Chris calls me while on his way to the cabin. I couldn't sound less enthusiastic. Jake already had all the things he was taking with him packed up and was loading them in the car.
"Chris, I have to go. I'll see when you get here," I rush.
"Yeah. Ok. I lov...," he starts, but I just hang up.
Jake raises an eyebrow, but doesn't stop loading the car.
"You don't even know who Ada works for. No one knows who Ada works for," I say.
"It doesn't matter as long as I get my cut of the cash. I could be workin' for Satan himself as long as I am gettin' paid, I don't give a fuck."
"I know you have morals and bounderies!"
"Everythin' got a price, Pup, including morality."
I knew Ada wasn't bad, but I wanted any excuse for him not to leave.
"Can I call you at least," I ask.
He stops and stares at me.
"No. I programmed my number in there for one reason. Once you figure out what you're doin', maybe. But don't call me on any bullshit. I don't give a fuck what you have to say other than that."
That hurt. At least I knew I still had a chance. However, this was not going to be an easy feat with Chris around. I might actually lose Jake forever. I never would have thought I'd even care, but the thought of losing Jake actually physically hurt.
"Must be nice," he says out of the blue.
"What?"
"Never mind."
"No. You're not one to bite your tongue. Say it."
"Havin' people bendin' backwards to do all they can for you. Havin' people that care about you and shit. Must be nice."
I can't even say anything to contest that. My mind just draws blank. Chris' truck pulls up, and my heart drops.
"Welp, have a good life, Piers Nivans. I wish the best for you. Take care of yourself."
Jake doesn't even look at me when he speaks. He grabs his last bag and walks out the door. Chris observes from his car as I run out after Jake. I grab his arm, he turns around.
"What," he asks, pissed.
I just wrap my arms around him, burying my face in his chest, breathing him in. I can hear his heart, it's pounding. He doesn't hug me back.
He inhales deeply and exhales heavily.
"You done? I got shit to do."
He was cold as ice. I let got. Jake throws his bag in the backseat. I stand there helpless. He puts a pair of dark sunglasses on and Chris gets out. They square up, I think they're going to fight right then and there.
"Congrats, Hulk. You were right about me! I'm gettin' the fuck outta dodge," Jake says loudly, but moves in closer to the shorter man and continues to speak in a hushed threatening growl. "Now listen here, you thick fuck, you take care of him. You understand me? If I hear about another fuckin' incident or that you've hurt him I won't fail where my father did. I will fuckin' end you."
Chris doesn't say a word as they stare each other down. Jake shakes his head, then gets in his car, cutting on some loud music. The tires screech as he speeds off. I fall to my knees, too numb to even cry.
Chris helps me up, and walks me inside. I am thankful he doesn't say anything.
"I can't do this," I mumble.
Chris kneels down to hear me.
"I can't do us, Chris. I need to be by myself. I need you to do all you can to either get me back into the B.S.A.A., into the D.O.S., the F.O.S., whatever. I will get my own place and just be by myself. I just need this last favor. Then I will handle everything on my own."
He hesitates in thought, then nods.
"I understand. I'll do all I can," he says, getting up. "I am going to make some calls. But Piers you have to understand this won't be easy. I think it might be best if you did stay with me."
"That's what you think is best for me and I am telling you what's best for me. I need to get my own life back, Chris. Being with you will only feed my dependency. It's nothing against you. I just need to get back to who I was, no, be better than who I was. This helplessness needs to go," I say, determined to make him understand.
I look into his blue eyes and a pang goes through my heart once I realize these aren't the blue eyes I want to be staring in.
"Piers, I love you and I'll do anything for you. You have to understand how hard this is," he starts.
"I know," I whisper, already knowing what he'll say next.
He stands up and starts to walk away, but I grab his arm.
"I am so sorry, Chris."
He gives me a halfhearted smile and I let go. I feel like a complete asshole. As many times I've seen the heartbreak in Chris' eyes I wanted to be the one to fix it, but to know I've been the reason is yet another pain in my chest.
When he's out of the room, I take out my cellphone and call up Sherry.
"Hello," she answers.
"He's gone," my tears finally fall and they make my voice shake.
"I just spoke to him. He's really hurt too, Piers. I can only imagine how he was when he left, but I could hear it in his voice, he was upset."
"He was so cold."
"He is just protecting himself. What are you going to do?"
"I asked Chris to do all he can to get me in somewhere. I don't want to be with anyone right now. I need to be on my own."
"Until you find a place to live you can stay with me. I won't bother you."
"Thanks, Sherry. You don't know how grateful I am."
Sherry had such a kind heart. I couldn't imagine being in her shoes, as I said before if I were her I'd hate me. I could never begin to describe my thankfulness toward her.
It took a couple months, a lot of hard work, and a whole lot of medical tests, but I got a job with the F.O.S. and staying with Sherry was going well. Chris and I only speak occasionally. He tells me how he is trying to rekindle things with Jill. I felt lonely, but I was happy. Jake is always on my mind though.
When I'm corresponding with agents I hope one day one of them will run into him, so I have an idea of where he is.
"Leon is going to drop by in a bit," Sherry says, putting away some dishes.
My heart beats fast. Maybe he'll have some news about Ada and Jake. When the doorbell rings I rush to answer it. We all sit in the living room.
"How is everything, Piers? I hear you're doing really well according to Hunnigan," Leon says, leaning back.
"Yeah. The job is different, but it feels good to be helping and doing something with my skills."
"Good. Good. I spoke with Ada the other day."
"Yeah?"
I try to play coy.
"Did she say anything about Jake," Sherry asks, knowing I won't.
"Yeah, says it's great having muscle around. You know how she is all independent, but the guys have really gotten her out of some binds. She says the kid's nimbleness is like he ran away from the circus. Says he fits right in."
I nod.
"I think she's sort of taken to him like a son."
"That's good."
"He calls her Catwoman," Leon laughs.
This was making me terribly sad. I missed him. I want to talk to him, but I know it's not the right time.
"Why don't you call him? You both can't be stubborn," Sherry asks me.
"It's too soon. I haven't done enough to prove anything," I answer sadly.
"What are you talking about? You got a new job, you're not messing around with Chris, you're driving again, got your own car, you're doing really well!"
"She's right, Piers. You've accomplished a lot," Leon chimes in.
They were right and I have, but something told me it wasn't the right time. I just couldn't help to think what he might be doing, if he missed me, if he even thought of me, or if he had found someone else.
Our last mission was a close one, but we made it home in one piece. I plop down on the couch and Jezebel jumps into my lap. I pet her as she purrs, kneading my thigh contently.
"She's happier to see you than she is to see me," Ada says, walking into the kitchen.
"That's why I don't normally fuck with cats. Their loyalties are questionable," I say through a yawn.
She shoots me a look as if I was referring to her. I give a half smile.
"Don't be so sensitive, Catwoman. You're lettin' your guard down. You wouldn't want a man like me gettin' into that pretty little brain of yours."
She smirks and goes back to making us tea. I feel like I haven't slept in days. Jezebel's purring was like a lullaby lulling me to close my eyes. Ada's weight shifting the couch brings me back. She hands me a mug.
"Thank you," I say, taking it.
"Mhm."
We sit quietly, a comfortable silence. I catch her staring at me.
"What," I ask.
"What are you doing, Jake?"
"Um, drinkin' tea and strokin' your pussy," I joke.
"Very funny. Why haven't you checked on him?"
I adjust myself and exhale loudly. It was irritating how she would just bring Piers up out of the blue. I was doing my best to forget about him.
"I am sure he is doin' just fine. The Hulk won't let anythin' else happen to him."
Jezebel detects my dismay and scratches my hand, making me bleed.
"Fuckin' cat!"
Ada gets up and returns with a towel. She holds my hand in hers, applying pressure to the wound.
"I could bring up Leon, but that's none of my business. Just like what happened between Piers and I is none of yours. We lost them to Redfields what does it matter?"
I could tell my words hurt her, because she intentionally rubs the scratch harshly.
"You're a sad individual, Muller. A sad lonely individual," she finally says quietly.
"We are the same."
She looks me in the eyes. I stare right back. Leaning in, I kiss her, and feel nothing. For a moment she kisses me back, but she pulls away.
"You're confused, dear. I am not the person you want and this could never work. You need to stop being a brat and see him. You'll be surprised."
"You've been checkin' up on him?"
"I've kept my eye on him since you left. And you're wrong. One of us hasn't lost a loved one to a Redfield," with that she leaves me alone.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and pull up Piers' contact info. My thumb hovering over the call button. Instead of pressing it, I throw the phone on the coffee table.
"This is stupid," I say under my breath, as I walk into my bedroom.
Ada took me in after our second mission together and gave me the room she was using as a second giant ass walk-in closet. I could have gotten a place of my own, but I didn't want to be alone.
Laying down on the firm twin sized mattress, I stare out the window. Busy city streets, and lights from neighboring buildings take the place of stars. It was the polar opposite of the quiet country cabin Piers and I shared.
I've been doing everything in my power to avoid the mere thought of him. I haven't even spoke to Sherry since I left the cabin. I completely cut myself off to everyone but Ada and Agent, but at least I wasn't alone.
My phone rings from the front room and I dash to go get it. It was like my body just reacted. I was hoping it was Piers.
"Hello," I answer, not even looking at the caller id.
"What's up, Kid? You and Ada make it home ok?"
It was Agent. His voice sounded different when he wasn't wearing his gas mask.
"Yeah. We're good."
"Were you expecting a call?"
"Naw. It's nothin'."
"You still avoiding that guy? You and Ada are two peas in a pod."
"Not you too."
"Look, I am about to head out to a bar. Come out. I'll text you the address. It'll be good for you."
"Sure. See you in a bit."
I hang up and get the text a little while later. I knock on Ada's door, but she doesn't respond, so I poke my head in. She is curled up and I see a tear roll down her cheek. I lay next to her and pull her into me, holding her from behind.
"We both deserve to have someone special. We just have to learn to let go and allow ourselves to be loved," I whisper in her ear, kissing her gently on the cheek.
"I'm gonna go meet Agent for a drink. Come out with us."
She rolls over to look me in the eyes.
"If only we met in another lifetime, Darling. I can see how Piers fell for you."
I kiss her forehead and get up.
"Put on one of your famous red dresses and let's give 'em hell, hm?"
I close her door behind me so she could get dressed and walked into my room to do the same. I put on a black button up, a pair of dark blue jeans, a black leather belt, black combat boots, and a bit of cologne.
Ada comes out of her room with a sexy little silk red dress and a pair of black strappy high heels.
"Goddamn, Woman," I exclaim.
"Looking good yourself, Tiger."
She smirks. We get on my motorcycle and head off to the bar. I was genuinely excited. It's been so long since I had friends to go kick it with. Hell, it's been a long time since I've kicked it at all.
We arrive at the bar to see Agent already there. He welcomes us with warm hellos and hugs. I've gotten so used to seeing him in his gear, it was strange seeing him in civilian clothes, because most the time spent together was on the field. I would assume he is in his late twenties, early thirties, has short black hair, green eyes, and not unlike me, a scar on the right side of his top lip.
"Well, I wasn't expecting to be graced with such elegance tonight," Agent kisses the top of Ada's hand.
"What are you talkin' 'bout, man? You invited me out," I joke, sticking my hand out as if I wanted the same treatment.
They laugh and he takes my hand in his, but I snatch it away.
"I never! What kind of lady do you take me for," I kid some more.
We all laugh. Agent buys us some drinks and a couple shots of tequila.
The three of us get shit faced after our third round of tequila shots and four pitchers of beer later. Ada nudges me and direct my attention to another table. There sat Chris Redfield and some blonde woman, they were flirting with one another hard.
"What the fuck?"
"One of Chris' first loves, Jill Valentine. He started messing with her after the Wesker thing fell through."
"Wait. What?"
Ada laughs.
"Opps!"
"What the fuck are you talkin' 'bout, Ada?"
"No one ever told you?"
"No."
"Chris and your father used to...you know."
She raises her eyebrows and nods her head suggestively. My face was not one of amusement.
"What?"
"They used to fuck. Chris was your father's bottom bitch."
I feel the blood rush to my face in anger and the tequila rise up into my throat. I quickly run to the bathroom to puke. My head rest on my arm, face damn near in the toilet, this rage builds up inside me and I snap. I get to my feet. I'm burning up.
The next thing I know I'm standing in front of Chris' table, the blonde woman blinking blankly at me the same hint of recognition in her eyes.
I grab Chris and pull him out of the chair, using the surprise and confusion to my advantage, I punch him in the face. He finally gets his bearings back, spinning me around and holding my arms.
"What the fuck is wrong with you," he yells.
I maneuver my way out of his hold and throw another punch. By this time Ada and Agent catch wind of what's going on and pull me off.
"What the fuck," Chris asks.
The blonde woman touches his shoulder to calm him down.
"That's Wesker's son," he says to her.
"I might have told him about the affair," Ada says, while she pinches a pressure point to keep me subdued.
"Good job, Ada. Jake, look, I loved your father. He was the one using me. I didn't kill...I didn't do that to get revenge, I did it to stop him from infecting the world. I don't know what's going through that head of yours, but I assure you it's not what you think." Chris explains.
"Fuck you, Redfield," I manage to get out of my mouth.
I feel like a wild animal with rabies, all I wanted to do was get loose and smash his fucking face in. I wanted to feel his skull shatter. I wanted him dead.
"Are you going to behave," Ada asks me, pinching the pressure point harder.
The pain brought me to my knees. I fought through it for as long as I could, but it wasn't long.
"Yes," I break.
"Yes, what," she says, pinching harder.
My vision blacks out, but comes back.
"Yes, ma'am."
She let's go of me. Relief.
The blonde was holding Chris' arm.
"You don't know what your father did," she asks.
"Who the fuck are you, bitch?"
Disrespecting women is a big taboo for me, but I was so enraged my morals didn't matter at this point. I wanted to slap the taste out of her mouth. Agent pulls me away before I do anything stupid.
"I don't think he fully understands the situation. Plus, he's really drunk and hurt right now," I hear Ada say.
"What the hell, dude? That guys is at least two, maybe three times your size," Agent says, pulling me towards the door.
"Yeah. That might be. But my balls are two, maybe three times the size of his, you're a fuckin' bitch ass coward, Redfield," I yell back at Chris.
Agent pulls me out of the bar. The cool night air feels good on my hot skin. I push Agent to the side to throw up on the curb.
"Man, you're pretty fucked up," he chuckles.
"This is tequila's fault."
I puke again. Ada walks up to the side of me, handing me a bottle water.
"Thank you," I say taking it from her, and downing most of it.
"Feel better," she asks, rubbing my back.
"Yeah. It's hard to explain what just happened. I'm sorry, guys," I say, standing up.
"No, I got it. That dude fucked your dad, and the guy you love. It's freaky," Agent laughs out.
"This is fuckin' retarded. I'm sorry Ada," I apologize again.
"No worries, love. Come on let's go to another bar, but no more tequila for you. You're sticking to whiskey for the rest of the night."
She wraps her arm around mine and we walk down the block to another bar. Chris walks out and yells after us. I always knew he wasn't too bright. Ada squeezes my arm so I don't charge him.
"Jake, have you talked to Piers lately?"
I stare at him for a moment.
"No."
"He's been dodging me lately."
"Good. He knows what's best for him. You might have stranded him in a volcano while your bitches shoot him with RPGs. You know you got some real fucked up fetishes, Redfield."
He rolls his eyes.
"I just want to make sure he's doing well."
"I'm sure he is fine."
"We're supposed to protect him."
Chris walks up on me like he wants to fight, Ada grips my arm tighter and yanks me back. The blonde woman runs out of the bar and grabs Chris' arm. Agent steps between Chris and I before I can open my big mouth, he speaks;
"You're sorta killing our vibe, smokey the bear. Go about your business and let the kid go about his. You should have left it as it was and never walked your happy ass out here," Agent says, signaling for Ada to pull me away.
Ada and I walk down to the next bar.
"I swear, Redfield, gets under my fuckin' skin."
We sit at a table. Ada laughs.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing at all, darling."
"No. What's so funny."
"You don't know how happy I am to have you two in my life."
I smile. Agent comes in and sits with us.
"That guys is kinda stupid, no," he asks.
"He's just not bright," I say.
Chris really wasn't a bad guy. I just didn't like him.
"So I was thinking, I'm like Batman, Ada's Catwoman, and you, you're Robin," Agent says with a giant smirk on his face.
"What?! Can I at least be Nightwing," I whine.
"You should at least give him that," Ada says with a giggle.
My phone rings. I look at the caller I.D., it's Piers. I feel the color drain from my face.
"Hello," I answer hesitantly.
"Hey," he says back. "Um, Chris just left me a voicemail talking about you guys getting into it. I really didn't expect you to answer so I don't really know what to say. Sorry."
"No. It's cool. How are you?"
I admit I wasn't expecting him to call. I was thrown.
"I'm doing well. As you can see, I'm not with Chris."
"Yeah. Where you been stayin'?"
"With Sherry. I got a job with the FOS, and the bsaa wants to do some kind of honorary ceremony for me next week."
"I see."
We pause for a long time. I look up to see Agent and Ada staring at me.
"How have you been," he asks.
I get up and walk outside, they follow me.
"I'm good. You know me."
He laughs.
"Yeah."
Pause.
"I miss you," he says.
Pause.
"I miss you too, Pup."
Pause. It's momentary weakness.
"Can we please start over?"
Pause. I don't know what to say. A million different things run through my head.
"No. Look I gotta go. I'm kinda busy right now."
"...oh...yeah. Ok."
I hang up.
"Was that him," Ada asks.
"Mind your business," I snap.
"You are my business, honey. Why the hell did you do that?"
She pushes me.
"I don't know."
"He's in love. Who knows why we do the things we do when we're under that spell. C'mon, I'm sobering up and I want to get fucked up tonight," Agent chimes in, putting his arms around us as we go back in the bar.
For the rest of the night my mind is preoccupied with thoughts of Piers. It's infuriating. I try to drink them away, but it doesn't work. By the end of the night Ada has to drive my bike home. I'm so fucked up I can barely hold on to her. She helps me to my room and into my bed.
"I don't know what happened, but you should have just gone to see him," she says, taking my shoes off.
"I told 'im we couldn't start ov-ver," my speech is slurred and slow,
"Why? You know what? Forget it. We'll talk tomorrow. Good night, light weight."
Ada turns my light off and closes the door behind her. As drunk as I am, Piers and my conversation plays over and over in my mind clearly. Fuck. I just wanted to forget him, but I didn't want this pain of not having him either. The alcohol coursing through my veins makes my blood boil. I basically tear my clothes off and open the window.
My head is already starting to pound. I am not looking forward to the morning. Not only will I have to face a giant hangover, but I'll have to face this situation head on. Ada surely won't let me sit on my hands. She'll bother me until I make an effort to see or talk to him. Fucking fantastic. The breeze coming from my window feels colder on my sweaty skin and it's exactly what I need. My eyelids close. I pass out. Temporary release.