Well, this is going to be a fun chapter to post. I personally like it, but I know there is a teeny tiny point within the first two sentences that is probably going to annoy some people. -coughs- Hopefully, you can forgive me after reading the cuteness that follows. ovq
Song Suggestions: Here With Me by Marshmello ft. CHVRCHES
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Winter continued on as February's cold days passed one by one. The calendar on the fridge read February 15th. Next to it was a small, handwritten note that read 'Dear Auntie Emmy + Chris, Will you pleese come to my 7th birfhday party on March 9th? -Summer.' On the island counter next to the tiny worry hut, which had been mostly unused for some time, was a vase holding a small bouquet of daisies and a tag that read Emma, Happy Valentine's Day -Chris.
As for the occupants of the apartment, Chris was laying on the couch opposite of the TV. His head was propped up by a pillow, so he could read a book, while Emma rested on top of him, using his chest as a pillow as she watched a movie about some Kung Fu guy on the TV. Occasionally, one or the other would grab a few pieces of popcorn from a bag on the coffee table to munch on as they relaxed in their own way together. Frozen winds could be heard rattling against the windows of Emma's apartment, but they stayed comfortable and warm nestled together.
"Did the kid do the illegal move at the tournament yet?" Chris asked while turning the page.
"Not yet," Emma replied, and shortly after a scream was heard. "There it is." The show continued as the man went on about using some sort of glass cup and fire.
"That is not how that works," Chris said while still reading.
"You are the worst to watch movies with, you know that?" Emma asked in an amused tone.
"That why I'm reading a book," Chris replied with a teasing smile.
"Stay in the book then. I can't hear," Emma chided through a chuckle.
Chris reached over for another cluster of popcorn, only for a piece to fall loose and land on the side of Emma's face. She closed her eye as it was hit by the stray kernel. "Are you trying to pick a fight?" she joked as she reached up to grab the piece from its resting place and pop it into her mouth.
"Maybe," he replies with a smirk.
Upon hearing that, Emma carefully propped herself up enough that she was in the way of Chris' book and she could look him in the eyes. In the background, steps could be heard going up the stairs. It was probably just Bastion or Travis. Emma's phone went off, and shortly after, Chris' sent out an alert before a knocking could be heard down the hall at his door. This caused any snickers and chuckles to stop as they each reach out to get their phone off the table.
RING: [Alert - Motion Detected]
[Security System: Motion Detected]
"Were you expecting anyone?" Emma asked with a note of concern.
"No..." he replied with a frown.
Well, time to get up, Emma thought as she got off Chris so he could stand up. Once both were up, Chris opened his security system's app and stared for a moment then seemed to relax. "It's safe," he said as he walked over to the door and opened it.
Standing outside was a woman, roughly around Emma's age, with reddish brown hair neatly pulled back into a ponytail. She tried dusting off the snow that had collected on her red leather jacket before noticing that the wrong door had opened after her knock.
"Hey," Chris replied with a confused expression. What was his sister doing here? Part of him hoped this was good news and that she was ready to talk to him again. However, part of him was ready to accept the more likely answer of 'Hey, I need you to beat up this thing for me.'
"Chris?" she asked confused. "Oh, um. I could have sworn this was your apartment... it has been a while."
Okay, how to explain this... "No that's... the right door."
"Who is it?" Emma asked as she peeks out from behind him.
"Oh," Claire replied as she started processing the situation. "Is now a bad time?"
"No, it's fine." Not really, but hey, he could be flexible. "Emma this is Claire, my younger sister. Claire, Emma," Chris said, internally screaming. He was not ready for family introductions yet.
"It's nice to meet you," Emma replied. She hadn't realized Chris had a sister. "Do you want to come in?"
Claire nodded. "Sure," she agreed, still taken aback. She entered the apartment all the same, and the three congregated near the island.
"What have you been up to?" Chris asked, trying to start up a conversation.
"You know, just surviving," Claire said, looking around and eventually spotting the flowers and the tag attached to them. "You?" she asked as a gentle smile formed. Good for him.
"Pretty much the same," he replied with a nod.
Claire chuckled and shook her head. Same old Chris. "So, Emma. Which unit are you in?" Claire asked with a smile.
"Unit?" Emma asked in return. Um, this one? Why was she asking about the apartment?
"Oh, um organization, then?" Claire clarified, figuring maybe Emma wasn't BSAA but was in an organization like TerraSave.
"I, um—" Emma tried to figure out how to reply while looking between the two for some sort of clue. Maybe Claire was asking about her job? "GridWire Music Productions?" Emma answered, still not convinced that was the information Claire was looking for.
"She's a civilian?" Claire gasped, looking at Chris with a stunned expression. Not upset— just surprised. "Does she know?" she asked, though her tone was more asking, 'Can I speak freely?'
"This can't be why you came to visit... What's going on?" Chris replied, frowning and trying to change the subject.
Oh joy, UN secrets run in the family, Emma thought while trying to keep a straight face. "I think I'm going to take Duke for a walk. Text me?" Emma requested as she walked over to put on her coat then gave a short whistle to get Duke to join her by the door. It was getting increasingly uncomfortable to be a part of the conversation, so she was completely content with her excuse to abort and leave.
"Can do," Chris agreed while Emma leashed up the dog.
"'Kay, see you in a bit," she replied, heading out. Once the door was closed, Chris looked back to Claire.
"So, what world ending catastrophe is going on now?" Chris asked as he moved to lean against the island.
"None, at the moment," Claire replied with a forced smile. He's trying to make a joke, right? "I was hoping we could talk? Without shouting at each other this time..."
Chris nodded. "All right, what do you want to talk about?" he asked, more so to show he was still engaged in the conversation and not leaving Claire to do all the talking.
Claire avoided his stare before giving a quiet sigh. "Look... I am still kind of mad at you, but we already lost mom and dad, and maybe it's my fault for staying mad for so long," she said quietly.
"Claire," Chris started, feeling a pang of guilt. It wasn't exactly like he'd reached out since then either.
"It just felt like... When I heard you might be in trouble I went to Raccoon City, Rockfort… hell, I ended up in Antarctica before you showed up. I dropped everything to find you... but when I needed you, you just let someone else worry about it. Some random BSAA chopper showed up, and you were nowhere to be seen," she explained, which caused Chris to frown and look away.
It hurt, but it was true. He didn't have a choice though; he had been in the Mojave. "What was I supposed to do?" Chris asked, trying to bury his frustration.
"You were supposed to care enough to help me," Claire said with a frustrated frown. "Have the team you sent take over what you were working on. Stop working for five minutes and make sure I was okay."
"That's not how that works," Chris replied with a frown.
"Why is it so hard for you to put in the effort to see me?" Claire pointed out in return. "I mean, look at us. It's been five years, and you didn't even try to come and see me to patch this up! I had to go find you. Again." Frustration continued to build in her tone.
The accusations stung more and more as Chris listened to her speak. "I just... wanted to respect your space," he replied before giving a quiet sigh while looking at the floor. Talking, not shouting this time. I can do this. "You're not wrong to be mad at me," he admitted in an attempt to be the mature older sibling at this moment. "When I got your call about the Sonido de Tortuga incident, I couldn't bring myself to go. I was afraid that I would get there just to fail for the hundredth time and watch you die. I couldn't—" He paused as he looked at her. "I'm sorry, Claire. Even then, I still failed you."
Claire pressed her lips together to force a frown before stepping forward to hold her brother and starting to cry. "I don't want to lose you too because of a grudge."
"Don't start that, or you'll get me going too," Chris warned with a short chuckle as he held his sister. "You're not going to lose me... I'm right here," he said quietly. It took a good fifteen minutes or so, but the siblings eventually cleared their waterworks and felt lighter from letting go of the anger and frustration that built up over the years. They might still disagree about what was the 'right' thing to do, but they had both said their piece and chosen to move on.
Chris walked over to a cupboard to get two glasses and fill each with water before giving one to Claire.
"Do you have a place to stay while you're here?" Chris asked, patiently waiting for Claire to finish drinking and answer.
"Not, exactly," Claire admitted.
"Maybe we can talk to Emma about having you stay here than once she gets back," he replied as he sent a quick text.
[Chris] All Clear
[Emma] Rodger that
Claire seemed confused by that suggestion. Usually when she visited, he'd let her stay with him... was he still mad at her? "Oh, um sure. What happened to the pull-out bed? Did you replace the couch?" Claire asked curiously. Sure, it had been five years since she last visited, but he was hardly ever home.
"No, I still have it... it's just the mattress has seen better days, and—" Chris started to explain, only to get cut off.
"I don't want to know," Claire said as she held her forehead. That was way too much information and produced mental images she didn't need.
"It's not—" he paused and heaved a defeated sigh. "That's beside the point."
Claire chuckled. It was nice to get to talk to him. "So... Emma?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yep," he nodded, giving no further details before taking a sip of water from his cup. "Leon?" he asked in return.
"On again, off again," she said with a shrug.
"You can do better anyway," Chris replied, shaking his head. "Last I saw him, he was half a bottle deep in Jack Daniel's, feeling sorry for himself until he finally got off his ass and helped me."
"The New York mission, right?" Claire asked in response, which noticeably surprised Chris. "What? You didn't think I stopped keeping tabs on you, did you?"
Chris chuckled. "Well, I can't say I'm completely surprised," he said. Then, mimicking her voice, "My big brother's in S.T.A.R.S... Wait until I tell my big brother," he teased only to get a partial shove in response.
"I do not sound like that," Claire remarked, shaking her head.
"You did as a teenager," he said with a smile.
It really had been so long since they just talked... Claire chuckled, then her expression fell. "There was something else I wanted to talk about..." she admitted, which caused Chris' frown to become a neutral expression as well. "TerraSave has been picking up a lot of activity in this area. What is going on? Does the BSAA not know about this?"
"I'm not completely sure what's going on..." Chris reluctantly conceded. "The Director of the BSAA know there's an active lab in the area. He's set it to 'reactive protocol.'" Chris sneered. "I know we haven't talked in a while, but if you hear anything else... Can you let me know? It feels like I'm getting cut off."
"That's not good," Claire said with concern in her tone. "Chris, we need to report this."
"I don't have enough evidence yet," he replied with a tired sigh. "Once I do, I'll confront them. I want to get to the bottom of this first. To find the real source and cut it off at its root, not just trim the top."
Claire nodded. "All right, I'll do what I can," she agreed. "Just be careful, okay?"
A few moments later, Emma walked back into the apartment with Duke and let him off his leash. Once freed, the pooch immediately went to check out Claire by sniffing at her leg.
"Duke heel," Emma said. The dog gave a huff in response but did as it was told and returned to Emma's side. "Sorry about that."
"Not a problem," Claire replied with a partial smile.
"I know it's short notice, but could Claire stay with you for the night?" Chris asked with a hesitant expression; it was kind of asking for a lot.
He wanted her to host his sister, who she didn't know existed until now... "Sure, that's fine," Emma replied with a nod. She didn't want to make a bad first impression, even if it was a sudden request. "I suppose it's a good thing I repurposed the study into a guest room," Emma added with a short nervous chuckle. She had honestly been meaning to do that for a while since she ended up watching Chelsea's kids roughly once a month, but bed frames and mattresses were expensive. She had started on that project in October but thanks to the raise from her promotion she was able to finish the gradual renovation by December. It meant having to sit in the living room while working from home, but it was worth it to be able to sleep in her own bed when she had guests.
"Thanks, I'd have her say with me, but the spare mattress is kind of—" He bobbed his head.
"Oh god no, she's not staying on that. It's flat as anything by now," Emma agreed adamantly. After over a year of using that thing during training, she kind of owed him a new one at this point. Emma looked at Claire after that. "Hopefully you didn't have to travel too far. Can I get you anything?" she asked, realizing that Claire's eyes were slightly swollen. Had she been crying recently?
"I'm fine, it was a four-hour flight, I've had worse," Claire replied with a shrug. "I'm just going to catch the first flight back in the morning."
"I'll head out then, so you can get some rest," Chris replied with a nod. "See you around," he added as he made his way to the door. He really wasn't good with emotions, and the last 30 minutes had been chock full of them. Even with their heart-to-heart, he still felt awkward around Claire.
Well, that was a brisk exit. Emma thought with a confused and concerned expression. "Sorry, he can be a little—"
"I know," Claire said, pressing her lips together once more.
Oh dear... "I'll show you the guest room then," Emma offered and gestures for Claire to follow her.
"So, how do you know my brother?" Claire asked as they walked back to the spare room. It was cramped, but it had recently been repainted and had two single beds in it with a dresser in between. A few picture frames hung on the walls to make it feel more put together.
"Let's see, I moved in almost two years ago?" Emma replied with a nod. "There were a few attempted break-ins after that. At the time I thought Chris was some member of the military, so I had asked him to help teach me some self-defense options until I got the hang of it." She turned on the lights, and they walked into the room.
Claire chuckled at that. "Well, you found a good teacher for that, He taught me back when I was a teenager."
"Ah, you two are close then?" Emma asked with a smile. How cute.
"Kind of," Claire admitted with a sad smile as she sat on the closest bed and put her book bag down next to her. "He didn't really have much of a choice. We lost mom and dad so suddenly, and I wasn't old enough to take care of myself yet."
Oh my heart. How the heck had Chris never mentioned any of this? "I'm so sorry," Emma replied, only for Claire to wave it off.
"It's fine, it was a long time ago," she replied to try to avoid any further sympathy. "Anyway, thanks for the room."
"Not a problem, you're welcome to anything in the apartment. If you can't find something you need, just ask," Emma offered.
She walked out and headed back into the main living area, cleaning up around the house until she heard the door to the spare room close. After that, she walked quietly to the main entrance, headed over to Chris' place, and knocked on the door.
"Emma," Chris said in greeting. "Is something wrong?"
"I think I need an explanation." Emma was still trying to mentally process what she had just learned in the last hour. Chris motioned her inside then closed the door behind her. Emma turned to face him again. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned "Your sister came to visit, and you were very quick to leave after only seeing her for thirty minutes."
"I'm fine," Chris affirmed, before thinking over how to continue. "We had a falling out around five years ago." He frowned as he crossed his arms. As much as he wanted to be able to plead his side of the case, that would mean potentially sharing more then he should...
"So, she came out here to try and patch things up?" Emma asked, and he nodded in return. "Are you guys good now?" She received another nod.
"I still feel guilty, but yeah... We're good," Chris replied, his frown lessening slightly.
"I'm glad to hear that." Emma smiled. Okay ease into this as gently as possible, she thought, choosing her words carefully. "Look, maybe in the morning, you could offer to have her stay longer and spend some time with her? I don't mind lending out the spare room while she's here."
To Emma's disappointment he shook his head 'no.' "She's an adult she doesn't ne—" Emma cut him off at that.
"Chris, she flew all this way to see you. Of course, she wants to spend time with you," Emma interjected with a frown, a sympathetic one but a frown nonetheless. "At the very least, offer?" Emma requests. "Flying out here was her olive branch for whatever you guys were fighting about. You should try and offer one back," she coached. Yes, she was being nosy, but the disappointment in Claire's voice when she said 'I know' before still rang in Emma's ears.
"So, you're suddenly an expert on siblings then?" Chris asked, annoyed.
"I have an older brother, and a younger sister. So yeah, I guess I am," Emma replied as she crossed her arms now. She did not appreciate his tone.
"That's the first I'm hearing about them," Chris pointed out.
"Well, this is the first I've heard of Claire," Emma rebutted with an expression that read 'your move.'
They were both getting irritable, and it wasn't going to get better unless one of them decided to de-escalate. It took Chris a moment, but he lets out a short breath and put his arms down. Taking a step forward, he put an arm around her waist. "You know, before when I said I was maybe trying to pick a fight, this wasn't what I meant."
Emma's expression weakened to a more neutral one as she dropped her arms as well. Only to hold up a hand and gently press a knuckle into Chris' side with no effect. "Pretty sure that's not an apology..."
"I'm sorry," Chris said quietly.
It took another moment, but Emma admitted, "I'm sorry too. Can we have a do-over on this conversation? That didn't go so well the first time." She shifted to hold him in return.
"All right," he agreed and gave her a peck on the top of the head.
"I talked to Claire after you left. You ran off so quickly and she seemed disappointed." Emma explained what she saw that Chris did not. "I think she was hoping you'd reach out and ask her to stay."
Chris listened as she spoke and nodded. "We have been in this argument of ours for five years now. It's not something that's just going to go away overnight because she came to visit."
She hadn't really taken that into consideration. "That's more than fair. I'm sorry, I should have stayed out of it," Emma conceded, feeling a pang of guilt.
"I did kind of spring this on you by asking for her to stay with you," Chris admitted to his own fault in this. "For now, I think it's for the best that she heads home as she intended. The argument between my sister and I was my fault, and I still feel pretty guilty about it. I don't think I'm ready to move on and pretend it didn't happen."
"All right," Emma agreed.
While he wasn't quite ready to bury the hatchet with Claire, he was fine with burying the butter knife of an argument that he'd just had with Emma. "Come here," he said as he picked her up and carried her over to the couch, so he could sit down and hold her. It wasn't the first time they'd argued, but it was more or less the first one she had instigated. "Hey. I was a little mad, but I don't hate you, okay?" he said, remembering the words that helped him feel better after admitting his guilt to her in the past.
"'Kay," Emma replied, giving a sigh of relief as they both relaxed. She looked up to give him a peck, which he returned.
Meanwhile, Claire leaned back from the kitchen wall of Emma's apartment, having pressed her ear to it to hear. A hint of a smile was on her face, but it was a more genuine one compared to the sad smile from before. He ran because he needed time to process feeling guilt from their conversation. She could respect that for now, so long as he tried eventually.
She looked over at the side of the fridge to see the letter from a soon to be seven-year-old named Summer who was inviting the couple to their birthday, and a small stripe of photos. One of Emma and Chris with a tired smile, another with Emma making a silly face and Chris staring in confusion, and the last was both of them laughing. Claire chuckled at that.
Woohoo for more FanNatic Hodgepodge Lore! As far as Claire lore goes it's pretty heavily based on Chris and it completely cuts off after 2014. Given that she actually did end up in Antarctica before finding Chris which was a search that spanned multiple games and locations, It seemed reasonable to me that the reason it cut off was because she was mad at him when he didn't show the same initiative in return when it came to making sure she was safe. Even though he did technically go to Antarctica as well to find her. He pretty well ignored her looking for him until it got to the literal ends of the earth and he didn't show up when she was in trouble outside of that. Kinda a dick move, not going to lie. Especially when you consider that he kinda had to raise her for a bit based on the lore that their parents either disappeared or died when Chris was at the oldest 25. I'm going to hazard a guess that it was probably closer to when he was 23 which would explain suddenly lashing out against a superior office[canon] have a falling out with the airforce to go and raise his 17-year-old sister, which would also be enough time for him to have given her the hand to hand training and Firearm training that was mentioned in RE2(?) which would have meant Claire was at best 19 when she when through Raccoon city/Rockfort/Antartica. she made that much effort to find him as a teenager and he didn't really come close to returning the favor when she needed him. So yeah. That's the logic I'm going with for a 5-year Grudge. I think it's slightly justifiable x'D like I'm completely on team Claire for team 'Slap that boi' how ever Emma is a bit too soft for that.
Review Response:
InkScribbles- there may very well have been some ominous foreshadowing at play last chapter ufufu. the timer is ticking.
MoonlightLily88 - yey 3 I'm so glad you're enjoying the story U hopefully you still are by the time you see this
Guest 1995 - lmao X'D yeaaah he's also kinda a dick. lots of jerks in this story but if they weren't here there wouldn't be one to tell X'DD hopefully this chapter was worth the wait.
