How's everyone holding up? doing okay? Welcome back stress-sensitive folks. The hard-core crazy stuff is pretty done at this point. We're going back into fluffy cute stuff so you should probably be okay now.
Song Suggestion: How To Be A Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds
Disclaimer: I own nothing~ CapCom please don't sue k thanks
Beep ... Beep ... Beep
What was that sound? Emma thought as she inhaled. When did she fall asleep? The soft beeping sound continued as she tried to will herself to wake up. She was tired... Where was she? This didn't feel like her bed. She winced a bit as she opened her eyes, it was bright where ever it was. eventually, her eyes adjusted and she found herself in what appeared to be a patient's room. A hospital?
She felt stiff, how long had she been here? she reached up to rub her face only to feel a plastic oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose. What the... What. Happened? Slowly as she woke up her memories came back of the aerosol spray that Veronica had her use, how she snatched it back then used it on herself and turned into, whatever that was. running around the empty office and fire. right. right she set the building on fire, she must have inhaled too much smoke... great. She looked down at her hand that had been sprayed with the same chemical as Veronica. still no change. Chris said she'd be fine but, why didn't it have the same effect on her? It was weird... maybe it wasn't the aerosol can? wow, that would suck if she spent that long in a burning building just to get the wrong evidence...
Eventually, she shifted to be more comfortable and tried looking around the room to find Chris sitting in an uncomfortable-looking plastic chair, slouched to lean back and rest his head against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. A weak smile crossed her face. He was asleep. That can't be comfortable. How long had he been waiting for her to wake up?
"Chris?" She says which came out hoarse and scratch. She needed water. It took another attempt but he eventually woke up as well and got up to stretch before stand by her bedside.
"Hey, How are you feeling?" He asks with a tired smile.
"Like I got hit by a truck," Emma says with a tired laugh.
"That might have been gentler," He jokingly says shaking his head. A few minor fractures, some stitches, a potential concussion, and pretty severe smoke inhalation. not a fun combo.
Emma gives a weak chuckle in response as her memory becomes clearer. "What time is it?" she asks hoping he'd know. Chris stopped to check his watch before answering.
"It's Friday, November 1st, around 8:45 AM," He replies which causes Emma's eyes to widen.
"Duke. Oh gosh. I need to get home," She says as she starts looking around for her clothes. "I'm supposed to watch the girls for Chelsea toni-" she stopped short and wince aaand that hurt. Nope. Moving was bad.
Chris places a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Try not to move too much. I called Bastion, he's looking after Duke," Chris says which gets Emma to relax again. "I'll see if I have Chelsea's number." Emma nods.
"There's probably something else I should tell you now that you're safe and calmed down a bit," he adds which causes Emma to raise an eyebrow. that was not a good sign.
"Okay," She replies with curious concern, last time he had 'something he should tell her' it was not great news. was she missing a toe, a foot... a leg? she wiggled her toes to check. it felt like she had all of them.
"Remember roughly two years ago, back when you hurt your ankle and I gave you that medicine that you said looked like an epi-pen" Chris asks first.
oh boy. "I vaguely remember that yeah," Emma replies still tired and hoarse.
"So, it was medicine for rapid recovery but it's meant to be used on short notice when. fighting. Bioweapons. So it has the vaccine mixed in with it."
"Chris," Emma says more so to ask 'are you kidding me'.
"It slipped my mind to mention it when the BSAA stuff came up. It had been a while since then." Chris says with a wince.
She gave a tired sigh. "Well I suppose I should thank you for that, it saved my skin. literally." Emma says with a slightly annoyed tone. "I'll admit I should have asked what it was before I let you stick me with a needle, but I was kinda in the 'empty skull' phase of having a crush so that slipped my mind." She grumbles before looking at him "but dang it all, can we agree that was a bit messed up?"
"Yeah, that was pretty messed up. sorry," Chris rubs the back of his neck and looks away before completely processing what she said. "Wait, what was that last part again?"
"That it was messed up. which it was," Emma repeats.
"Yeah, the part before that," Chris clarifies as a twinge of a smile pulls at his lips.
You add one explanation detail and suddenly they think they're hot shit. "That I should have asked what it was before letting you use it," Emma replies as she scrunched her mouth a bit to try not to smile as well. Dang it all.
"The part in between," Chris says amused.
"No, uh-uh you're in trouble mister, you're not allowed to get cheeky and be distracted by that," Emma says failing to fight back a smile as her cheeks turn a light pink while trying not to chuckle since it did kinda hurt to do that.
"You had a crush on me back then?" He asks as the smile shifted to a smirk.
"Nope, Not in the slightest, I meant someone else. I thought you were the biggest dick," Emma replies causing Chris to laugh while mumble to himself before leaning over the guard rail of the bed to gently hold the side of her face and give her a peck on the forehead since her mouth was covered.
"I'm just glad you're going to be okay," He says with a weak smile.
Emma smiles back, unable to reciprocate the affection so instead she leans forward to gently presses her forehead to his.
the sound of his phone got his attention causing him to let go and correct his posture before digging it out of his pocket to check the alert. "I have a meeting in 10 minutes, I should go."
"Don't be late," Emma says with a bit of a nod. sleep was starting to sound good again.
Chris nods and heads out, to find Jill waiting outside. "Oh, Hey," he says as he closes the door. Jill smiles.
"I thought I'd find you here." She says with a short chuckle. "Come on, the director gets cranky if anyone besides him is late." She says and the two walk together.
"So when are you heading out?" Chris asks curiously as they walk.
"Around noon, one of the BSAA choppers are heading that way anyways. So figured that would be my best bet," Jill explains with a shrug.
"Try not to wait 10 years to stop by again, okay?" Chris says with a smile.
"I sent you a card each year for a while, would it have killed you to write back?" Jill points out before shaking her head.
"There just, wasn't much to write about," he admits. "wake up, go to work, go home, sleep. go on the next missions."
Hearing that causes Jill to give a short tired sigh. "And that's why I gave up..." She says quietly which causes Chris to raise an eyebrow. "We had our moments back in the day, whatever you want to consider them, but nothing came of it because it was always just on to the next mission for you."
Chris frowned but nods as he wasn't oblivious to what she meant. He'd spent 3 years trying to find her knowing with every fiber of his being that she was alive but even after that he just went on to the next mission and by the time he got back she was gone.
"I'll send you a card for the holidays... can you try and write back this time?" Jill asks hesitantly.
Again he nods "Yeah, I can do that" he agrees.
"Good," Jill says with a smile before giving him a nudge, and a hesitant smile returns. "She's cute. I like her," Jill says with a chuckle.
Chris shakes his head "So you did go through my desk."
That causes Jill to laugh, "Well you stopped telling me what was going on in your life so I had to figure things out on my own since I wasn't sure if we'd actually get to see each other."
Chris gives her a small nudge back. "You made your point already. I'll write you back." Jill Chuckles at that.
They were late for the meeting and got chewed out for it by the director but ultimately it was good news. They were able to shut down the state-side labs thanks to the final pieces of evidence. it probably helped that the dagger over the director's head was removed. With Veronica gone, so was her threat and he had no problem approving the raids of the last labs that they knew about. it would probably take another 8 months but it was going to be a closed case.
Noon eventually arrived, Chris walked Jill to the airfield gave her a hug before she left, and saying goodbye properly this time. He felt lighter, like a weight he forgot he was carrying was lifted.
As he walked back to his office he scrolled through his phone to try and find the right set of numbers and dials it.
"Chris? Hey, I'm glad you called. I haven't been able to get ahold of Emma, do you know where she is. I'm really worried" Chelsea asks quickly upon answering the phone.
Chris winces slightly. "She's not feeling well," Chris says which causes Chelsea to give a quiet sigh. He wasn't sure how much to say, if he told her about the fire she'd want to see Emma but he couldn't get away with bringing the whole squad to see Emma. that was out of the question. "It'll probably be a few days..."
"Well, shit... okay um. maybe I can call in and get my shift moved." Chelsea says clearly torn, she was worried but this also kinda screwed her over since she relied on Emma during the holidays.
"She mentioned that she was supposed to watch the girls. If you want I'll fill in" Chris offers, while Chelsea was silent he could sense her shock over the phone.
"Really? Are you sure? She was going to watch them overnight..." She asks finally voicing her surprise.
"Emma was pretty upset she wasn't going to be able to. I don't mind," he says in response.
"You're a saint, thank you," Chelsea says gratefully. "I usually stop by around 6:30 is that okay?"
"That's fine," He agrees with a nod.
"Thanks again. I'll see you then. Tell Emma I hope she feels better and to check her darn phone," Chelsea says with a laugh.
"I'll pass on the message. Bye," Chris replies waiting for a 'bye' from Chelsea before hanging up. He didn't really consider himself to be a babysitter but, eh. Last time didn't go so awful when Emma brought them over.
He continues on with his day only to get a few messages.
[Tundra] TGIF
[Lobo] for real though. looking forward to drinks later.
Well crap... he forgot about that with the stress of everything that was going on. Hound Squad was out of Quarantine starting today and they agreed to get drinks at 7...
[Alpha] Might have accidentally double-booked.
[Canine] Really?
[Alpha] Sorry. Emma's down and out, I blanked when I offered to watch her nieces for her while she's resting.
[Night Howl] Well shit...
[Umber Eye] That's not so bad. We can probably make that work. We can just go somewhere else instead of the bar?
[Canine ] Yeah true.
[Lobo] Dave N Busters? Head the one down the road just had one of those VR rooms installed where you work in teams.
[Tundra] We'd be able to get a drink that way too, twice the cost though.
[Canine] You say that like we're ever home long enough to do anything with our paychecks
[Lobo] Too real my dude. Too real.
[Alpha] Let me check if that's okay first
Chris quickly sends a few texts to Chelsea and she ultimately agrees since her options were to not work and be short the money to pay the holiday bills or agree to let Chris watch them and take them to an arcade.
[Alpha] Looks like we're golden. See you guys there.
A wave of excited messages came in after. Chris spent lunch with Emma and gave her an update to let her know he'd be watching the girls for the night and before long the end of the day arrived and he Went back to the apartment, picked up the 3 tots, and away he went to the Dave and Busters.
"It's my friends!" Summer says happily and Maurie squealed before running over to Umber eye.
"I can go up please?" Maurie asks with a big ear-to-ear grin as she remembered being carried by the hands like a tiny grocery bag.
Umber eye shakes his head "Nah, I think you're a bit too big for that now. you got taller since last time," Maurie pouts a bit at that but nods. she did get taller and she was happy about that.
"We really need to try and get together more often than once a year," Canine says shaking his head.
"That would be easier if we weren't still in time out at work" Night Howl points out as he crosses his arms.
"Hopefully that will go back to normal now that we got things squared away with that latest mess," Chris says with a shrug, they couldn't really talk about it since they were in public but the group nods.
"Ya'll need to lighten up we're here now right? let's have some fun," Lobo says with a grin. "We should try that VR thing before we get too wasted."
"Can I play too?" Summer asks starry-eyed as she was getting old enough to understand things like video games.
"We got a tiny boss here. Yeah kid, let's go" Lobo agrees without waiting for Chris to say anything. "rest of you guys in?" Lobo asks getting nods and agreements from most of the group.
"Nah that shit makes me motion sick besides pretty sure it's a max of 6 players anyways," Tundra says shaking her head. "I'll hang back and watch Maurie and Annie," She offers and waves the rest of the group off. "you have fun."
Maurie giggles a bit at that "Shit!" she shouts causing Tundra's expression to drop. whoops.
"Maurie no that's a dad word, you're not supposed to say that." Summer chides with a knowing nod. she was a big kid now so she knew the rules.
"Oh..." Maurie replies a bit confused but nods all the same.
"We'll be back in 15," Chris says as Tundra nods. how hard could that be?
the group of 6 eventually make it to the front desk of the VR room and get squared away to play.
"Alright, this game I game of tower defense. You'll be paired up into teams Red, Yellow, and Blue" The guy explains.
Summer raises her hand "I wanna be on Uncle Chris's team" she announces with a grin.
"Uncle Chris?" Lobo asks with a smirk and Chris shrugs. "How long has that been a thing?"
"Started seeing Emma back in December" Chris admits.
"It's almost been a year and you didn't say anything?" He says with mock offense. "Here I thought I still had a chance."
"Pay attention," Chris says as they go back to listening to the explanation of the game.
The guy holds up a controller shaped vaguely like a gun. "Once you get in there and have your mask on make sure you don't actually run around stay in place and if you want to move around the room by pointing where you want to be and use this button on the side here to jump. Hit here to reload and pull the trigger to fire."
Summer nods while listening to the instructions intently. She wanted to do well.
they eventually were let into the room and hooked up. Night Howl and Lobo as Red team, Umber Eye and Canine as Yellow team leaving Chris and Summer as Blue team.
the game started up and they all started to hurry around, Chris took to find a hiding place while Summer wandered around. This was going to be a pretty bad handicap. Umber eye when to find a high point to snipe from while Lobo smiles and tries taking the easy shot at Summer who was still wandering around trying to find someone.
"You shot me?" Summer says sadly "why would you do that?" She asks which distracts Lobo.
"Oh uh sorr-hey!" he started to apologize only to get KOed by Chris who smiled while Summer giggled at the turn of events. This could work. Sure enough it did, the easy target was hard to ignore making it easy for Chris to figure out where the others were going to most likely be and pick them off as they approached.
"To your right," Chris says and summer whips around with a surprised squeak as she sees Canine and ends up getting a KO.
"I DID IT~" She cheers while jumping around happily while laughing excitedly.
Hearing how excited she was caused Canine to laugh as well. "Not bad kid," he says as he waits to load back in.
"We got a Lil soldier in the making here, we're getting massacred" Lobo adds as he looks up at the score with Blue team in the lead by a wide margin. Granted most of that was Chris picking off the others and the fact no one was willing to really shoot at Summer.
The game eventually comes to an end. BLUE TEAM WINS displayed on the screens.
"Yey!" Summer cheers and waits for an employee to help her get out of the headset.
"We kicked their butts," Summer says through laughs with a smug cheeky smile, knowing that she said knowing 'butt' was one of the gray area words where it wasn't a dad word but she could still get in trouble for it.
"Pretty sure you're not supposed to say that" Chris points out as the group walks out and starts heading back.
"Nah uh mama says I can say butts but I can't say ass," She corrects which causes the group to laugh since she still technically broke the 'rules' anyways.
"Okay you're the boss," Chris says shaking his head as they make it back to Tundra.
Tundra hands over Annie to Chris "take her. I'm out." She says with a laugh. "She keeps trying to grab everything and put it in her mouth."
Chris takes Annie back and nods. that was probably going to get old quick, but he signed up for this.
The group walks around occasionally playing games while the more of the group had drinks. Chris stayed sober since he'd be driving back with 3 kids in the car. He'd risk his own neck driving buzzed but not someone else's.
"Alpha, let me borrow the baby," Lobo says quickly as he repeatedly pats Chris' arm with the back of his hand.
"What?" Chris asks surprised.
"Let me borrow the baby," Lobo repeats and motions for Chris to hand him Annie.
"Why," He rebuttals as his surprise turns to confusion.
"Babies are chick magnets," Lobo says with a cheeky grin. "It makes you look sensitive and emotionally available," he adds while placing a hand over his heart. Chris shakes his head and hands over Annie.
Chris rolls his eyes but hands over Annie, it would be nice to have a break and stretch.
Lobo's attempt to go to the bar and flirt when about as well as anyone could expect, meaning it didn't really work but there was an attempt.
Chris ended up having to call it early, around 9 to get back home before 10 since Annie and Maurie were starting to get cranky. He walks up to the second floor of the apartment building before looking between the two doors and digs out his keys to unlock Emma's apartment. They were used to sleeping here and Emma had space for them since she had that guest room. Once they were set up he turns out the light.
"G'night Uncle Chris." Summer says which Maurie copies.
"Good night" he replies closing the door before walking to the couch nudging Duke to get off and settles in for the night.
After the last few chapters, I figured I owe you guys something cute X'D So have some cutes and the adorable suggestion from ViperinePoem to have Summer and Chris completely massacring HWS in Laser tag.