Tremulous as the last russet maple leaf in a pendulous autumn storm of steel and blackened granite, lithe young frame shuddering so violently that the entire bed was shaking, a gentle hand wishing only comfort fell from the sable depths of the encroaching dawn to offer solace and to steady her tremors, brown eyes brimming with a quiet sorrow as they fell upon the young woman curled up in an uneasy slumber at his side. Through the unlit pre-dawn gloom and unkempt coils of sable strands it was hard to make out the exact expression of her fair face, but if this past month had been any indicator, the features he knew better than the back of his own hand were drawn tight, pinched from stress and a lack of caring, even in slumber. Ever since the athlete had woken in the hospital to find a divided family unit, she had not once had an easy sleep, nor a fully fulfilling nap either; adding to that the fact that she barely ate anything anymore and just shoved it around her plate on the few occasions he even could coax her into sharing a meal with him, her scare nibbling worried the pilot almost as much. Honestly at the rate she was operating (Robin barely did anything but lay there in bed and cry, or when she wasn't doing that, the only other thing occupying her free time was her books and the desire to be done with school as fast as possible), Chris was highly concerned that she might not live long enough to see the summer. Or even the first flowers blooming beneath the frosty white chill of a warm, melting spring afternoon, as her ordinarily healthy waist was withering down to the point where he could almost put his hands all the way around, with extra space to spare. More than anything else he wanted to be there for her in her time of need, and most might argue that he had done all he could do by taking her in when Barry had kicked her out of his home, but deep down the soldier felt as if he should be doing more for her than merely offering shelter and suggesting multiple times a day that she ought to have something more than a bottle of water and a half a bite of a cracker. Facing reanimated corpses and overcoming all the death and betrayals of his fellow S.T.A.R.S. members was no where near as daunting as trying to comfort the mourning teen, all of the dangers he had endured thus far paling in comparison to the helplessness he felt every time he laid next to her at night, knowing in his heart that he was failing her.
Though the teen was snug inside layers of dark cloth and even darker thoughts at the moment, the soldier couldn't shake the memory of how battered and bloodied her pale skin was against the white gauze of the hospital bed, scarlet blood being pumped back into her system from a plastic bag that was already half empty by the time he had arrived. The nurse had tried to bar his way into the room when he had flown down the hallway in search of the right accommodations, but Kathy had told the mouse of a woman to stand aside and let him in; there was a deep gash in her cheek, but otherwise the mother of two had seemed healthy enough. Wrapped up in a scratchy dappled blanket and suffering only mental and emotional trauma as opposed to all three forms, Polly was soundly asleep in one of two hard-backed leather chairs by the bed, but Moira had faithfully been standing solemn sentry by her sister's side, one hand over the older girl's as she slept. Despite the steady electric bleating of the machinery lining the back walls, the instant that the soldier beheld his little bird laying so still and peacefully, her ebony locks splayed across a world of bone and her lush lips parted ever so slightly, his heart literally stopped. No, she can't be, Chris remembered thinking as the clammy fingers of panic encased his throat with the intent to throttle him, Robin can't be gone! Thankfully it was only for an instant that he had foolishly believed the worst, but even that was a second too long; chastising himself as he strode into the room, it took the pilot another protracted stint to realize that something else was amiss; absence more telling than what Kathy hadn't been able to tell him on the phone, Barry was no where to be seen. Knowing the man the way that he did, Chris knew that there would only be two reasons why the father wasn't hovering by the side of the bed beside his second eldest, and since they weren't bawling hysterically, that could only have meant that he had found out about the two of them. Not daring to talk about it just yet, he had gone to the other side of the bed and wrapped his right hand protectively around hers, not caring who saw or what they made out of it; never mind if the bear knew the truth or not, the solider wasn't about to squander a moment more. Almost as soon as he touched her, the bird's eyes fluttered beneath her tightly closed lids and she muttered a word, just a small little identifier, but it was enough to break all of their hearts anew. Daddy.
Daddy. And yet Barry was nowhere to be seen - not when Chris showed up that first hour (where he remained by her side even after Kathy had taken the girls to the hotel nearby were they were staying for the time being), not when the others showed up the next day in a titter to check on the teen and her family for themselves, not when she woke up for the first time and swallowed that whole bitter pill in silence, not after Chris overheard a rather angry call between husband and wife, not even when she had been discharged. From what the point man understood, the last thing that her father had to do with his oldest daughter was that he called the ambulance to come collect her from the house, saying to her mother that while they handled all of that, he would be checking into a hotel for the four of them, and Kathy sobbed when she recounted how her spouse had stressed that it would only be the four of them. As his friend, a small part of Chris understood that he might have seen the entire incident as Robin's fault, and that the distance he tried to put between her and his family was for the protection of his children, but the larger part of the man knew that that excuse was the biggest load of BS, because no matter what was said right now, Robin was one of the weapon specialist's daughters, and besides, the three Burton woman spent every possible opportunity by the black sheep's side. If Barry had made a move to prevent that, Chris had no clue, but for the bird's sake he hoped that her father hadn't gone so far as that, because from what Kathy told him of the situation that caused the hospital stay, the girls had been one of the biggest factors that had kept the teen afloat during her suffering. When he heard that, it brought a grudging smile to his face (bitter only because this was far from the time for such things), as he knew as well as the next guy that Robin valued her family more than anything, especially her siblings - Burton or Varis, the girl had always seemed to have the best of relationships with her brothers and sisters. And her father... As broken as the bonds had seemed to become with the both of them, both Barry and this Jussi, the teen held such a high esteem for the two men, placing them in a special place in her heart. And now the protective window had been shattered by rocks from the outside for a second time, the contents of the prized shelves ravaged and left for dead when the looters deemed the subject matter to have absolutely zero value.
Moreover that grievous cause for lament wasn't the worst of it either, rather it was only the tip of the fatal iceberg, as there were other - arguably worse - matters to fret upon now that smoke had cleared and gave way to a new day, such as the psychologically scarring betrayal of a close friend and the gang rape he had subjected her to as her family was forced to watch, or even more crushing than that was the loss of... Even laying there by her side with his own thoughts as his only witness, Chris still could not find it in himself to accept that they had almost... Dammit, why must the words have to be so difficult to say?! Together as one, the avian and the aviator had shared in a passionate moment of love true, and somehow or other their defense system and back-up contingencies were bypassed and the seed took to the soil, and they would created a living, breathing manifestation of their affection for one another. A... A... Closing his eyes from the bony peaks and dangerously low valleys cut into caves made more of marrow than bone and flesh that were blessedly bundled from the seeping cold that was only partially the seasonal air, Chris took a deep breath to focus his thoughts, visualizing Robin growing rounder instead of the other way, belly swelling more and more until at long last there was a little blue blanket in her arms and a smile on her face, a smile that she wore only when she was truly happy, saved mostly for when they were alone. The pair of them were so joyous, laughing as he himself stepped into the picture, nervous as never before when she handed the bale of blue over gingerly, a flash of worry on her countenance when the babe parted from her arms, but it was gone just as quick as it came when he relieved her of the burden. In his mind's eye the baby's features were in constant flux, rearranging themselves to incorporate his parents' features, but every which way it was the second cutest thing he had ever laid eyes upon, and as the newborn boy gazed up at Chris, he was able to think for the first time Son, this could have been our son. They could have been parents.
Author's Notes: The "bitter pill" being her situation, and not any actual medication that the doctors had prescribed. I leave the first up to your own imaginations ^^ Sadly it's another short chapter, but I rather like it!
Shutout of thanks to hooray4natasha, thanks as always for reviewing!
Music: "So Far Away" by Avenged Sevenfold. Admittedly not a band I'm super familiar with, but I like what I've heard of them so far (for the most part), but the first time I heard this song, I knew that it was perfect for this chapter!
Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.