throat getting the message clearly, but not really offended by that rejection, "I wanted to talk to you."

"You?", she raised her brows at him doubtfully and let out a laugh, "Want to talk to me?"

"Yes", he replied with a nod.

"Don't you think it's a little late for that?", Evana didn't mean to but her words almost came lashing out.

"It's never too late to reconcile", her cousin said to her.

"Reconcile?", she raised one of her brows at him.

"C'mon Eva…", he began with a carefree smile on his face.

"Don't call me Eva!", she felt repulsed by him calling her by that name, "You don't have any right to call me that anymore!"

"Okay, I am sorry!", he raised both his hands in defense, "I am here in Peace. I just want to talk to you."

"But I don't want to talk to you!", Eva stated very clearly, "I suggest you leave right away", the man didn't say anything and just stood there, "I can't believe that you came here, after all you have done!" she added

"That was past Evana!", the man lost his calm a little as well, "I have changed and I'm not that moron anymore!", he tried to convince her.

"I have changed too", she said in response with movement of her shoulders, "I am not the stupid girl anymore. So, please just leave! You have already lost your chance to talk with me."

Gianni let out slight laugh, "I can see that", he spoke looking intently at her, "I am sorry for wasting your time. I just thought that you were not into grudges but like you said you have changed…", he shrugged, "I'll leave now, take care!"

Evana watched that guy leave her store and let out a heavy breath. She wasn't really happy about the way she acted and was a little astonished at the way she reacted towards his presence, since she has never been this type of person. It's just that her only living relative decided to show up at one of the worst possible phase of her life, but then again Gianni had quite a talent for timing his appearance at the worse possible moments. She let out an amused laugh, wondering who between the two people that were their mutual contacts told him about her whereabouts.

Thank you Xaori, silver scropion and DerrickValore for the reviews :D

Special thanks to JennaWilliams for helping me out with the chapter

I'd like to apologize for the long in updating the second chapter, but I got really ill and had no strenght to write or barely do anything. I'm still healing, but my brain is starting to work again, the damn sickness affected my precious brain and ideas T_T

Enough personal drama, now let's talk about the story that is what really matters xD

Yes, Chris has been through several deaths and that doesn't seem to change (blame Capcom xD) and this story won't be different, honestly haha

I have to confess that making mysteries is not my thing and I'm trying here once again to push my boundaries and try new elements. Hopefully I won't get a block because of that like it happened with Bonds of Blood. But one thing for sure is that I don't really plan to drag 30 chapters or more with a single mystery because that's not my thing haha I'm too anxious for that and my anxiety is stronger than me. Otherwise, I wouldn't be the person who loves spoilers exactly for that! I can't wait too much when I know the info is out there xD so in the other hand, I end up getting anxious to not drag things for too long because I know how waiting sucks! xD

Not much to say for now, just Stay Tuned! :D

Have a great weekend! :D