A/N: So its been a little over a year since I've updated this and I don't even know what happened. Yikes. Also I can't do calendar match, because way more than three years separates the events of RE5 and RE6. Double Yikes.
She honestly didn't hear a word that was spoken about the mission. She had spent all of their time while traveling overseas to read up on all the files so she knew what their mission was and, if there were any updates, she knew that Chris wouldn't steer her in the wrong direction. Instead of listening to the briefing, she was contemplating just how serious this all was. Neo Umbrella, the C-Virus, and these supposed plans for world domination. Would there be further terrorist attacks now that the Edonia attack was basically a success in Neo Umbrella's book? Or would Edonia be the end once the BSAA snuffed out their flame?
A gentle nudge from her husband had her following his lead as he walked away from the team. She assumed that they would be following behind them, the familiar rustle of their gear telling her that she was right. This would be an adventure, because this team was new to her and Chris. They were both familiar with Piers, but everyone else was new to her and it was obvious that the rookie of the team idolized Chris.
'My husband the living legend.' She thought with a smirk, speeding up just a bit so she was walking in time with him. They got into one of the humvees, and she joined Chris in the little hole on top of the vehicle.
Allison had never been to a war-like environment before. By the time she got to any location, the area was nearly desolate and the enemies she had to deal with weren't the thinking kind. Edonia was a completely different ballpark for her, and she assumed that this was what war zones looked and felt like. The fact that she was riding in a Humvee that was part of a small convoy only sealed that notion to her that this was a war zone. What better way to spend her Christmas Eve than on a battlefield?
"How are you, Allison?" Chris asked quietly, noticing the way her eyes had been glued to the surrounding area since they started driving through the city.
"Fine." Was all the blonde murmured, giving a slight shrug without looking away from the scene before her. If she had to be perfectly honest, she didn't want to get out of the vehicle. She wanted to stay put and hide from all of this, but she couldn't and she was upset about that. This was her job (that was forced upon her but she was trying to find a more positive way to word it), and she had to do her job because there were people counting on her. Really only Chris had put any faith in her at this point in her career with the BSAA but he was still counting on her and she didn't want to let him down. She couldn't let him down anymore.
It was actually part of her New Year's resolution to be a better wife to her husband, through various means but not letting him down fit into that.
"It's my first time on a battlefield like this." She spoke up after another minute, turning and looking to see that he was looking right at her. "And before you ask, the mansion, Raccoon, Rockfort, Spain, and Africa don't count."
"Why don't they count?"
"One or two against a whole crowd that isn't even coming after me doesn't make battlefield. This, here in Edonia, is almost like war. Two armed forces clashing like this, virus infected or not, these J'avo are still an organized militia. I've never dealt with anything like this before."
"But Spain and Africa were-"
"I was protected in those cases. I don't have that protection here." He could hear the fear in her tone and he really didn't like that. Did she doubt him?
"You've got nothing to worry about, Allison." He assured, leaning in close so that he could place his hand over hers that rest on her thigh. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
"I trust you." She spoke, the corners of her mouth turning up just enough that he could actually call it a smile. He was going to thank her, but the Humvee a couple cars ahead of them getting fired at and tipped onto its side had him reaching out to steady her as she climbed out of the hole.
"I'm right behind you, Spencer." He murmured into her ear, taking cover behind the vehicle with her and Piers before regrouping with the rest of Alpha Team.
"Ready?" He murmured, looking down at her with the gentle smile that she loved so much.
"As I'll ever be." She responded, raising her assault rifle and using the scope to view their surroundings before slowly stepping out and picking off one of the nearby J'avo. This of course, alerted all of the nearby enemies to their location but this was totally fine. She loved to be the center of attention. "One down."
"A shitload to go."
Things were alright as they moved through the city, Allison kept close to Chris like she was required to but she was paying close attention to Piers and Finn as they kept super close to her. She knew Piers was just keeping an eye on her, out of concern or suspicion she wasn't sure, but she was almost certain that Finn was trying to get himself as far up Chris' ass as he could and that really made her smile on the inside. The rookie didn't really need Chris' approval for anything though, since Chris didn't really run anything in the BSAA (highly respected yes, but he wasn't really in charge of anything but Alpha team) and the rookie had his own set of skills that were a huge help to the team, but she assumed it was a respect thing. Respect went a long way in this line of work. That applied to both the good team and the evil team.
Most of her respect came from her last name and the fact that she spent the better part of ten years as Albert Wesker's right hand. She was Umbrella's heiress, the last remnant of the Spencer family legacy, on that notion alone most in her world would fear her. Add in the Wesker part and she got fear and worship from those who hadn't yet been captured by various agencies put in place to stop bioterrorism. She owed Wesker a lot, she owed him her life and yet she was still living while he was thrown into a volcano.
"Something on your mind?" Chris asked, getting a shrug out of his wife as she checked their surroundings. He could tell that her thoughts weren't on the mission, but he knew that she wouldn't let herself become distracted while they were on the field. She had been trained better.
"Nothing too important or distracting. Thanks for checking though." She assured, eyes widening slightly when her eyes landed on the bridge. "I can already sense the bullshit approaching."
"You can just tell?" Finn asked, stepping back slightly when Allison looked over her shoulder at him.
"I've been in this business a long time, Finn. It's like a sixth sense at this point." Chris detected the sadness in her tone, but it went right passed the others. It was for the best that they didn't catch on to her slight depression. Not everybody knew that she wasn't thrown into the world of bioterrorism willingly. She'd never liked being involved, but her loyalty to Wesker was just too strong for her to blatantly oppose him. There were little acts of insubordination here and there, but once Wesker was killed in Africa she was free of the world of bioterrorism but still stuck in it because the BSAA wasn't just going to let her go. Chris knew her too well, if she had her way she probably would be hidden away on some island for the rest of her life. Or hiding in Leon Kennedy's house because he was notorious for letting her off the hook and providing her with protection.
"You're pretty handy with a rifle, aren't you?" Piers asked, bringing Chris back into the present to see Piers and Allison standing close together.
"Yeah, but I didn't have one packed for this mission so it's all you, buddy."
"Alright."
"You were thinking pretty hard so Piers and I made an executive decision on your behalf." She explained as she turned to face her husband, smiling when she saw how confused he looked. "Give Piers a boost over that gap?"
"Certainly."
"There's an injured Bravo on the bridge, Piers is going up top to give cover from above and clear the bridge a little." She explained, hand on his arm as they walked with Finn to the bridge.
"Tending to the wounded is our first priority."
"Knew you'd say that." She smirked, features softening a bit when he smiled down at her. They were in a middle of a war zone, essentially, and she knew that their behavior wasn't exactly professional but she enjoyed this so much. It seemed so much sweeter to her when they were technically on the brink of death just being in the country of Edonia than it did when they were at home. "I know it wasn't my place to take charge, but-"
"You did the right thing, Al. I wasn't paying attention, as dangerous as that is in our situation, and you covered my ass. I owe you."
"I'm sure I can come up with a couple ways for you to make it up to me later if you don't end up saving my ass before we get out of this mess."
"I hope I don't have to because I really enjoy making things up to you."
The two opted to ignore the way Finn gagged after he made that statement, following the rookie onto the bridge. Neither was expecting the bridge to start collapsing, but Chris was quick to push his wife onto the steadier part of the bridge before making his way up.
"You're such an idiot." She scolded, grasping his wrist once he was in reach so she could help pull him up. Her hand went straight to her hookshot afterwards, waving it in front of his face with a look nothing short of unimpressed on her face.
"Forgot you had that thing."
"I appreciate you for wanting to save me before you saved yourself." She sighed, resignation heavy in her tone and that was how Chris knew that she wanted to scold him further but was trying to keep them out of a fight. He appreciated that greatly. Her telling him off in front of Finn like he knew she desperately wanted to would not be good for either of their images.
"Sherry Birkin, National Security!"
"Look at you, all grown up with a badge." Allison teased from where she stood beside Chris, smirking when the young agent's eyes locked onto her.
"Allison?"
"Who else?" The older blonde wasn't expecting to be almost tackled in a hug, but she'd take it. It had been too long since she last saw Sherry Birkin, the younger woman being like a cousin to her, and she was proud to see that she was fine after all these years. "Glad to see that you're still in one piece."
"I could say the same about you."
"That man is a wanted insurgent." Piers pointed out, and Allison locked eyes with the man as she and Sherry separated. Among the "bad guy community", she had dealt with the man and, at one point, was assigned to keep tabs on little Jake Mueller. For Wesker, of course.
"Good to see you again, Miss Spencer."
"Same to you, Mueller." She greeted, surprising the rest of her team but she could care less. She didn't really like any of them other than Piers and Chris.
"Yes, he's a mercenary, but he's no threat to the BSAA." Sherry covered, getting a scoff out of the mercenary under her protection which got a smirk out of Allison as she backed up to stand beside Chris. There was a gentle nudge to her side, whether it was a possessive thing or just an acknowledgement thing she wasn't sure, but she did enjoy it.
"Unless somebody pays me to be."
"What was that?"
"Cool your jets, Piers. He's enjoying riling you up." Allison sighed, keeping a grip on Piers' scarf to keep him in line.
"Don't ruin my fun, Allie Spencer." She made no move to correct him on her last name, half expecting Chris to, but there was no time as another giant B.O.W. closed in on their location. Chris was quick to react, getting Alpha team into position and telling Sherry and Jake to move to safer ground. Allison wasn't at all surprised when Sherry insisted on helping, following the BSAA operatives up the stairs into the nearby building.
"My chances of survival were higher when I was a soldier of fortune." Jake commented, mainly to Allison but everyone else picked it up, making the blonde laugh as she nodded her agreement.
"That's the shitty part about working for the good guys. Always something else to do."
"You're tellin' me. How the hell do you do it?" He asked, watching as Allison shot the J'avo manning one of the anti-aircraft guns.
"I don't have much of a choice in the matter." She shrugged, making brief eye contact with Chris before blowing the head off a J'avo that was about to attack her husband. "The sex is always fantastic afterwards, which is a plus."
"Whatever it takes, huh?"
"Whatever it takes." She echoed the mercenary, noticing the way Chris moved closer to her. She knew that he was going to have questions about her connections with the mercenary, and she'd answer them as much as she could without telling him that Jake was Wesker's son. Not even Jake knew that little tidbit and it was in the guy's best interest that he never found out.
"This is just too eerie, Chris." Allison whispered to her husband, getting vibes from the three days she spent in the mansion before S.T.A.R.S came along and blew the place up. Chris only nodded, not knowing what exactly she was thinking but not wanting her to elaborate. There would be time for that later, right now was just about getting through city hall and finding survivors.
"Stay close and stay ready." He instructed glancing over to see that she had her eyes trained on one of the cocoons. There was something about the way her face had set into an unreadable expression had him worried, because that meant that she wasn't with him in 2013. She was somewhere in the past, forced there by some relation to the cocoons. "Spencer."
"Hm?"
"Stay with me, alright?"
"The cocoons they- nevermind."
"What's wrong?"
"Forget it."
"Spencer, talk to me."
"Chris, its nothing, alright?" She spoke sternly, looking at him to give him the eye contact he needed so he'd get off her back about this. "I'm fine, it's nothing. Fucking drop the shit."
He nodded, but the look in those dark eyes told her that he wasn't done with her. She could only nod though, not wanting to dip into her past right now or deal with Chris "papa-bearing" her. She loved that he cared, she honestly did, but she hated when he pushed. He could only push so far before she pushed him away. How he hadn't figured that out yet baffled the blonde, but there were much more pressing matters at hand for her to deal with.
She followed him down the stairs, not certain on what could possibly be awaiting them but she did notice that they were alone.
"So what was that back there?" He asked, looking over at her as they walked.
"Back where? A lot has happened Chris, you have to be more specific."
"With the mercenary."
"Oh, Jake? We've crossed paths on a few occasions in the past. Nothing more nothing less." She explained, stopping when she realized just why he was asking. "Were you jealous?"
"I was concerned. You've made a few enemies over the years, just wanted to make sure he wasn't hostile."
"In terms of hostility, you should be watching the BSAA." She quipped, smirking up at her husband. "But you, Chris Redfield, should have nothing to worry about in terms of other men. I've been on-off involved with you in some way since we first met in '98 and still enjoy your presence. Doesn't that speak for something?"
"It does, Al. I was just-" He didn't get to finish his sentence, her lips pressing to his in something that was making his day better and pushing away any lingering concerns about that mercenary.
"You were just being you, and I need that to keep me steady here. Keep being you, Chris."
"I can do that." He assured, pulling her in for another kiss but keeping a gentle grip on her forearm as she pulled back. "Allison, I-"
"Captain, I'm picking up some readings on the other side of this door!" Finn called, and both Redfields winced at the shouting in their earpieces that was quickly corrected by Piers.
"Hold that thought? Your number one fan needs you."
"He's not my number one fan." Chris sighed, following her up the stairs with a small frown on his face. She was losing her professionalism, which was good because it meant she was comfortable but was bad because it meant she wasn't going to be as filtered.
"He looks at you like you're the reason grass grows." She smirked, nodding to Piers as Chris shook his head in denial.
"What did I miss?" Piers asked the blonde quietly, noticing that she couldn't look at Finn without smiling.
"Finn is Chris' number one fan."
"Good to hear that I'm not the only one who noticed." The marksman stated, smiling at Allison and getting a grin out of the blonde as they jogged to catch up with Chris and Finn.
"He doesn't think so." She whispered, readying her weapon when she heard J'avo nearby. "Some are close."
"How does she just hear these things?" Finn asked, the three seasoned veterans of the BSAA stopping at the question and Allison looked the rookie in the eye.
"You really are new to this, aren't you?" She asked, lowering her assault rifle in favor of pulling her pistol out of its holster and shooting the approaching J'avo right between the eyes once it had rounded the corner. "Hi, I'm ex-fugitive Allison Spencer and I have heightened senses along with a few other talents."