The lyrics: Stitches by Shawn Mendes.
I thought that I've been hurt before
But no one's ever left me quite this sore
You just gave up! How dare you! The words rang in the air like a bad nightmare. Scolding, berating, hating himself. For losing her. For not doing more. But he had spent the first three years searching, hunting. Just to come to the conclusion that this Alex person didn't want to be found. And he wouldn't until he came out of whatever rabbit hole he was in. So Chris decided to be smart instead of wasting resources for a fruitless tree. Finding Jill had been a bit easier. Just follow the trail Wesker left. But this Alex was an unknown factor.
He'd wait. Play it strategically. Jill always told him to use that big brain of us. She threw the biggest fuss for awhile but realized he'd finally learned to step back, to breathe, to think. To focus himself on what's important while not destroying himself in the process. He'd grown a lot.. and she told him that she was proud to call him her husband.
Chris scratched his cheek, pinching the bridge of his nose as he studied a video. He was supposed to be packing but this feeling of unease nagged him. He couldn't bring himself to close his email just yet, religiously checking it over the years for anything new and suspicious. Nothing ever happened. Just spam, mail from friends or job stuff from work. Occasionally he'd get an email from Barry or Rebecca. Until today.
Your words cut deeper than a knife
Now I need someone to breathe me back to life
Just as he was about to pass out during the conference video his coworker sent him a ding jostled him to awareness. He irritably went to his email and refreshed, pausing when he saw the title and sender.
Sender: Alex.
Subject: Hope.
I apologize for the late reply. Years seem like days to me. I know you have many questions and I am eager to answer them. Should you wish for these I offer but a warning. I cannot promise they will be to your liking or satisfaction.. Yet this comes with a gift for you. In about an hour you will receive a box in your postal mail. It comes with directions. Take into consideration all the factors. A phone is attached. Use if absolute. Soon.
He furrowed his brows, curiosity getting the better of him. He mused over this email for about twenty minutes before getting up to cook. Leon was supposed to be flying over now, he'd touched down and be over in roughly five hours anyway. Leon didn't really talk much about anything. Especially work related.. or about Ada Wong. Those were typically tight-lidded, despite his stubborn persistence.
Got a feeling that I'm going under
But I know that I'll make it out alive
He'd prodded at the agent over the years to settle down, but always got the same response. It wasn't the time nor the place to think about a romantic interest or the possibility of a family, not with viral terror around each corner. Chris oddly.. agreed, yet still found himself pleased he'd married Jill. His partner had always been at his side.
He sighed, grunting as he pushed up from the kitchen table, cleaning his dishes of a salad he'd made in a mute rush. He didn't really have an appetite.
"You look like you got a lot on your mind." Her voice startled him enough that he ran into a wall, rubbing his cheek in dismay before turning to study Jill. She stood in the space between the kitchen and living room, a sad smile on her face. "I know that expression. It reminds me of when Forest replaced that little old picture frame on your desk back in the S.T.A.R.S. officer with a picture of you and Claire with poorly drawn purple mustaches. That was comical."
He furrowed his brows before shaking his head. "Sorry, just.. you spooked me."
"Chris, are you ok? Is there something you aren't telling me?" Jill always seemed to see right through him.. even when he played it off. She just knew him that well.
If I quit calling you my lover
Move on
"Jill, if there was anything in this world that you've ever regretted.. that you wish you could undo.. would you?"
She pursed her lips. "That's a curious question. But it deserves an honest answer. No. That's my answer. And before you start demanding a better explanation.. let me tell you something. Despite everything that's happened to me.. I'm where I want to be right now. Yeah.. things were tough.. I've been through hell.. but every storm has a rainbow." She said with the tenderest smile he'd seen in a long time. She stepped over to take his face in her hands, smiling. "You're my rainbow. So I'll weather any storm to be at your side."
"You're so cheesy!" He snorted before pulling her in for a soft kiss.
"Oh, you love it." She cooed, trailing her fingers through his spiky brown hair. He should really let it grow she'd always told him.
She wiggled her fingers at him, tugging him toward the stairs with a coy smile. He smirked, following eagerly.
You watch me bleed until I can't breathe
I'm shaking falling onto my knees
"Ahh.~" Jill nuzzled into the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent. She clung to his frame, her body overheated with their passionate activity. He secured an arm around her, pulling her close protectively, laying on his back with the free hand resting to support his raised head. They ended up passing out for several hours.
A phone buzzing disturbed their peaceful time together. Chris awoke with a start and stretched over the edge of the bed to dig around in the pocket of his pants for the nuisance as Jill yawned. But the feeling of annoyance ended when he recognized the ID of the caller.
"It's Leon." He whispered to Jill before he accepted the call, pressing it to the ear. "You touch down yet?" He asked Leon.
"Pft. I touched down like an hour ago. I found a strange unmarked package on your doorstep. Come let me in please. It's raining."
And now that I'm without your kisses
I'll be needing stitches
"Think you're going to melt?"
He heard a snort before the line ended. Chris rolled out of bed, nudging Jill as he began to get dressed. She followed suit, tugging on Chris' discarded shirt and her shorts.
They padded into the room together, Jill heading to get water from the kitchen while Chris unlocked the latch and slid the door open. He was greeted with the sight of a scowling dirty blonde with a small box in his hands.
"If I was nosy I would have opened it. Were you expecting a package today?" Leon arched a brow.
"Yeah.. apparently." Chris accepted the box and stepped over to the table, hearing Leon close and lock the door.
"What's that supposed to mean, 'apparently'?" The edge of Leon's lip twitched as he took a seat at the end of the table in the kitchen, reclining back in it with an arm slung across the back.
Chris waited until Jill took a seat at the opposite end before sitting on the side, setting the box down onto table.
I'm tripping over myself
I'm aching begging you to come help
"What's that?" She softly asked, concern etched onto her face.
"Jill, some weird shit has been happening lately. Do you remember how I told you some guy named Alex has Claire's body and he's basically off-grid?" Chris glanced to his wife, searching her expression for hints to her thoughts. When she merely nodded he continued, "He emailed me for the first time today in.. what, five years? Said something about a package he was sending me." He gestured to the box.
"Wait, what?" Jill furrowed her brow, glancing toward the bedroom where the desktop rested. "Why didn't you mention this to me?"
"I was waiting for Leon to get here. He can help make sense of this and it's nice to have that lovely mug of his around." At Chris' words Leon scowled, rolling his eyes.
Chris took out his phone and pulled up his email stuff. He read to them what Alex had sent him today, watching the way that Leon tensed at the mention of questions being answered. He knew that Leon had dug around as much as he could over the years, uncovering a lot of stuff. Project Wesker had piqued all of their interest and he noticed that Jill felt some pity for Wesker for being a test subject basically. He was a lab rat that took the coat of his master and began to play the role too. Was weird what life threw at people. But Chris felt nothing toward Wesker but anger.
And now that I'm without your kisses
I'll be needing stitches
Leon tugged the box closer, arching a brow. "Might I do the honors?" Jill shrugged, glancing to Chris who only nodded. Leon pried at the tape, practically ripping it off the box in an effort to open it. Inside he found a silver.. video recorder and a cell phone. A book was placed between them, as if separating them. He took out the phone and tossed it to Jill, who began to search the contents for anything useful. It was basic, had service, but no owner information, no contacts, no messages. It was like a clean slate. He passed the recorder to Chris, who began to tinker with the buttons. It had a full battery life but it took forever to figure out how to turn it on, it was so.. advanced. Leon took it upon himself to open the journal looking book.
The first page had some drabble about Umbrella he didn't even care to read, it looked useless. The second page had a list of numbers, combinations, codes or something. The next had some phone numbers with cursive-written names scrawled before them. He didn't recognize any of the names, but the top number struck out. It didn't have a name beside it. That led to the assumption it was Alex's.
"I don't understand this thing." Chris grumbled, watching as Jill leaned over to assist. She figured it out within seconds and leaned away so he could watch it. He stared at it for several minutes while Jill continued to vigorously search the phone. He glanced his eyes up to see that Leon seemed immersed in the book. "What's in that thing?" He casually asked, watching the way Leon looked up with narrowed eyes.
"That son of a bitch." Leon snarled, turning the book around to showcase the 5th page. Taped to the middle of the page was a picture of Claire's body, cold-looking, bare of hardly any clothes but necessity, ghostly pale.. and lifeless on a table. He pushed up, growling as he slammed the journal down onto the table, open, visible. The sight of whatever it was caused Leon's breath to hitch.
Just like a moth drawn to a flame
Oh you lured me in I couldn't sense the pain
Chris and Jill stood, coming around the table to see what had spooked him. They gasped at the sight. It had switched to a different page, this one showing Claire's body inside a cryo-tank. Tubes and cords were attached to various parts of her body.
"I don't.. understand.." Jill said in a whisper, holding a hand to her mouth as she stared wide-eyed to the photo.
"That son of a bitch is doing to her what Wesker probably did to that boy from Rockfort!" Leon hissed, anger boiling in his frame.
Chris hadn't said much, just stared distantly at the photo as if lost in a memory. He moved away, walking back to pick up the recorder. Jill and Leon watched curiously as Chris played the device, walking over to show them what was on it.
It was Claire.. and what had happened to her.
"Claire's... alive.."
Your bitter heart cold to the touch
Now I'm going to reap what I sew
I'm left seeing red on my own
