Phew! that last chapter was a doozy to write lol. Have another short fluffy extra to make up for it :)

Song Suggestion: This Feeling by The Chainsmokers ft. Kelsea Ballerini

Disclaimer: I'ma fanfic writer. it is what it is I don't own much aside from the fact that I wrote this spelling and grammar error-filled mess.


Time passed slowly as the next few days resulted in repairs around Emma's apartment. Doors were replaced and walls were patched. Thanksgiving arrived after that, announcing the last Thursday of November. The brunette woke up early to start cooking an oversized meal for one. Thanksgiving was a celebration of family, but Emma was basically on the opposite side of the country from her parents and siblings, which made it more difficult. She gave a tired sigh as she pushed herself out of bed and checked her phone.

Thursday, November 23rd, 7:08 AM

[Chelsea] Are you sure you don't want to come over to my parent's place for Thanksgiving? You know they adore you.

Emma smiled at this and tapped away at her screen.

[Emma] Yeah, I'm sure. I already thawed the chicken overnight in an ice bath. I'm cooking that bird. -fire emoji-

With that sent, she put her phone in her back pocket, grabbed a hair tie from her nightstand, and pulled back her hair. She had barely gotten started with her daily chores when her phone went off again. Seemed like Chelsea was awake, too, so Emma moved to lean against the counter and chat with her friend.

[Chelsea] I'm surprised that guy you keep spending time with didn't invite you over. Oh, wait. I guess I have to clarify which one now, huh? 6_6

[Emma] Chel, no.

[Chelsea] Chel Yes! Girl, what are you going to do for the rest of your life?

[Emma] I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow!

[Chelsea] -painted nails emoji- I could make some suggestions...

[Emma] Oh my gosh, you're so grounded. -Rofl emoji-

[Chelsea] -Rofl emoji- Btw, Summer wants to know if you'll teach her how to go backwards next time we're at the park.

[Emma] Using the babies to distract me, how dare ... But yes, I will help her with that. You're still grounded though and I'm muting you for the rest of the day.

[Chelsea] Worth it -smug emoji-

Emma laughed at the conversation before putting her phone down on the counter and getting back to work. She still needed to walk Duke and make an entire mini feast. At this rate, she wasn't going to be eating until 2 pm.

'*'*'*'*'

Chris had managed to sleep in for once, thanks to the holiday. He likely would have slept longer if the smell of food didn't cause his mind to slowly wake up and remind him that he was hungry. He grumbled and got out of bed before heading to the bathroom to wash up and change. With a shower and shave taken care of, He lazily stared into the mirror as he brushed his teeth. Working out and fixing his diet seemed to be helping him get back to how he was before. Who would have thought? Joking aside, it was nice that he was finally able to recognize himself again.

He was about to head over to the kitchen when he noticed his phone buzzing to find a new message from the Hound Wolf Squad group text.

[Night Howl] Hey Alpha, what time are we meeting at your place?

Chris looked over at the clock. It was around 10. He should probably clean up a little bit.

[Alpha] Any time after 1 is fine. Remember, I'm providing the location, so you guys need to provide the food.

[Tundra] 2:30 would work for me.

[Canine] 2:30 works.

[Lobo] Yes sir.

[Umber Eye] On it, boss.

Chris put his phone into his pocket and ate a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast before getting to work on cleaning up around the apartment. He washed up the cluster of dishes in the sink, gave the floor a light sweeping, and vacuumed before setting the table. 12:21, roughly two hours to spare. The Agent went and picked up his book on Romania again and took a seat in the living room, so he could start reading to pass the time.

A few hours later, Tundra waited outside the apartment, holding a deep round dish in one hand and her phone in the other.

[Tundra] Where are you guys? You're late.

[Night Howl] Pretty sure you're just early.

[Umber Eye] Lobo had the bright idea of carpooling and ended up taking his sweet ass time.

[Lobo] Mac and Cheese is an art that cannot be rushed.

Tundra shook her head as she saw a familiar car pull into the parking garage. Before long, the group of four arrived, each holding a different dish and a bottle.

"All right, looks like we're ready for a party," Canine said, smiling.

"Seems like it," Tundra agreed, putting her phone away. "Let's get in there before the food gets cold." A little late because hers was already starting to cool off. With that, the five of them went up to the second floor and knocked on the correct door this time, much to Umber Eye's relief.

Chris put down his book on the coffee table before answering the door. "I was starting to think you guys got lost," he said with a slight smirk as he let them in.

"Blame Lobo," Night Howl suggested in response as Chris closed the door behind them.

"Already planned to," Chris admitted, amused.

"Hey, not cool, keep your hands off my Mac N Cheese if you're gonna be like that," Lobo interjected with a frown as he put his dish down and went to pour himself a drink. In the meantime, each person set their food on the table and uncovered it. Sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mac n cheese, deviled eggs, and stuffing.

"What a spread. The main course smells great too," Canine said with a smile before looking to Chris, who raised an eyebrow. "When is it going to be ready?"

"I didn't make anything," Chris pointed out, which caused the others to stare at the table of sides and no main course before looking back to Chris.

"What host doesn't make the main dish?" Tundra asked, bewildered.

"She has a point," Night Howl agreed.

"I told you I wasn't cooking," Chris grumbled while holding his face. What part of that did they not get?

"Well fuck," Umber Eye said with a frown.

"This is ridiculous," Lobo said, already holding a glass of wine. He rolled his eyes as he leaned against the kitchen counter and loudly knocked on the shared wall. "Ey, yo Emma, get over here and tell the captain what's what." The others laughed at what they felt were silly antics, only to go silent as a knock at the door was heard shortly after.

"Wait, that worked? Holy shit," Canine said as Chris flipped off the group and went to go answer the door. Sure enough, there was Emma.

'*'*'*'*'

Emma was just pulling out a dish of potato gratin from the oven when she heard three loud slams against the wall. "Holy sheea—" she said as she juggled the dish to keep a hold of it.

"Ey, yo Emma, get over here and tell the captain what's what," said a muffled voice from the other side of the wall.

What on earth was that about? She frowned as she put the dish of well-seasoned, cheese-covered, thinly sliced potatoes down on the counter. She shook her head, dusting her hands off on her jeans before knocking on Chris' door. It took a minute, but the door opened, showing an annoyed Chris Redfield.

"Hey, are you okay? I heard someone punching the wall and shouting?" Emma asked with a confused expression.

"No, we're not okay. Alpha here is being a stingy asshole and won't feed us," Lobo called from inside the apartment.

"They're fine," Chris countered, glaring in annoyance at Lobo in particular. "They're just being cranky because they were dumbasses and didn't actually plan properly," he went on.

"No one brought a main course," Canine piped in to further explain while shaking his head.

With that, Chris looked back at Emma. "Sorry to interrupt your day."

"Oh, is that all it was?" Emma said with a short laugh, gracious these guys were such goofballs. It was hard to believe they were some sort of military group. Hm, well, she did say if they needed anything, they should let her know before. "One minute, please leave the door open?" Emma requested before briskly walking back to her apartment. She returned with a nicely plated chicken surrounded by roasted carrots a few seconds later.

"Oh my gosh, no, you don't have to give us your food," Tundra said with a hint of guilt as she watched Emma return with the decent-sized serving dish.

"It's fine. I made too much anyway," Emma said to try and ease any concerns. "If I'm stuck with leftovers, I'll be sick of chicken by the end of the week."

"Well, at least eat with us then if you're giving us your main course," Night Howl suggested, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Nice of you to invite someone else to my house," Chris pointed out with a frown.

"Emma can be my plus one. She's a guest that way." Canine shrugged, causing the others to chuckle.

"Can we just figure out if we're eating or not?" Umber Eye said, amused.

"Fine, Emma is Canine's plus one then," Chris said, dropping it as he shook his head. "The things you guys do for food," he added under his breath as he let Emma into the apartment so she could put down the plate.

The table was still a bit skimpy because of how few side dishes there were. There was no way what they had would feed seven people. The chicken would be picked clean since those usually only fed four or five people, tops. Emma thought it over before she walked back out of the apartment, only to return again with the dish of potato Gratin, freshly baked rolls, and a gravy boat. It didn't add much more to the table, but it would help. "That's maybe enough for seven? I have a few other dishes if we need them," she said as she took a seat with the others, and Chris closed the door to his apartment.

"Dang, no wonder Alpha has been bulking up," Lobo said as he took a seat. "Can you make my lunches too?" he asked, earning him a side-eye from the captain, but Emma just chuckled under her breath.

Please no. She didn't mind her deal with Chris, but feeding three people lunch would be a bit much.

"You realize you actually have to work out to bulk up, right?" Night Howl teasingly pointed out as he started dishing food onto his plate.

"Hey, we could do that too," Lobo said with a laugh which earned him a swat on the arm from Tundra.

"That's sweet of you, but I have my hands full as it is," Emma replied with a nervous smile.

"You don't have to be polite," Umber Eye pointed out before looking at Lobo. "She says fuck off," he translated, causing everyone to laugh. Even Chris started cracking a smile as the group relaxed and talked.

The meal went on, and while the food was sparse, the wine was well covered. Before long, everyone was on their second glass and happily chatting away about their last practice round at the range back at HQ.

"What about you, Em? You ever go shooting before?" Tundra asked with a smile. To everyone's surprise, she actually nodded.

"Yeah once. That was, gosh, that was eight years ago, I think," Emma admitted.

"What got you out to the range? No offense, but you don't seem the type," Canine asked curiously.

"None taken. I'm really not, but it was a blind date that Chel set up," Emma admitted with a laugh. "I thought it would just be a quick lunch date, but he took us to a range instead and handed me a rifle of some kind with a busted… um… the part you rest on your shoulder. I think he called it a... I think it was named after a hat? A beret?"

"A Barrett? The hell was he thinking handing a beginner a broken sniper rifle?" Umber Eye wondered, bewildered.

Emma shrugged. "The guy was a total prick and ended up throwing a hissy fit," Emma said, waving it off. "I got the Center x on my first round, which was apparently insulting."

"First time using a gun, it was broken, and you got a bullseye? Bullshit," Lobo accused, shaking his head, which caused Emma to smile.

"I can prove it," she said with a smirk as she put her glass on the table before getting up and walking out of the apartment. After a moment, she returned with a folded up, yellowed piece of paper and handed it to Lobo as she took her seat. "I kept the target paper to wave it at my friend anytime she tries setting me up."

Lobo unfolded the paper and seemed surprised. Sure enough, there was a paper with eight holes, all clustered around the center with the middle punched out.

"Let me see that," Umber Eye said, and took the paper to read the corner. "200 yards, 10 out of 15 total shots dated nine years ago," he said, passing it around.

"Ten? There are eight holes?" Tundra said before handing it off to Chris.

"The guy in charge of marking the sheets at the range said I hit the same spot twice a few times," Emma explained, shaking her head.

"Well hell, we gotta get you to a range then and see if that's beginner's luck or not." Night Howl chuckled, but Emma continued to shake her head.

"Nah, once was enough for me," she said. "It was loud, and using the dang thing hurt. I'll leave that to the professionals." Emma smiled. "Now, if you wanna try some laser tag, I know a place." The others laughed but seemed to understand. Civilians were civilians for a reason.

"Laser tag would be fun. We could practice a few drills in smaller groups," Canine said, looking to the others.

"There's a place on the other side of the park called the penny arcade. It looks like it's straight out of the late '80s. Bowling, laser tag, rope courses, roller skating, all that stuff," Emma explained with a chuckle.

"I can feel Lobo resisting the urge to make a bet out of this already," Tundra said with a laugh.

"It's not a bad idea since you brought it up," he replied.

Chris shook his head. "Better make it a good bet then," he said before sipping at his drink.

"I'll get back to you on that," Lobo agreed.

The group continued to chat. Before long, 6:30 rolled around.

"All right boys, I'm going to call it. I still have stuff to do today," Tundra said as she got up from the table.

"Yeah," Night Howl agreed. "You guys ready?" He looked at Lobo, Canine, and Umber Eye, who all nodded.

"Thanks for hosting Alpha. This was nice," Umber Eye said as he got up. A few goodbyes later, Chris closed the door behind the group to find Emma had picked up some dishes from the table and brought them to the sink.

"Shouldn't you be heading home?" he asked and received a shrug in response.

"I figured I could at least help clear the table first," Emma said as she put the stack in the sink. "Did you want a hand with the dishes?"

"I should be fine," he replied.

"Mmkay, I'll head out then," Emma agreed since she didn't want to overstay her welcome. After collecting her own dishes from the table to take with her, she headed to the door. "Thanks for having me. It was fun," she said, smiling slightly.

"Not a problem. You saved me a headache by getting them to stop complaining," Chris admitted with a halfhearted chuckle before a thought came to his mind. "Oh, I'm going to be away for a few weeks again," he added, which caused Emma to nod and stop outside the doorway.

"Ah, thanks for the heads-up," she said in response. "I hope your trip goes well. Stay safe."

"Thanks," he replied. "See you around."

Emma went on her way, and once the door was shut, Chris turned and looked back at the mess that was his apartment. Empty wine bottles, glasses, and dirty dishes waited for him on the counter and table. He dumped out what was left of the half-full bottle of wine and emptied the glasses that still had some left in them before pitching the bottles in the recycling and getting to work on the dishes.

He managed to get about halfway through the pile of plates and stemware before his phone went off. He frowned and wiped off a hand on his pant leg so he could dig his phone out of his pocket and check it. Work. Great. He accepted the call and held it to his ear with his shoulder so he could keep working on cleaning up.

"What's going on?" he asked in an even tone without bothering with pleasantries. It was a work call, so best to get to the point. "What do you mean the file is missing?" he asked, concerned, as he put down the dish he had been holding and turned off the water. "Yeah, I know what 'missing' means."

He moved to hold the phone with one hand and pinch the bridge of his nose with the other. "Fine. I'll be right there. I think I have a copy in my study." He was already on his way to the back room. "Give me an hour. The drive takes a while," he said as he looked at different books, binders, and boxes with various labels. "Bye." With that, he hung up and put his phone back into his pocket. Some people.

'*'*'*'*'

Emma put her dishes in the sink before looking at the abandoned side dishes on her island. She chuckled at the sight. "Well, guess I really am going to get sick of leftovers," she quietly mused as she wrapped up the containers and put them away in the fridge. She stretched before heading back to the hallway closet so she could get a scoop of food for Duke.

"Come on boy, time for dinner," she called before giving a short whistle. Once the pup was happily munching on his kibble, she shifted to take out her phone and send a quick text.

[Emma] We're still good for 7:30, right?

[Tanner] Yep, see you there.

She smiled upon seeing the timely response. After washing the dishes and cleaning up around the apartment, she noticed the clock hit 7:00 pm. Time to start getting ready, she thought with a smile before heading back to her room. When she walked back out, she had put on a winter coat and carried a small duffle bag. Emma pet Duke's head on her way to the door. "Hey bud, I'll be back late. Love you," she said, giving him a smooch on the top of his head before heading out.

'*'*'*'*'

The stupid file took forever to find. It was buried in a box in the far corner of his study that he hadn't touched in years. Chris made his way over to the door, took his jacket off the coat rack, and put it on with a wince. It was getting snug in the shoulders. He knew he needed to get a replacement. The majority of his clothes didn't fit right now, but shopping was difficult when he was gone for at least a quarter of the month and didn't get home until late the rest of the time.

As he closed the door behind him, a confused expression crossed his face. Did his door just echo?

"Hey, are you heading out too?" Emma asked, amused as she noticed the same thing.

Chris tried to shrug, but the coat made it difficult. "Some work stuff came up."

Don't laugh. Whatever you do, don't laugh, Emma thought. "Ah, well, it's unfortunate that you have to go in during the holidays," she said instead as the' fat guy in a little coat' scene played out in her mind. Not that he was fat. He was broader than when they had first met, but that was more in the shoulder area. Frankly, he was more on the muscular side considering Hallowe— You know, maybe stop thinking about that.

"It happens," Chris said in return as they started making their way down the stairs. "What about you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as he noticed the duffle bag. He didn't realize she was going to the gym now.

"Not much, just meeting up with a friend at the park," Emma replied.

At this time of night? That was kind of concerning, but if she was meeting someone there, she'd probably be fine. "Sounds nice. Hopefully, the team didn't keep you with the dinner fiasco," he said instead.

"Nah, it's fine. The plan was to meet at 7:30 anyway."

They made their way to the sidewalk. This poor guy. It was freezing outside, and he looked like if he sneezed wrong, he'd split his jacket. The mental image caused her to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" he asked, confused.

"Nothing." Emma waved it off. "I was just thinking I might watch a movie once I got home, is all. It's been a while."

"Okay." That didn't seem like something to laugh about. She was awful at lying. "See you around," Chris said with a slight wave before heading toward the parking garage.

"See ya," she said in return and started making her way to the park.


Thanks as always for reading