Hi guys! Sorry about the delay. I head back from my beta again, so I needed a week to look over edits and such. with the extra time, I can now safely say that everything up to chapter 78 has been scrubbed clean. The updates are going to take a lil longer for FFN, but Ao3 is up-to-date. They're working on chapters 79 to 95. Without any further delay, I give to you chapter 96.

Song Suggestion: Monsters by All Time Low (Feat. Demi Lovato and blackbear)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. CapCom giveth and taketh away. I am only a smol fan fic writer giving an offering at their corporate feet.

In a world of zombies and government cover-ups, peace and happiness only lasts so long. The wedding had been a nice moment of respite, but it was back to work as usual after that. Rose went to school each morning and did homework in the evening as the warmth of summer cooled in Autumn's breeze that welcomed the first of October.

Rose shuffled her way back home as she got off the bus once more. School was still amazing, but she was starting to see why Summer complained about homework, thanks to the weight of her book bag and the 5 textbooks in it that pulled on her sore shoulders. She shifted to try and relieve some of the pressure, but with little success. The second she made it into the house, she quickly discarded the bag by the door.

"I'm home!" Rose announced to the empty house and received no reply. Right. She got home first. As she moved to take her shoes off, Duke slowly trotted over to join her and licked her hand. "Hey Duke," Rose greeted as her smile returned, and she pat the dog who happily accepted the attention.

There wasn't much else to do so once her shoes were put away, Rose went back to her backpack to carry that over to the table. She started to unpack so she could begin working on her homework while she waited for the others to make it back too.

One hour passed. Then two. While part of her felt lonely, another knew that Gary was probably outside. Watching as always thanks to the increased surveillance protocol that the director mandated. When the director said she'd be escorted on campus, she thought that just meant the BSAA campus. Not school.

"Gary! Gary, I'm bored," Rose announced and waited. "Oh no! There's a rogue beast causing havoc in the house!" No response at first, but eventually, she heard the soft ping of her phone that announced she got a new text.

[unknown] That's just Duke. Do your homework.

"Figures," Rose said under her breath as she went back to her homework after saving the number into her phone.

one more hour passed and a few more practice questions were filled out, but that only lasted so long as Rose got distracted by balancing her pencil on her upper lip.

"I'm home!" Emma called.

"Finally," Rose replied as she dropped her pencil.

"How was school?" Emma asked as Piers quickly hurried by to go and find a toy to play with.

"It was okay," Rose replied as she picked up her pencil. "better than being in a stuffy lab all day."

"I can imagine," Emma said as she finally made her way over as well.

"What's for dinner?" Rose asked as she watched Emma make her way over to the fridge.

"Hmm. I was thinking stir-fry sounds good," Emma thoughtfully answered while poking around the fridge to gather the required ingredients. "Did you remember to take your medicine?"

"Not the kind with mushrooms in it, right?" Rose grimaced as she focused more on the first statement.

"You can pick them out," Emma made her way over to the counter to start her prep work and sure enough there were mushrooms.

"Isn't that rude? It's basically just cannibalism for me. I'm half mold, remember," The teenager pointed out while glaring through a squint at the cursed fungus.

"It's not cannibalism," Emma rolled her eyes. That was certainly a new one to add to the books.

"I mean. It's pretty close," she argued.

"Well I guess that means no cheese either since mold is a part of the process of making it. No pizza, mac'n'cheese, chicken parm, alfredo, grilled cheese," She lists off.

"Fiiine," Rose relents as she listened to the list of tasty food that would be lost as well in her attempt to get rid of the mushrooms.

The temporary truce gave both of them time to focus on their own tasks as another hour passed.

"I'm home!" Chris announced as he walked in.

"Dah-dah!" Piers happily cheered and hurried over to show Chris the toy he'd been playing with.

"Welcome home," Emma and Rose replied in unison.

Chris put his shoes away before he picked up Piers and walked over to the kitchen, so he could put a bundle of mail on the counter.

Rose curiously stared at the bundle for a moment before she got up to go and check it out. Bills, flyers and magazines they never signed up for were abundant, yet there was never anything addressed to her.

While she did this, Chris made his way over to Emma and gave her a peck on the side of her forehead.

"Dinner should be ready soon," Emma said, amused with the affection. "How was work?"

"It was work," He hesitated. "We've been assigned a new mission. We're heading out on Thursday."

"Two days? I thought they were doing better about giving notice," Emma pointed out in dismay.

"I know. It's because of the last one. They want us out as soon as possible," He explained before shifting to look at Rose. "Rose will be going with. The school has already been told to expect a one-week leave of absence."

"A week?" Rose asked, mortified as she looked up from her postal pilfering.

"They'll collect all of your homework and tests for you to make them up when you get back."

Ugh. Well, it's not like she'd get any say in the matter even if she argued. "Fine." While she wanted to pretend that missing her school work was her only concern, Flashbacks of the last mission came to mind. The twisted mouthless face of the beast that tried to kill them. They still didn't know where it went... The thought was enough to make her shutter as her own screams filled her mind.

She didn't really want to go back to that.

It was scary. She was scared.

Thoughts like that filled the time and left her silent as dinner was served and consumed. The family went on with their evening and were none the wiser to Rose's mental turmoil. The young teen initially went to go to her room to try and sleep through the panic but stopped for a moment as she walked by the door that lead to the garage where she could hear an occasional muffled clink or clank of tools.

Maybe she could still talk her way out of this...

It felt hopeless, but she at least wanted to try. With that, she made her way over to the garage door and into the garage to find that Chris was busy tinkering with the bike. Rose cautiously walked a bit closer, but Chris didn't seem to notice. "Chris?" She asked in at attempt to get his attention.

"Hm? Hey kiddo," He greeted as he glanced over for a moment. "Good timing, can you hand me the wrench over on the shelf? I left it there accidentally while checking my phone."

"Sure," Rose walked over and picked up the tool to hand it to Chris before shifting to sit down and watch. "So. Speaking hypothetically," she started, which quickly got Chris's attention.

"okay,"

"What if. I maybe don't want to go on the mission..." Rose quietly asked as she shifted to hold her own legs.

"I know you prefer going to school but, There isn't much I can do," Chris admits. Honestly, he didn't like having her go with either, but this was the life they were expected to live. "Hypothetically speaking though." He started as he went back to his tinkering. "The director would probably push for you to go with on this one. It was short notice, but it's not an emergency. And she thinks pretty highly of you after how brave you were last time." He offered, hoping that would be enough.

"But I'm not brave," Rose countered as the memory played again. All she did was freeze up and scream. She didn't fight back, she tried to hide. "I'm just a coward..."

The confession got Chris to stop and return his attention to Rose. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

"I am though." She insisted. "That thing. Whatever it was. It scares me... and that's what people think I am. Right? A monster."

Chris heaved thinking breath of pause as he tried to figure out how to reply to that. "Bravery isn't an absence of fear," He started as he shifted to make sure he was facing her. "Bravery is knowing fear and feeling it so deeply, it turns into action. A want to protect others from ever feeling the same," He tried to explain. That's at least how he understood it. "People who say they are brave and that they don't know fear. Have likely never had a reason to be brave in the first place, and never known true fear," With that he move to gently pat her head and mess with her hair. "You are not a coward. You're your father's daughter. And he certainly wasn't a coward. And I don't know a single person that would call him a monster."

"Really?"

"Really," Chris scooted over to give Rose a reassuring one armed hug, knowing well enough that he was covered in grease and old motor oil that would not be appreciated by the teen. "The director's line of logic is that you need to get used to these missions while you can. She's not going to let you stop going completely, but I'll see if I can talk to her about letting you sit this one out."

"...Thanks dad,"

'*'*'*'*'

Despite Chris's best efforts, the director remained insistent that Rose should go with. That the mission was recon based in the States and not a raid, as such she should be safe.

This did little to reassure the still very nervous Rose who sat quietly in her seat as the helicopter carried them toward their mission objective.

Umber eye looked from Canine, to Night Howl then Alpha. They all seemed just as aware of the child's unusual silence. "Rose." the second in command said to try and get her attention.

"Hm?"

"I was just thinking. You don't have a code name," Umber eye pointed out.

"Hey that's right," Lobo chimed in through the head said. "That just criminal at this point. We should have given her one on her first day."

"Nah, we hadn't seen her in action yet," Canine pointed out.

"True," Night Howl chimed in.

"Can we just use my gamer tag?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No can do," Umber eye said with a smile. "There are unspoken rules about this stuff. You don't pick your own code name."

"He's right. The only time you pick your own code name is if your squad hates your guts and don't care enough to give you one," Lobo confirmed. "it's a rite of passage."

"You guys didn't pick your own names?" Rose asked clearly not buying it.

"Nope," "nuh-uh," "Never in all my years,"

Rose looked at Chris to see if they were pulling her leg.

"They're telling the truth." Chris confirmed.

"You guys are weird," Rose said as she tried to push back a smile. While it was silly the idea of getting a code name was somewhat exciting and she was curious to see what they'd pick.

"So what are we going to call her," Night howl asked.

"What about cactus blossom," Lobo joked. "Prickly pear?"

"Nah we got a theme going we need to stick to it. It's bad luck otherwise," Canine shifted in his seat to more seriously ponder.

"What about Coyote?" Night Howl suggested instead.

"Doesn't really roll off the tongue," Umber eye scratched at his chin.

"And Umber Eye does? What about puppy?" Canine suggested with a laughing grin.

"No," the group replied in unison, and even Rose protested.

"Damn. Those were worse than mine, and I was joking," Lobo laughed.

Chris crossed his arms as he thought over the topic. A code name for Rose. Canine had a point, they had a theme going with wolves. Lobo also had a point that she did still have a bit of bite to her. Their arguments proved that well enough. Night Howl's suggestion did pull in that she was social but would go off on her own. While, to Canine's credit, Rose was young and not exactly feral. She should be at home. If she was going to get a code name though, he didn't want her to have the same problem he had with his first code name. His felt more like an insult. Probably because it was.

All the same, the suggestions kept rolling in. "Fenrir?" Umber Eye offered.

"Too masculine. Lupin?" Lobo countered as he started taking the task a little more seriously.

Night Howl shook his head. "Pretty sure that's the name of a thief. Beo?"

"Sounds like you're accusing her of having B.O." Canine winced.

"It's a shortened name from mythology you dick," Night Howl grumbled.

"Hold on now. Why is she getting cool shit from mythology? You assholes just used the Spanish word for wolf for my name," Lobo pointed out.

"Her code name is Street Wolf," Chris finally said. Mostly domestic and would go off on her own, but still a wolf in her own right and a member of the pack.

Hearing Chris' suggestion surprised Rose. "Street Wolf?" She repeated back. That did sound kinda cool.

Hearing Rose's curious tone caused Umber Eye to smile. "I like it."

"It fits," Night Howl agreed.

"Alright then. Welcome to the pack Street Wolf," Canine gave Rose a pat on the back.

"You're official now. We'll all have to celebrate when we get back," The reason for doing all of this now, wasn't lost on Lobo. Even from his place in the pilot's seat. The kid needed a pick me up. What better way to do that then to give her something to look forward to once this was done.

"Really?" Rose asked all the more excited.

"Hell yeah," Night Howl said as the helicopter slowly started to land. "Captain's paying right?"

"I have a company card. I can probably write it off," Chris shrugged.

"Sounds like a good time," Umber Eye looked out the window as the helicopter jolted slightly from touching down. "Looks like we're here. You'll have to put some thought into where you want to go to eat."

"Later. For now, we need to focus," Chris chided. While well intended, it wasn't going to help if she was too distracted, and she wound up getting hurt. "Umber Eye, you'll go with Canine to do a perimeter check. Lobo you're with me. We're going to do one more sweep of the mines and lab," Chris looked at Rose next. "Street Wolf. You're with Night Howl. Set up a base of operations and be ready to receive and transmit anything we send to you. Understood?"

Rose's shoulders dropped. She had to stay behind again? Okay yeah, she didn't really want to go, but what happened to the whole 'you're a real part of the team now' stuff?

"Yes sir," Night Howl answered before nudging Rose.

"Yes sir," She begrudgingly repeated.

"Alright, everyone. Move out," Chris ordered earning 4 confirmation calls in response as everyone quickly got to work.

Rose trailed behind as she helped Night howl unload a few containers from the helicopter before taking a moment to look around. The place looked like a swamp, with rotting buildings seemingly floating on the water. "Where are we?"

"Baker Farms in Louisiana," Night Howl replied. as he put down another container. "It's certainly not one of our favorite places to visit, but it's a good place for answers all the same."

"Visit's a word. You got stuck on baby sitting duty," Rose grumbled.

"Not quite," Night Howl chuckled as he motioned for Rose to follow him. "Tundra and I would get assigned to set up a safe point pretty much every mission. This is status quo."

"Really?" Rose asked as she scrunched up her nose.

"Yep. You never really got the chance to see her in action. He's just asking you to do her job," He explained while looking around at one of the remaining buildings.

"He couldn't have told me that?" Rose grumpily asked. If he had then maybe she wouldn't be so cross.

"Captain gets just as anxious as you. He just tries not to show it. Never did like visiting here or the village. A lot of good people died on this mission," Night Howl explained before going back to grab a folding table. "mask on. this place as spores."

"What does it matter? I'm already infected," Rose moved to put her mask over her mouth and nose all the same. Wait people died?!

"This might be your strain, but it doesn't mean it can't get worse. It's best to be safe," Night howl led the way into the building with walls that seemed to be bowing from the humidity in the air and wall paper that was peeling off in chunks.

"I thought I had the mold from Romania. That's where I was born," Rose frowned behind her mask that muffled her words.

"Alpha really hasn't explained much, huh?" Night Howl stopped to turn and look at Rose only to see her shake her head no in response. "Alright, just don't tell him you heard it from me. Okay?"

"Deal."

"You were born in Romania, but your mom and dad were here. This is where they got their infection that got passed down to you," Night Howl explained as he motioned for Rose to continue following him. "So in a way, you're not just infected. You're a carrier. You're parents were deemed stable, but that didn't prevent them from passing on the mold to you."

"They were here?" Rose asked as she looked around the building with greater curiosity.

"Yeah. You're dad, God rest his soul, he did a number on this place looking for your mother," Night Howl rounded a corner as the squeak of decaying floorboards announced each step. "Did the same thing when he was looking for you in that village."

Hearing that caused her to smile. Though it didn't last as she winced from a freshly forming headache.

"Alpha was running multiple teams at the time. Silver Dagger, Hound Wolf and a few other teams got assigned to the mission to check the place out. Hound Wolf was assigned to sweep the main house. He had a feeling we'd be fine and went Silver Dagger to chase down the last known threat in the area," There was a moment of reverent pause. "He was the only survivor." Night Howl left it at that, She was already freaked out by missions. Reasonably so after her last one, but she still had a right to know what this place was and her connection to it.

Rose's steps paused for a moment as she heard that. The longer they were in this place, the more claustrophobic it felt, so she pressed on. "Silver Dagger Squad. That's who you meant before when you said good people died, right?"

"Yep," Night Howl looked around as they made it out to the other side of the building, which felt like a breath of fresh air to Rose. "Though, if you asked your dad. He would have included the Bakers in that list. Never did understand why he was so adamant that they were innocent. He was set that it wasn't completely their fault."

"The Bakers?"

"The family that used to own this place. They wound up infected. They were sentient enough to talk and hold to a routine. they even wrote in journals while infected, but they started killing anyone who wandered too close," Night Howl said as he moved to set up the folding table he brought with.

If the bakers owned the place, "Then why were my mom and dad here?" Rose asked as her eyebrows knit together.

"... The path here is safe enough. Go and get one of the storage containers. I'll explain more when you get back," Night Howl offered in an attempt to buy himself some time to think of how to answer that. It wasn't exactly a secret that Rose was sensitive to mentions of Eveline but, this was Eveline's story too.

"Fine, but you better not break your promise," Rose grumbled as she turned to go back the way they came.

Just as quickly, the sense of suffocating pressure returned as she tried to navigate the halls. She just needed to breathe. She was fine. Everything was okay. She just went this way with Night Howl and no one was-

a childish laughter filled her mind.

Here.

Rose quickly turned around and found that the hall she walked down was no longer there and replaced by a wall. As she turned again, she found herself standing behind a familiar figure who was cautiously walking forward.

"Dad?" Rose asked as she followed behind him, but she received no response.

"Ethan," a woman happily said as she seemingly showed up out of nowhere, causing the man to jolt back and Rose to yelp. "It's okay. It's okay, it's me." The woman reassured while holding a hand behind her back as she led him forward. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me," upon saying this, a large gash in her neck became more apparent.

As if someone flipped a switch, the woman's face grew distorted and grotesque. "But you Shouldn't have done that!" She shouted as she grabbed Ethan and threw him against the nearest wall. The two struggled before the woman stabbed a screwdriver that she'd been hiding through Ethan's hand to pin him to the wall.

Rose stumbled back, covering her ears as she heard him scream. The woman continued to shout at him as Rose coward back while she watched her father struggle to try and get free. Only for the woman to shuffle away and come back wielding a chainsaw. Whoever this was, she was going to hurt dad!

"Stop it!" Rose shouted as she tried to use her powers to pull the chainsaw out of the woman's hand. It worked, causing both figures to stop and stare as if they only just noticed she was there.

"You're no fun," declared a childish voice she could never forget.

Yet before she could say anything, one she didn't recognize spoke. "Eveline. That's enough," said the voice of an older man as the space around her fell away like ashes and dust, leaving her to collapse.

"Easy now. I got you," the voice said as she could feel herself being picked up. "I got you. you're okay," it reassured as Rose pushed herself to try and open her eyes. For a second, she saw Chris, but just as quickly it was gone, and she found herself being carried by a somewhat balding older man who gently placed her down on a couch.

"Take you're time. Being here's not easy on the mind," the man said as he moved to take a seat in the armchair across from her. "We don't usually get visitors."

"Who are you?" Rose asked as she pushed herself to get up but failed.

"It's alright now. Don't push yourself. You're safe," He assured once more. "My name's Jack Baker," he said before motioning for someone to join him. A woman walked over and stood next to him. Different from the one she saw before. this one was much older and seemed to have a slight limp from a bad back. "And this here is my wife, Marguerite. You're in our home... Well. The memory of it."

"I don't understand," Rose squeaked out.

"Poor thing," Marguerite cooed. "She's struggling pretty bad."

"She must still be alive," Jack said. "That's a good thing, mind you. But, this place, it ain't for the living."

"Take a breath, dear. It's okay," Marguerite said. " Remember to breathe. It's easier if you're calm."

Rose stopped trying to force herself to sit up for a moment and listened to the couples coaching. After a few calm breaths, and she felt lighter. Enough so to sit up properly.

"There, that's better now, right?" Jack said with a weak smile. "How long have you been infected for? You picked that up pretty quickly."

"How do you know that?" Rose asked as she stared at the couple suspiciously. the BSAA was very tight-lipped about her infection.

The question seemed humorous as the two chuckled. "Sweet heart, you can only get here if you are infected. It's why the both of us are here too."

"Huh?"

"How to explain it... Lucas always was better with this sorta thing. I wonder why he's not here..." Marguerite pondered while holding the side of her face. "Haven't seen Zoe either... I miss them."

"We just have to hope that means they're both safe and alive, dear," Jack replied before looking at Rose again. "I can at least try to explain... The mold. It's like a bee's nest. or a large brain. It stores the memories of the people it infects. their essence. It's stuck here. Waiting to be taken back out again."

"What I was seeing before then. That was a memory?" Rose asked and Jack nods.

"Most likely. Evie can get pretty mean when she's bored. She must have picked up that an infected person was near the mold..." Marguerite agreed.

"Try not to think too poor of her. She's just a little girl. She don't know any better. Wasn't raised right," Jack said as he moves to knit his hands together. "This whole place, it's built with the memories of the people stored in the mold."

"It was sweet of you to visit. If we were still alive, we would have loved to have you join us for dinner, but you shouldn't stay here too long. This place, it tends to drive people mad." Marguerite warned. "So when you wake up. You make sure you stay far away from this place. Okay?"

"It would hurt our hearts to know our home took the life of another innocent soul. So when you wake up. Do that for us." Jack requested. "Don't come back."

"Okay... How do I wake up?" Rose asked, and the couple seemed confused.

"If we knew, we wouldn't be here," Jack admitted thought an amused chuckle. "I'm sure you can do it, though. Close your eyes, and wake up."

Rose nodded and listened once more. She closed here eyes and took a deep breath.

As soon as she did this, she could feel her lungs fill with air, and she started to cough and sputter before jolting forward to find that she was lying on the floor of the helicopter with an oxygen mask over her face.

"She's awake!" She heard Night Howl shout as the others hurried over.

Rose looked around as the others quickly crowded her. How to say this. "Jack and Marguerite." she paused. "They said we should go away."

"How do you know those names..." Chris asked as he stared in terrified awe. He never said the Baker's names.

"I talked to them. They said they're stuck here because of the mold,"

"because of the mold?" Canine repeated as he leaned to look out of the helicopter and back to the building, but there was no one there.

Rose nodded. "I think so. They said it stored people? Memories. That's why they're still here."

Chris and the others looked at each other in silent concern.

"That would explain why Miranda thought the mold could bring back her kid," Night Howl says as he cautiously looks at the rest of the group. "Use a similar enough body as an empty USB drive to try and upload the kid from the mold."

"Here I thought she was just some psycho cult nut," Lobo grumbled.

"Pretty sure we all thought she was insane," Canine admitted as he crossed his arm to think it over a bit more.

"Is that how Heisenberg ended up coming back again? He got pulled back out of the mold?" Umber eye asked as he started putting a few more pieces of the puzzle together.

This was definitely something the BSAA would abuse... "Not a word of this, leaves this circle. Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir," the four agree in unison.

"Night Howl, get samples. We have research to do," Chris instructs.

"On it, captain."

"And Rose," He looked at the girl who winced as she prepared for a scolding. "I'm glad you're okay."

'*'*'*'*'

Rose was strictly quarantined to the Helicopter after that incident. There were no if's and's or but's about it that she could offer that would change Chris's mind. A full week of being confined to the vehicle just made her all the more grateful to be home again and back to the much more spacious halls of the high school.

A weeks worth of homework was turning out to be worse then she feared. Her heavy backpack made a solid thud against the cafeteria floor as she took her usual seat for lunch.

"Rose? Hey! you're back!"

Hearing this caused Rose to shift to find the source. "Sasha. Hey," She greeted as her new friend took the seat across from her.

"You were gone for a while. Were you on vacation?" Sasha asked as she put her lunch tray down so she could take her backpack off as well.

"Vacation's a word for it," not one that Rose would use, but it was a word.

"So not vacation?" Sasha asked with a confused attempt at a sympathetic smile. "The weird guy that shows up out of classes was gone until you came back too. Do you know him?"

"Kinda," Rose admitted, while hesitating to say anything else. Gary wasn't her favorite person in the world but, she didn't hate him enough to get him in trouble.

"Oh boy, Um. Maybe don't admit that to anyone else," Sasha warned as Rose dug through her backpack to pull out a sufficiently crushed lunch bag. "Look. I'm not one to judge but. People have been saying you got transferred here from Juvie."

"What's that?" Rose asked as she grimaced at her lunch. well. Luckily, it was sandwich day. it was just very flat now. along with anything else that was in there.

"You don't know?"

"No. I was homeschooled. I barely know what a bus is," Rose added which caused Sasha to laugh.

"Okay, okay. The fact you don't know is enough to prove you weren't there," Sasha shook her head as an amused smile remained. "But seriously, where were you?"

Rose glances around to see if Gary was watching. She couldn't see him, but that didn't mean he couldn't hear her... Rose took out her phone and started quickly typing up a message in a note before sliding that across the table. Summer always loved hearing about this stuff.

I had to go on a super secret mission with my team. Top secret stuff. I can't talk about it.

Sasha read the message before looking back at Rose. "Seriously?" She asked though her tone remained flat.

"Yep," Rose said as she confidently pocketed her phone. "Pretty cool, right?"

Sasha rolled her eyes as she moved to collect her things. "You could have just said you don't want to talk about it."

"Huh?"

"I'm gonna sit somewhere else. Let me know when you feel like telling the truth," Sasha said as she walked away.

Rose watched in confused disbelief. What the heck just happened? Rose looked at her lunch and heaved a dejected sigh.

This downcast mood stuck around for the rest of the day. Even if She'd try to catch up with Sasha in the Halls, Rose would end up being ignored.

Before long, the last period of the day came to an end. A heavy book back with homework bursting from the seams just add insult to injury on the long, quiet bus ride back to the empty home. Rose remained silent as she glumly stared out the window and waited for her stop.

Once the bus stopped by the main road near the cul-de-sac Rose shuffled her way off the bus and down the sidewalk. What an awful first day back. People thought she went to Juvie. Wherever that is and worst her friend thought she was a liar! What else was she supposed to do, though? She was telling the truth! Rose kicked at a rock that bounced down the sidewalk.

This sucked.

The routine returned and continued from there. She greeted the empty home and received a greeting from Duke. She sat there and tried to get through the mountain of work she was assigned, and barely made a dent in it by the time Emma made it home.

"I'm home!" Emma greeted as she walked in.

"wohoo," Rose sarcastically replied.

Hearing that caused Emma to wince. "Rough day?" she asked as she made her way around the corner along with Piers who happily went off to find a toy to play with as always.

"Yeah," Rose shortly said as she tried to pretend to focus on her homework.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Emma walked over and put her hand on the seat across from Rose.

"Not really," Rose tried to bury her face further into her book.

Emma waited a moment but walked away. "Alright," she went to the fridge instead. "I was thinking tacos for dinner." Maybe one of her favorites would help cheer her up. well. kinda. She liked Cheese on crunchy tortillas. "could do nachos?"

"Nachos aren't dinner," Rose mumbled while resting her head on her text book. She gave up. She'd try again tomorrow. It was all late anyways.

"Could be," Emma rebutted.

"Moooom," Rose groaned in annoyance.

"Alright," and with that, Emma let it go. She focused on cooking instead and allowed the sulking child to wallow.

An hour or so passed before the next greeting was heard. "I'm home!" Chris announced.

"Welcome home!" Emma called back on her own as Chris made his way into dining area.

"Hey Rose," Chris greeted and quickly picked up on the openly sulking teen. "That's an odd way of studying?"

"I'm learning through osmosis," Rose grumbled as she moved enough to rest her chin on the book instead of her forehead.

Honestly, he was just impressed she knew what osmosis was. He pretty much dropped out of high school, so who was he to tell her to get back to work. "Alright, you do that then." He relented as he put down the collection of mail on the counter.

Rose stared at the pile of mail with mild curiosity. It's not like she was actually studying anyway. She ignored her parents talking in the background as she shuffled her way over to poke thought the pile of envelopes.

Junk. Junk. Bills. Junk. huh. "What's this?" Rose asked as she picked up a small glossy booklet with the BSAA logo on it and various stock photo models on the cover.

The question cause Chris to look over. "Just junk." Chris replied. "They send those catalogs out every so often. Nothing useful. wouldn't even call it mission gear quality. Cheap shit that has logos on it that they pay some third party to make on demand." He usually just threw the darn thing away.

All the same Rose flipped through the pages only to stop. "Hey the stuff on this page has Hound Wolf's logo on it."

"And the next page has Tiger Orcas. Same shit every year. They don't even change the pictures," Chris shook his head. She wasn't seriously interested in this, right?

Rose could feel a smile tug at the corner of her lips. This might actually work. She could prove she was telling the truth! "Can I get something?"

Oh great. She wasn't joking. "It'll rip in a week," Chris warned, but she continued to flip between paged. This was a losing battle and he knew it. "It's your allowance. I'll bring in the order form. Just don't say I didn't warn you."

Rose quickly hurried over to give Chris a hug before running off to look for a pen.

This one was a bit short, but lots happened! And at least there's still four chapters left until the mini pause, lol. It's not as big of a deal now that the DLC is coming out in October. So, the big freeze will be after that.

That being said, this mini pause situation is leaving me with a bit of an odd situation. Do I update the chapter count now to show 106 as the end goal even though there will be a roughly 2-month pause, or do I leave it as 100 and switch it to 106 after the DLC comes out?

Both could kind of be seen as manipulative in a way, and that makes it hard to choose. Leaving it as 100 when I know I'll come back shortly will give it the complete status for 2 months when I know I'll be back pretty soon. But changing it to 106 could be a dick move, since it means I'll be writing more. Just not now.

What do you guys think? Do you have a preference, or am I over thinking this?