Hello Hello :) Time for Chapter two! Thanks for sticking around and/or coming back to read more, it means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy this latest addition to the story. It's a slow burn story but things are hopefully going to start being a tiny bit more interesting from here out. I have a lot planned so I'm excited to take you all on this journey with me.
Music suggestion: Be like that by Kane Brown, Swae Lee, Khalid
Disclaimer: I don't own CapCom characters I'm just writing this for fun. Are disclaimers still a thing for fanfiction? Are they really necessary? Let me know.
A week had passed since the incident with the door, and it still had Emma shaken up, but she was hopeful the meeting she scheduled with the landlord would provide her with some good news. She got dressed for the morning in a nice blouse and jeans. It was a Sunday, so she didn't need to dress for work, but it seemed appropriate to wear a nicer shirt for the meeting.
Once she was ready, she made her way down the stairs to the first floor and knocked on a door labeled 'office.'
"Come in," she heard from the other side, and with permission given, she opened the door to head inside. The office space was cluttered with antique shelves filled with books and binders of papers. Mr. Jacobs said at his desk where a computer that looked like it was from the '90s was set up and quietly humming as he clicked away at a yellowing keyboard. "Good to see you again, Ms. Swanson. Please take a seat," he offered as he motioned to two discount office chairs set up in front of his desk.
Emma nodded and closed the door behind her before walking over, taking a seat, and wincing slightly as the chair creaked.
"I apologize that I couldn't meet with you sooner. What can I do for you?" Mr. Jacobs asked with a sincere smile.
"It's not a problem," Emma replied. "I was wondering if it would be all right if I replaced my current doorbell with one with a built-in camera?" she requested, which caused the landlord to look at her with some confusion. "Shortly after I moved in, someone slammed into my door. I'm not sure why, but I'm worried that they were trying to get into my apartment, and I'd feel more comfortable if I had a way to see if they stop by again."
"I see. Well, I'm sorry you went through that," the landlord said, his confusion turning to sympathy. "Given the circumstances, I think that's reasonable enough. Let's just draft up an amendment to your lease, so you can make that addition," Mr. Jacobs agreed with a nod which caused Emma to smile widely. This would certainly give her some peace of mind.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Jacobs," Emma replied as he slowly clicked away at a keyboard.
"Luckily, I had a request for one of those doohickies a few months ago, so I have a template already worked up. I just had to change out the names and dates," he replied, waving off Emma's thanks before pressing another key, which woke up the printer set up on a short table by the window. Just like everything else, it looked like it hadn't been updated in at least twenty years.
"Oh? Have there been other incidents?" Emma asked with a note of concern, which was once more waved away by the elderly landlord.
"Just some punk kids pulling that old ding-dong ditch prank. You'd think kids could come up with something more original," Mr. Jacobs half-heartedly complained, and Emma chuckled in response.
"I'd prefer that prank compared to them body checking my door," she admitted, but hearing that the culprit for the other incident was just some kids goofing off made her feel better.
"Same here. I prefer not to have to replace a door. If you catch the kid, let me know, and I'll give them a talking to they'll never forget," Mr. Jacobs offered. "They'll be giving the stairwell walls a fresh coat of paint if I get any say in the matter."
Emma relaxed further as the printer finished providing papers. "Well, if I catch anything on the camera, you'll be the first to know," she agreed as the landlord collected the papers, signed and dated a few pages, then handed them over to Emma.
"Initial here and here, then sign and date here," he said, pointing to the different lines that needed her attention. Emma did as requested after reading over the document to make sure it was a standard enough agreement and finding that it was about what she expected. She was responsible for the installation and maintenance of the security camera. It couldn't be excessive, and footage from the camera must be provided upon request of the landlord or authorities, and it needed to be removed when she moved out.
"That should do it," Emma said as she finished the final signature on the document and handed it back to Mr. Jacobs.
"All righty then, feel free to install it when you have the time, have a good morning," he said, dismissing her from the office.
"Thank you, sir." Emma got up, then headed back to her apartment. She had banked on getting approval for the camera and bought it on Amazon the night of the odd door slamming incident to help herself fall asleep. It wasn't much, but just knowing that the security system was on its way was enough to help her feel safer. She walked inside for a brief moment to grab the box and a few screwdrivers before heading back outside to get to work. She rolled up the sleeves of her blouse before beginning to tinker with the current doorbell.
As she worked on the project, the sound of a door opening and closing got her attention, causing her to instinctively look for the source. Upon glancing over, she found Chris leaving his apartment. Emma gave a short wave, "Good morning."
"Morning." Chris looked at the growing amount of clutter around her door. "Is something wrong with your place already?" he asked with a hint of surprise.
"Hm, oh no, nothing is wrong per se. I'm just installing a door camera," Emma admitted with a slight wince in her expression. It wasn't the most trusting thing to install after just moving in but the other night had really freaked her out.
"I didn't realize the lease allowed for that," Chris replied with mild curiosity. She wasn't breaking her lease in the first week, right? That would be a new record.
"I signed an amendment agreement," Emma confirmed before bobbing her head. "There's some kid running around and messing with the doors. They scared me half to death the other day by slamming into my door," she explained further, resulting in a silent 'ah' motion from the man.
"That explains the shouting and barking," he replied, crossing his arms.
"The walls are that thin? I'm sorry about that. Duke usually doesn't bark that much. He'll just alert me if someone is at the door." Emma hoped he wasn't too upset. The last thing she needed was a noise complaint. Instead, he just raised an eyebrow.
"So the shouting is normal then?" he asked.
"No! Er, I mean, no. That won't happen again. I'm sorry," Emma replied, feeling flustered at first, but she corrected her volume, and Chris simply nodded in response.
"All right, well, see you around," he said to dismiss himself from the conversation before heading towards the stairs. "Thanks for the cookies," he added with a short wave.
"No problem," she said, finally relaxing after he was out of sight. "Well. Off to a great start there," Emma muttered under her breath with a slight frown. It was a good thing he wouldn't be around too often. Which turned out to be true. Aside from Chris installing his own camera a few days later that looked more like one of the tiny ceiling domes you'd see in a retail store, the guy was barely around.
'*'*'*'*'
Life went on, as usual. Wake up, take Duke for a walk, shower, eat breakfast, go to work, come back, eat dinner, relax for a few hours, then go to bed. This went on for a good few weeks, and despite the rocky start to the new apartment, July was turning out to be a peaceful month.
It was certainly appreciated since it helped her feel more comfortable about leaving the apartment. Emma was just making her way home after a quick after work trip to the corner store. She smiled upon finding that her door was still in place and shifted some plastic bags from one arm to the other, to try and free up her hands to get her key from her pocket.
"Good morning, dear!" Mrs. Russo called as she carefully walked up the stairs of the apartment building alongside Marco.
"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Russo. Did you have a nice walk?" Emma asked with a smile as she put down the bags on the floor. She'd only known the couple for a few weeks, but it was already rather apparent that the woman could talk for far longer than her arms could support the bags.
"Yes, the weather is perfect today," she said happily as she reached the second floor before her expression shifted. "Puah!" she exclaimed with a frown before speaking Italian, which caused Marco to chuckle before raising his hands and walking to the apartment. "What is that?" she asked, gesturing to a jar in the grocery bag.
"...Tomato sauce? I was thinking about making some spaghetti for Sunday dinner," Emma answered as she took out the store brand jar, causing Mrs. Russo to scrunch up her nose and shoke her head.
"Oh no, you shouldn't use that. It's no good. It's full of preservatives and no flavor. Not to mention completely overpriced. One second, you stay right there," she said before hurrying to her own apartment then returning.
"If you're eating Italian food on this floor, you're going to be making it right," she said with a solid nod as she offered Emma a piece of paper with a recipe written on it. "This will taste much better. It's straightforward to make and cheaper than the processed jars from the store. If you need any help with it, just let me know, and I'll come over to show you."
"Oh. Um, thanks," Emma said, surprised and confused. Still, she accepted the recipe and looked it over. It didn't seem too difficult. It was a lot of waiting, though. "I'll pick up some tomatoes over the weekend and give it a try."
"Good good, and make sure you let me know what you think. Be honest, okay?" Mrs. Russo requested.
"Of course, I'll make sure to let you know after I try it," Emma agrees with a nervous smile. While the request came with good intentions, there was no way Emma would say anything bad about it even if she didn't like it. If this was a family recipe it would be rude to say anything cross about it.
"All right, now remember to make sure that you-" Mrs. Russo starts but is cut off.
"Anna," Marco called from their apartment.
"Oh. Coming darling," she replied before looking back at Emma. "I'll talk to you later dear."
"See you around," Emma replies and gives a short wave as the woman left.
The recipe sat waiting on Emma's counter for a few days after that. Waiting, but not forgotten. On Saturday she made sure to pick up the necessary ingredients during her regular trip to the store. Sunday came soon after and with it came the multiple hour long process of making all her meals for the week in advance.
At least all of the waiting required to make the tomato sauce recipe would be filled with working on waiting for other recipes to finish at the same time.
The thought caused her to smile as she put away the last of her Sunday meal prepping into the fridge. Even with all the extra cooking going on around the pot of tomatoes and spices it still had 10 minutes or so left of cooking before the recipe said it was done.
"I guess I timed that well enough," She quietly mused as she got to work on her dinner for the night. She still needed to boil the noodles. She checked a pot that had been simmering on the stove, giving the contents a stir while thinking over her last conversation with Mrs. Russo.
The young woman chuckled at the memory. She honestly wasn't completely sold on the recipe. Mint wasn't exactly her first pick of herbs to include in tomato sauce, but she was curious enough to give it a try like she said she would. After tasting the sauce, her expression shifted to content surprise as she bobbed her head. "Not bad, all right," she said before starting on the spaghetti. "I guess I'm making tomato sauce from scratch going forward," she said with a chuckle.
Before long, the meal was ready, a heaping plate of spaghetti with freshly made sauce, green beans, and some garlic bread. Emma happily curled up on the couch with her plate of food as she heard heavy footsteps walking up the stairs, and the door to the right opened then shut with a loud thud causing her to wince slightly. "Well, the neighbor is home," she said, looking at Duke, who was more focused on begging for scraps. She chuckled and shook her head before tossing the dog a green bean, which was wholeheartedly rejected by the pooch. "Such a brat," she said, shaking her head as she bent over to pick up the green bean from the floor, then walked over to throw it away in the kitchen trash can.
Cabinets could be heard opening and closing from the other side of the wall, causing Emma to frown. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't heard hide or hair from the guy in a little over two weeks. A frustrated and loud slam could be heard, making her wince once more. That wall really is thin gracious, she thought before looking at the leftovers on the stove.
Was it being nosy to bring over a plate of food? Probably. Emma drummed her fingers against the counter while staring at the food and thinking it over before noticing the measuring cup in the dish drainer. She did still need to give that back as well.
Curiosity killed the cat, but, luckily, I'm more of a dog person, the young woman thought as she put together a paper plate of food and grabbed the measuring cup before heading over to Chris' door to knock on it. Nosy or not, it was a decent excuse to try and figure out what on earth he was slamming his cabinets about. Sorry I kept this for so long. I made too much food, so I hope it works as an apology. By the way, what's with the slamming cabinets? Okay, bye ...
See? Easy.
'*'*'*'*'
Chris walked into his apartment with a quiet grumble as he closed the door behind him. That last mission was rough, though it wasn't like any of his work was a walk in the park. It took a solid three days to find the Baker house in Louisiana and formulate a plan before getting Ethan and Mia out of there. Another two days of running through the mines, chasing after Lucas Baker... That explosive psycho maniac. So many good people died, and all he could do was watch and keep moving forward. It bothered him. And it was still unsettling to have to work with Umbrella within the BSAA... After that, it was another three days spent combing the area for Zoe, then his time was mostly spent in recovery, counseling, and quarantine before the standard debriefing.
He let his bag fall from his shoulder with a tired sigh and headed over to the kitchen to look around for something to eat. Nothing. Peanut butter? Nope, nothing. Protein bar? He closed each cabinet, getting more frustrated as he heard the clock's ticking echoing between his ears. STOP! he mentally shouted as he punched the countertop to try and rid his mind of the bombs strapped to the necks of his team and to his own arm.
It took him a moment to catch his breath and calm back down. Once he did, he looked back at the jar of peanut butter and the protein bar. He should probably just order take-out, but he wasn't in the mood to go pick something up, and delivery apps were highway robbery at this time of night. He was about to head over to the fridge to check it for anything not molding when he heard a knock at the door, which caused him to frown and stare at it with suspicion. They never did find out who Lucas was trying to contact, and he was not expecting guests. Luckily, this was what the camera was for, so he pulled out his phone and opened the app to take a peek at who it was.
Oddly enough, the new neighbor was standing outside holding a plate of food and a familiar measuring cup while looking anywhere besides the door. What was her name again? Ella? She didn't exactly look like a threat, so he put his phone away and made his way to the door to open it. "Did you need something?" he asked.
"Hey," she greeted with a note of nervousness. Lord talking to strangers was stressful. "So I made too much food. I figured I'd drop off a plate with your measuring cup. Sorry it took so long for me to get that back to you," Emma explained and offered the two items.
Well, his options were overpaying, a peanut butter-covered protein bar, or a random plate of food from the new neighbor... "Thanks," he said, taking both. "And don't worry about it. It's not like I was here to use it anyway."
"I see. Do you travel a lot for work?" she asked. Was that why he was slamming his cabinets like that?
"Something like that," he replied with a nod to indulge the small talk for a moment. At least it was better than letting his mind wander to recent events.
So he was slamming them because he was frustrated with work, or maybe he didn't have food after being gone so long... "Well, if you're low on supplies, I'm usually up and eating breakfast around 7:30, I just went shopping the other day, so I have enough to share," Emma offered with a smile.
Ha, no. "I'll keep that in mind," he said with a curt nod. "Have a good night," Chris added to show he was done talking.
"Good night," she replied, turning to leave as Chris closed his door.
He walked over to the island counter to set the plate down so he could focus on putting away the measuring cup. He wasn't super keen on taking food from someone he barely knew, but... his eyes drifted once more to the protein bar. That would have to be for breakfast. At least she was kind enough to put it on a paper plate, so they didn't have to start playing whose turn is it to return the dish.
He had dinner, showered, slept while plagued by nightmares of exploding heads and zombies, then woke up the next day.
The daily grind started over again as he shuffled from his bed to the kitchen to try and make a cup of coffee to find… yeah, that was empty too. He stared down at the empty container as if the coffee grounds would materialize if he glared at it long enough. That lasted for only a moment before he threw out the container and focused on getting ready for the day. He needed to head back to HQ for paperwork and drills with the team. He changed into a plain black Under Armour t-shirt and some off-white slacks, then walked back to the kitchen to grab the protein bar and slip that into his front pocket with his keys and wallet. After lacing up his combat boots, he decided to head out, locking the door behind him before looking over to the door by the stairs. He checked his watch. 7:43 AM.
He was already leaving early for work. Let's see. Overpay at some cafe, get watered-down garbage from the office, or spend five minutes talking to the new neighbor and hope she has decent taste... All right. Just a cup of coffee, then head out, he thought before walking over and knocking on the door, resulting in barking from within the apartment.
"Duke, hush pup. It's too early for barking, shh," could be heard. Shortly after, the barking calmed to mild husky grumbles and chatter before the door opened, revealing Emma, who seemed surprised to see him.
"Chris, good to see you. Come on in," she said as she moved to open the door further, which Duke took as an invitation to hurry into the hallway to check out the visitor. The dog was a mixed breed with long floppy ears and a long blonde coat with white markings on the paws and stomach. Emma looked at the grumbling dog as he tried to sniff at Chris from a safe distance. "Duke, go get your stuffy," she said, which caused the dog to immediately head back into the apartment to look for his favorite toy. "Sorry about him. He's gentle but opinionated." She moved so Chris could enter the apartment.
Chris quietly nodded. "I see," he replied, starting to regret his decision, but it was too late now.
Once he was in the apartment, Emma closed the door behind him. "What can I get you?" she asked.
"Just a cup of coffee," he said, looking around. It seemed like she was mostly unpacked, aside from a small stack of boxes by the living room.
"One cup of coffee coming up," she replied with a nod before walking over to the kitchen and motioning for Chris to join her. The BSAA agent did so and took a seat at the island counter. "Cream and sugar?" she asked as she took a mug from one of the cabinets.
"None," he replied with a wave of his hand.
"Mmkay," she said, pouring a cup from a half-full pot she likely made for herself earlier and putting that on the counter before walking around the kitchen. "How was your trip?" she asked in an attempt to hold a conversation while she continued to get ready for work. She still needed to pack her lunch.
"It was work," he replied, giving as few details as possible. Missions were classified information, after all. Besides, what was he going to say? A civilian would not handle exploding heads and zombies well.
"Fair enough," she replied with a shrug before opening the fridge. She mentioned that he should stop by if he was low on supplies. It was just a cup of coffee, but all the same, he had stopped by, and he didn't appear to have anything packed for lunch. She looked over six Tupperware containers, took out two of them, and placed them on the island by Chris. "Take your pick. It's not much, but it should hold you over for lunch until you can get to the store."
"That's kind of you, but I couldn't," he responded. He usually just skipped lunch anyway. It was a bad habit, to be sure, but it was what it was.
"I insist. You were kind enough to give me a hand when you didn't really know anything about me," Emma pointed out with a gentle smile. Maybe she was being pushy, but honestly, it sounded like he was having a rough go with all the door slamming last night. A little kindness could go a long way.
"I still don't know anything about you, and we're already more than even. It was just a cup of sugar," Chris rebutted before returning to sipping his coffee.
"Fair point." She shrugged as Duke wandered back into the room carrying a worn-out teddy bear that appeared to be missing half of its stuffing. The pup sat down and stared at Chris and picked up a paw to wave at him. "Duke, no, bring it here," Emma said, earning a grumble from the dog as he got back up and walked over to her.
"He's an interesting dog," Chris said, hoping to change the subject.
"Thanks. He's a rescue, but I raised him from ten weeks on," she replied with a chuckle. "He's all bark, though. At the first sign of trouble, he'll be hiding behind a couch."
"I doubt that," Chris said, amused that first off, she was worried that a dog was going to scare him considering all he'd seen. Not that she knew. Secondly, at the concept of what appeared to be a 70-to-80-pound tank of a dog cowering in fear when he was used to the ones at the BSAA.
"No, no, I mean it. Watch," she said before standing directly in front of Duke and pointing her hand at the dog to look like a gun "Bang," she said. The dog stared at her before reaching up with a paw to push her hand down with zero interest in her shenanigans. "I didn't teach him to do that," she said, looking back to Chris, who actually cracked a smile as he watched her make various other hand gestures to the dog, yet the only one he'd react to was when she pointed her index and middle finger, which the pup would push away.
"Interesting," he said before finishing the last of his coffee and looking at the two meals still sitting on the counter. She wasn't that awful to talk to, and the food she dropped off before was decent, so he picked one up at random and gave the nod. "Thanks for the coffee and food," he said, getting up, "I should be heading out, though."
"Not a problem, have a good day," Emma replied with a wave as Chris let himself out and headed down to the parking garage. Once he was comfortably set up in his car, he started making his way to the BSAA headquarters.
Work was eventful as it could be, and by that, it was mostly boring. With fieldwork, everything was chaos, but that resulted in a mountain of paperwork to do until the next trip. Chris sat at his desk and filled out report after report before eventually looking at the clock. 2 pm. Seeing the time, his stomach complained. A cup of coffee and a protein bar during his ride in did not make for enough food. The team lead rubbed his eyelids before getting up and heading to the cafeteria to get the food Emma had offered him from the fridge and put that in the microwave.
"Hey Alpha," said a familiar voice.
"Lobo," Chris replied with a nod to the heavy arms expert.
"The fearless pack leader finally left the cave," he joked with a smile as he gave Chris a nudge. "I didn't think you normally did packed lunches."
"Yeah well, first time for everything," Chris replied with a shrug.
"What's the occasion?" Lobo asked with a mild level of curiosity.
"None, just heating up a peace offering from the new neighbor. They handed it off while I was on my way out," Chris replied before taking the small container.
"Peace offering? Is that bacon mac? Hell, how badly did you scare them?" Lobo asked with an amused smile but then waved it off. "I'm just messing. Anyway, when you get the time, the rest of the squad is at the range for practice. You should join us; the paperwork isn't going anywhere."
"I'll be there in ten," Chris agreed, earning him a solid pat on the back.
"All right, man, see you there. I'm going to beat your record for sure this time," Lobo said while walking backward towards the exit before turning around.
"Not a chance," Chris replied with a laugh. He had a good team, and he was grateful for it.
Good gracious this one took longer than I'd like to admit. I wanted to make sure I had the right personality for each team member so I had to spend a good hour or two looking between footage and wiki links to get the names assigned to the right personality. For the accuracy haha. With any luck, I'll have another chapter up shortly :)
