Seasons Die Off One by One
Chapter 20 - Past (1998)
They're transferring Polly to the major hospital the next city over and of course Chris and Claire are going with the Burtons. They're practically family. Chris told Piers about how Barry helped him out after he left the air force. His daughters even regard Claire as an older sister. Barry is going to need the Redfield siblings by his side to get through this, especially since Kathy took the accident hard. Piers hadn't expected anything less considering the woman's daughter accidentally shot her little sister, but to make things even more complicated, a part of Kathy blames her husband. If Barry had locked his gun cabinet, then Moira would never have had access to it. Then Polly wouldn't be laying in a hospital bed in critical condition.
But this isn't about blame, this is about saving Polly's life.
"The flight is in two hours," Chris comments, more to remind himself to move faster as he tosses clothes into his bag, rushing to the bathroom to grab a few things before hurrying back out and over to his dresser, looking like he remembered something else he needed to pack.
Piers nods from his cross-legged position on Chris' bed, watching as the marksman shoves three pairs of pants into his backpack, "Is her condition that bad?"
Chris zips his bag shut before he looks up at his boyfriend, "Barry and Kathy want the best for her."
The Sniper nods again before Claire pokes her head into the room, "Ready to go?"
"Yup," the marksman nods as he grabs his backpack and slings one strap over his shoulder.
Piers takes that as his cue to slip off the bed and follow the Redfield's out the front door. Chris takes a moment to check around the apartment and make sure he's not forgetting anything before stepping out onto the porch and locking the door behind himself. The Sniper accompanies them down the stairs and to the curb, the taxi having good timing as it pulls up in the next minute.
Chris takes a moment to turn to his boyfriend, "You gonna be ok while I'm gone?"
Piers rolls his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips. "I think I can manage a day or two without you."
"Really? Then I don't think I've been doing a good enough job," the marksman grins before he places a quick kiss on the Ace's lips. "See you soon."
"Take care," Piers responds, waving both Chris and Claire off as they get in the cab, lingering on the curb as he watches it pull away and disappear when it takes a turn.
0o0
It's just one day and Piers already wishes Chris would get on the first plane back. He and Chris haven't been together for all that long. Barely a month to be exact, but the two have been pretty close long before they took their relationship a step further. Close enough that Piers is draped across his couch, one leg propped up on the back of it, hazel blinking lazily at the ceiling, telephone laying on his chest.
He had just gotten off the phone with his boyfriend, Chris keeping him updated, having called when they had landed safely and informing him on Polly's condition. Piers can't even begin to imagine what the Burton's are going through, but before he can consider what had happened in more detail, a knock on his front door drags him out of his thoughts.
Piers furrows his brows, slowly pulling himself up into a sitting position, the phone tumbling into his lap. Chris and Claire are pretty much the only ones who visit him and although Leon isn't home, the man has his own set of keys. Regardless, it could be someone looking for his roommate.
Standing up, the phone clatters noisily to the floor, Piers tossing a quick glance at it but not making a move to pick it up as he strolls over to the door instead, grabbing the doorknob and hesitating long enough to wonder if he should ask who it is first through the wood before pulling the door open regardless, that moment of hesitation suddenly feeling like an instinct he shook off as he comes face to face with Albert Wesker.
"Captain," the title falls from the Sniper's lips automatically.
Wesker doesn't grace him with a greeting, instead tilting his head to acknowledge the younger man before he's striding forward, Piers having to step back and press his back against the wall to allow the blonde man entrance to his apartment. Hazel follow Wesker as the man walks right in, taking in the Sniper's simple apartment and leaving Piers to awkwardly close the door behind him.
The blonde man is meticulously dressed, long sleeved shirt fitting his toned upper body and his pants outlining his long, strong legs. Black sunglasses matching his all black attire, making his pale skin and blonde hair stand out that much more. Rigid. Authoritative. That's Albert Wesker, Captain of S.T.A.R.S. and Chris' ex-boyfriend.
Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Piers glances down at himself, noting that he's dressed in an old pair of sweats that belong to Chris and his boyfriend's hoodie, both articles of clothing hanging loosely on him. Glancing back up at his captain he realizes Wesker has turned to face him and even though the young man can't see the blonde's eyes, the hard lines of his face tell Piers that the man has recognized the clothes as belonging to Chris.
Piers clears his throat, the sound seemingly echoing in the silence of the apartment and grating to his own nerves, "Captain Wesker." Something tells the Ace that Wesker isn't here for anything relating to work.
"I gave you a warning," Wesker cuts straight to the point, not one to ever waste his words or his time. "Chris belongs to me. I made sure to lay that claim that day you two decided smoking cigarettes in the office is more important than work. You ignored that warning."
Piers blinks at the S.T.A.R.S captain, remembering that day as if it were yesterday. Both of them had been at Chris' desk, the marksman showing him how to inhale a cigarette only for Wesker to materialize out of nowhere and claim Chris' lips. It had been so shocking, uncalled for that the Sniper had refused to believe there had been any other reason for it other than pure shock value, especially since Chris had explained to Piers that he and Wesker had been a thing once. That's right, once, but not anymore.
"Let me make this as clear to you as I possibly can since apparently you're too thick to understand it any other way," Wesker is close to snarling now, walking back over to Piers with purposeful strides that have the younger man taking a step back, every inch of his being deferring to the authority that is the blonde man in front of him. "He likes to play games, you see. Likes to play hard to get, but that doesn't deny the fact that he's already taken. By me," the blonde man accentuates, brows furrowing into a deep scowl with each word hissed through his thin lips, leaving Piers with the only option of stepping back until his back meets the door, trapped between the hard surface and Wesker's broad chest. "He's been begging to get back with me. You're just a distraction. A way to get back at me for denying him. I thought Chris would have dropped the act by now and frankly I tire of this game so I will do it for him. It ends. Now."
Cold and sharp, Wesker's words cut deep as the captain lifts his nose, looking down at the shorter man already dwarfed in clothes too big for him. The captain reaches past Piers, grabbing the doorknob and pulling it open, practically shoving the younger man aside and into the corner between the door and the wall.
Wesker pauses, tossing a glance over his wide shoulders at Piers. "It's a pity if you thought anything you had with him was real," he states with such disdain that the Ace feels like a bug the blonde man has just crushed into oblivion under his boot.
With all the class in the world, Wesker steps out, shutting the door gently behind him as if he hadn't just barged into Piers' apartment with venom emanating off his every word and movement, leaving the Sniper crammed in the corner and staring at the door, unable to will his limbs to move other than to let them crumble underneath him as he finds himself sliding down to the floor, head still trying to wrap around the tornado that just swept in and out of his door, uprooting everything in its path and leaving behind nothing but destruction.
0o0
The planes are loud as they fly overhead. People move back and forth through the airport, a flurry of motion that makes getting lost in the crowd easy. Everyone in this place has somewhere to be. A destination they're rushing to get to.
The noise helps drown out Piers' thoughts as he slouches in the bench outside of the designated terminal. The voice message he got from Chris had informed him that he and Claire landed safely in Raccoon a few minutes ago. The Burtons are staying a few days longer with Polly, returning with her when she's able to transfer to the medical center in their city.
There is a missed call from Chris, but Piers can't find in himself to call him back. He doesn't know what he's doing here at the airport, waiting for him. He wants to see Chris but another part of him repeats Wesker's words over and over in his head.
It's a pity if you thought anything you had with him was real.
Piers clenches his fists, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees as his gaze rests on the dirty pavement. Passengers in and out of the airport pay him no mind, their shoes scurrying by in the Sniper's peripheral vision, content to just let it lull him to a state of ease before and for once unaware as the two figures he came to see step out outside of the building.
Chris ends his call with Barry, taking a moment to inform Claire that Polly is still stable before deciding to try and reach his boyfriend again. Dialing the number he didn't expect a familiar ring tone to play a few feet to his right, glancing over in curiosity rather than expectation, blinking when light blue recognize the figure hunched over on a bench.
"Piers?"
At the sound of his name being called out the Ace lifts his head, glancing over his shoulder to find his boyfriend, a smile spreading across Chris' face as he waves at him. Piers tries to offer his own smile, he really does, but it feels forced. Feels wrong. Seeing Chris' face, all bright and excited to see him and oblivious to Wesker's little visit makes a weight settle on his chest and Piers just can't stand it, pushing himself up to his feet before he could stop himself.
Piers needs to go. He's not sure where but he just knows that he needs to move. Anywhere that won't have Chris smiling at him like that. Anywhere that won't have Wesker's disdain pushed down on him.
"Piers?" the marksman calls out, lips dropping into a frown as he watches his boyfriend cross the street.
"What happened?" Claire pipes up behind her brother.
Chris slips the straps off his shoulders, handing Claire his backpack. "Grab a cab. I'll see you back home," he tells his sister before he takes off across the street. Claire doesn't get a chance to protest before the older Redfield is gone.
Chris keeps an eye on Piers, trailing the hunched over figure for a block or two before the younger man veers off his path to walk down to the train tracks, walking pretty fast for someone who just seems to be moving aimlessly. Piers slows down as he steps onto the tracks, hands deep in the pocket of his jacket as Chris quickly walks up to him, grabbing hold of his upper arm.
"Hey," Chris softly mutters, wincing when Piers startles in his hold, head whipping around to face the marksman. Something isn't right if Piers is so out of it that he had failed to notice Chris following him. "What was that back there?"
Piers meets his eyes for a long moment before he shakes his head, letting his eyes drop to his boots, "Nothing."
Chris can't keep the frown growing deeper on his face, "That wasn't nothing. What happened?" Piers avoids eye contact with Chris, the marksman grabbing his chin and forcing the younger man to look him in the eyes. "Are you ok? What's wrong? Talk to me."
"It's just…," the younger man bites at his bottom lip before continuing. "Wesker came by my apartment."
"What?" the marksman furrows his brows. "What for?"
"Had some things to say. About you. About him. 'Bout us," Piers mutters, hazel avoiding light blue again and that speaks more for the Sniper than his words do.
"What did he say?" Chris' voice borders on growling, knowing full well without being told that Wesker didn't have anything good to say. "Piers."
"That you belong to him," Piers breathes out, the frown on his features long beyond his usual pout. "That you're just using me to get back at him."
Being right doesn't make the flash of anger that flares up in the marksman any easier to control, "Piers, you can't be serious. Tell me you're not just believing everything he says."
"Of course not," Piers snaps, eyes meeting Chris' to glare at him indignantly. "I came to see you, didn't I? I don't want what he said to bother me, but…but I don't know," he finishes quietly, shrugging his shoulders in defeat.
Chris takes a deep breath, eyes sliding shut for a moment before he opens them with renewed determination, hand moving from the younger man's chin to his shoulder. "Piers, look at me," he says, waiting for the Sniper to lift his gaze again. "Listen to me carefully, I am never getting back together with Wesker," Chris emphasizes, both hands on Piers' shoulders to make sure to keep his boyfriend's attention. "Whatever he said to you is bullshit. I'm the one who broke up with him." That keeps hazel trained on blue before the marksman continues, "He's married, Piers. Wife and kid and everything and I was stupid enough to fall for his lies. If I had known he had a family, I would have never given him a second thought. I don't understand how someone can have a double life like that and lie so easily about it. I could never trust him again and without trust, there's nothing, Piers. Nothing."
Piers is silent, swallowing thickly while he holds the marksman's stare, processing what he has just been told.
Chris lifts a hand and brushes his thumb over Piers' cheek, furrowed brows and tight lips conveying how serious he is as he speaks again, "I trust you." Without hesitation, without any hint of doubt. "Piers, do you trust me?"
Piers releases a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding as he lets his eyelids slide shut, raising a hand to place it on the one the marksman has on his cheek, guiding it to his own lips so that he could place soft kisses on the older man's palm. "Yes," is his simple response but the shaky tone in which it had been uttered makes Chris' heart beat hard against his chest.
Wanting nothing more than to just hold Piers, Chris does just that, leaning forward to kiss the Ace softly before pulling him into an embrace, tucking the younger man's head under his chin, "I could never, would never lie to you like that."
Piers lets himself melt in his boyfriend's arms, wrapping his arms around his back, pulling him as close as possible and feeling that it's still not enough. It will never be enough.
Disclaimer: RE is not mine.
Author's Note: Ah yes, Wesker, you lost any chances you may have had. Chris belongs to Piers now. Also, Jake exists but I don't think I'll be able to have him make an appearance.
Thank you for reading!