We're back with another chapter /o/ And yet again I'm preparing for Capcom to pull the rung out from under me lol we'll see what the 23rd brings. Whether it's just a thumbs up and a 'thanks for your money' message or maybe just maybe a hint of what the DLC will be [CapCom please]
Side note again holy cheeese 15,000 hits QAQ you guys are amazing, and I love all of you guys thanks again for the continued support it means a lot to me.
Song Suggestion: Passing Through by Kaden MacKay
disclaimer: I own nothing~ Capcom owns their characters and IP I am just playing around in a world of 'what if'.
The sun was shining in a bright, warm forested glen. Clear blue skies were dotted with fluffy white clouds. Rose walked around the glen to explore her surroundings, searching behind trees and bushes while wearing a cute pastel purple outfit decorated with matching silky ribbons.
"Did you find anything?" Emma asks curiously. Sure enough, the motherly woman's usual clothes were replaced with an earthy green and brown outfit with light leather armor and a bow on her back as she contently sat on the back of a large wolf that padded over to walk alongside Rose.
"No, I can't find it. There's supposed to be goblins here to fight and a huge one too," Rose explains with a slight pout. "Where'd Chris go?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
Emma nervously chuckles at that. "He's... trying," She offers in response. "I think he's having some trouble with navigating the trees."
Sure enough. A solid thump and an annoyed. "Goddammit," could be heard in the distance before Chris eventually walks into view with a few twigs and leaves stuck in the various cracks in his heavy iron armor, along with a tired scowl etched on his face. "Why is it so hard to move?"
Hearing that caused Rose to giggle a bit.
"Oh! I think I see one," Emma says happily to get Rose's attention. Rose shifts her attention to where Emma was pointing to find that a green goblin was walking around carrying a club not too far away from where they were at.
"Yeah that's it! There should be one more than the big one," Rose confirms. "We just have to take them down, then return the farmer's stolen cow."
"Got it," Emma replies and with a flourished animated leap, she jumped off her mount and into the air with her bow at the ready and fired an arrow at the creature. A golden ring of sparkling energy appeared on the ground as she landed, but as quickly as it appeared it dissipated as the goblin disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a small collection of items.
"Nice shot," Chris says with a slight laugh.
"Aw thank you. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this," Emma admits with a smile as the second goblin came into view and started to charge at the group.
"Looks like it's my turn," Chris says as he held his spear at the ready. A similar golden ring of light forms around him on the ground and moves with him as he rushes forward. With a solid jab, the goblin faded away in a puff of smoke just like the last one, and it left behind another pile of goodies.
"Great job," Emma praised in return before making her way over with her mount not far behind her.
Rose makes a slight face as she watches the parental figures, they were so cringy sometimes. With that thought, she decided to distract herself with a search for the final boss fight. It had to be around here somewhere.
"I could probably make a few potions with all of this," Emma happily says as she picks up the loot from the goblin she shot.
"True," Chris agrees as he picks up his own loot. "I can't figure that stuff out. You can have mine," he offers.
"Are you sure?" Emma asks with a somewhat surprised expression.
"Go for it, just share the potions when you're done?" He requests as he puts the items back down so Emma can pick them up.
"Can do," She agrees while collecting the offered supplies. "Once we're back in town, I should be able to find a spare cooking station."
Chris nods in agreement. "Sounds like a plan then. Maybe we should head back now and build up a supply of healing it-"
"Guys I found the big one!" Rose happily shouts. Sure enough, as they look over, a very large red goblin came into view. It was almost twice the size of the ones Emma and Chris fought, and held an even larger spiked club.
"Rose be careful," Emma says as Rose hurries towards it.
"I got this!" she affirms as the golden ring of light forms around her, and she throws a small knife at the creature. To her disappointment, it did not disappear as easily as the other two did, and instead it raised its club and slammed it down on top of her.
YOU ARE DEAD
Rose glared at her phone screen before looking over to Chris and Emma who were sitting next to her on the couch in the living room of the cramped apartment.
"Oh dear, it looks like it got you. Don't worry. I think I have a potion for that," Emma says while quickly poking at the screen of her phone while holding Piers on her lap.
"Rose you know you can't rush ahead like that. It's dangerous," Chris chides as he works to fend off the monster while Emma works on reviving Rose's avatar.
Hearing this causes Rose to sneer a bit as she watches the faded screen of her phone, which shows tiny avatars running around while she was stuck doing nothing.
"Not just in a game either. It won't be long before you're offered a job with the BSAA. Combat requires team work and communication, or people get hurt. It's important to work with your team strengths and make sure everyo-"
Rose had heard enough at this point and quickly got up. "Why do you only ever tell me what I can't do?!" She shouts while glaring at the two which cause the two parents to rather quickly stop playing the game and look at Rose. "Why can't people just tell me what I can do? I bet it's a shorter list!" She adds in her frustration.
"Well first off what you can do is watching your tone," Chris warns. This was completely unacceptable behavior.
"Chris," Emma says in a warning tone, but it was too late. The distressed cue was missed by the agent.
Rose's hair started to fluff up as static ran through it, and small objects around the house started to float. Her anger faltered for only a moment as she noticed Emma shift to hold Piers more protectively.
"That's it, you're grounded. Go to your room," Chris says while pointing to her door. He'd think of something more concrete later, but for now, he was not putting up with this kind of attitude.
"You're the worst!" Rose stormed away to her room, slamming the door behind her.
"Hey!" Chris shouts in warning. How many times did he have to tell her not to slam the door? He frowned while pressing his lips together before a tired sigh escaped him. He put his phone down on the coffee table before moving to hold his face. "That went well..."
"Yeah," Emma agrees with the sarcastic remark before shaking her head. "Can you watch Piers? I'm going to take Duke for a walk..." She requests, receiving a nod in response. With that, Emma hands Piers over to Chris and gathers the elderly pooch's leash, so she can hook him up to take him outside.
"I'll be right back," Emma says before closing the door behind her. Unlike the bright colorful world of the video game. It was nighttime at the BSAA. The sky was dark aside from a bit of moonlight leaking through dense gray clouds, and the trees were still bare thanks to February's frosted air.
"What a mess..." Emma says under her breath as she walks alongside the slowly sauntering companion.
After walking for a few minutes Emma shifts to take her phone from her pocket and closes out the game screen where vivid red letters read YOU ARE DEAD. She wasn't worried about that right now, instead she opens the dial pad and taps away at the screen before holding it to the side of her face.
"Emma?" asks the voice on the other end. "It's a bit late for you to call..."
"Hey Mom," She says while trying to figure out what she wanted to say.
"What's the matter honey? You sound upset," Her mother asks as her tone becomes more concerned.
"I don't know what I'm doing. I thought I did, but now I don't know anymore," She admits with a sad frown as she moves to sit down on a small wooden bench she'd found alongside the walking path.
"No? What's wrong?" She asks in the tone of a mother talking to a young child.
"Its Rose," Emma admits. "I've been trying so hard to be a good parent but, I don't think know how to be that," She says as her eye began to water a bit from a building sense of guilt. "She's under so much pressure all the time. Just the tiniest thing will set her off now, and I can't seem to do anything right anymore. I thought it would help if we tried showing interest in that game she's been playing so much lately, but then she got into a fight with Chris, and she started acting up and," She stopped to take a breath as she thought over what was bothering her the most. "Mom, I think she saw me flinch. I'm the worst. I know how sensitive she is. I know she wouldn't hurt us, but it just happened. Her face. She looked so upset."
Silence was heard in response, leaving the lingering sense of guilt as she waited for her mother to confirm her fears, that she was, in fact, horrible. Emma's expression shifted to confusion as she thought she heard muffled snickering on the other end of the phone and sure enough laughter followed shortly after.
"It's not funny," Emma says as anger replaced her guilt. She was trying to have a serious conversation and-
"Emma sweetie. No. It's. Honey, you were the same way as a teenager, remember?" Her mother asks while trying to push back her amusement with the conversation and show she was taking it seriously.
"That," Emma paused while thinking it over before trying to speak again. "That's not the same. I was 17, Rose is barely equivalent to an 11-year-old."
"Yes it is," Her mother affirms. "Sweetheart, you went through your own rebel phase, and sure you were different ages, but it doesn't change that it is scary at times when you're trying to raise a kid. You have to be willing to let go at some point and let them have their space," Her mother explained a bit more sympathetically. "I see what you were trying to do, but you have to let her have her own thing that you're not involved in or else she'll push for a more drastic way to be her own person like you did. That was my mistake, I didn't give you your space, so you made your own," The elder mother explains, hoping to comfort her child.
Emma nods even though her mother couldn't see it while trying to control her breathing and fanning her face to try and get the tears that threatened to fall to dry out instead.
"You have to be able to let go and let her make her own choices, even if they end up being wrong," She further offered in a nurturing tone as she starts to pick up that Emma was now openly crying on the other side of the phone. "Like now, I can't tell you how to be a good mom. Even I don't know how to do that, and that's after raising three kids and with 4 grand babies," she says with a more lighthearted tone to try and get her child to laugh. "Making choices is part of growing up and learning just as much as being mentored and protected is." the woman explains with a slight smile. "And that goes for you too. You're not always going to do this right or perfectly. You can't expect that much from yourself. No one can." Emma's mother offers in further attempt to console her child. "But you're doing your best. Right?"
"Mhm," Emma agrees with another nod.
"Oh, I wish I was there so I could give you a hug. I know you're upset, but you're doing your best, and she'll understand when she gets older," Her mother says hoping a repeating that would help the idea stick. "And I can say that with some confidence considering you're calling me now. It's going to be okay."
It took a second, but she managed to catch her breath again and force a smile as she cleared her face. "Thanks mom," Emma squeaked out.
"Not a problem. Do you want to talk about something else for a little? Help yourself calm down?" The older woman offers as she shifts to get comfortable.
"Okay," Emma agrees as her smile became more genuine.
And so, the two talked. About the weather, about work, about Emma's siblings and what's happening in life and memories of what was. An hour had passed before the call ended. Emma gave a tired sigh, though this once was lighter than before. A weight had been lifted as she pushed herself to get up.
"Oh gosh. I've been gone longer than I planned," she mutters while looking at the time.
Saturday, February 5th, 8:43pm
3 new messages
Emma winced slightly at that. She did kind of disappear after saying she'd be right back... "Alright, let's hurry up and get home," She says to Duke who was more than happy to get up and oblige. It was far too cold outside, and he wanted to go back to his comfy, warm couch. The two hurried back and after quickly double-checking her face to make sure it wasn't too apparent that she'd been upset, she put her phone away, so she could open the door for the two of them.
To her surprise, after opening the door she found Rose standing between the dining room and living room space with Chris.
"There you are, we were starting to worry," Chris says with a worn and tired expression.
Rose stood there quietly while lowering her head slightly and looking away to avoid Emma's eyes.
"You were going to say something," Chris instructs.
Rose nods and cautiously walks over as Emma closed the door behind her.
It took a few moments, but eventually Rose spoke. "... Sorry, I got mad and yelled," she apologized with a tone of guilt. "It wasn't very nice of me to do that," the preteen hesitantly admits.
A gentle smiles crosses Emma's face as she moved to give the growing girl a hug. "Getting mad happens. I appreciate the apology." Emma says in response with renewed patience. "I owe you one, too. I'm sorry Rosey, I didn't mean to react like that. I can tell it hurt your feelings too when you were already upset..."
"It's okay," she replies while returning the hug, though her tone still showed some hurt.
"Are you feeling better?" Chris asks and gets a slight nod in response from Rose as the child let go and moved away from Emma. "Good... But you're still grounded," Chris confirms with a frown. "And it's time for bed. Get some sleep."
"Okay... Good night," Rose says with a defeated expression before turning to walk back to her room. The preteen stopped at her door to look back at her parental figures with a conflicted expression. "I love you?" She asks more than says in a hope for reassurance.
"I love you too," Emma replies with a gentle smile. "Get some rest."
'*'*'*'*'
Time rolled on since then, and Rose continued to go through the motions of house arrest. It was hard enough having to live at the BSAA. Now she barely got any free-time and when she did, she wasn't able to do anything. Being grounded was the worst! If anything, it just pissed her off more. The BSAA was stressful, and she couldn't just go home and relax because she had extra workbook pages to do to get out of being grounded. Maybe she'd just let the pages sit there and see how long it too for Chris to get fed up with that too.
The idea caused her to chuckle as she made her way through the halls of the BSAA with two scientists escorting her, one on either side. It was kid of annoying, she missed when she was allowed to run around on her own but after her last outburst in the lab, she was monitored pretty constantly when she was in the main building.
Down a hall and to the right, they continued on their way to the lab when and odd sight caught her attention. Something and someone she'd never seen before. There was a woman walking down the hallway, moving towards Rose. Just like Rose, she had two people walking with her. Armed guard in black uniforms. The woman was in a uniform as well, but what stood out the most to Rose was the grid like metal strapped over the woman's face. A muzzle? Her gloved hands were cuffed in thick steel clasps.
The woman spared Rose a passing glance as she walked by, while Rose openly stared, watching the woman as long as possible without having to turn around. "Who's that?" Rose asks with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "Why did she have that thing on her face?"
"That was a bioweapon. A dangerous one at that," the scientist says with little attempt to hid their bias. "As for the muzzle... Let that be a warning. That's what happens if a bioweapon under the BSAA's jurisdiction starts biting people."
Wait but. She bit someone... It was a while ago but, did they know about that? Were they going to do that to her? Rose's eyes darted around the hallway, looking for a way to run. She didn't want to be here. She hated this. The second she saw a connecting hallway, Rose took off in a full sprint to try and get away.
"HEY!" One of the scientists shouted as the other takes chase after her.
The other takes a device off their hip and a beep notifies the activation of a communication line. "We've got a situation. BOW: Rosemary is on the loose, be advised." they state before moving to follow their coworker.
Run. Run run run. She had to get out of here. She had to get away from these people, even just for a little bit. God, why did she run away? She was just going to have to come back again in the morning... Her thoughts continued as she turned down this hall and that, hoping to get away and find a place to hide. A door was chosen, and she quickly moved to hide inside, finding an empty abandoned office.
Rose pressed her back against the door while looking around the poorly lit room to make sure she was alone. Now what? She could hear footsteps as the scientists grew closer to her hiding place. Why did she have to do that? Now she was going to get into trouble.
I get it, but acting out like that is going to get you in trouble I can't get you out of,
As the warning came to mind, she found herself wishing Chris was here. She closed her eyes and moved to cover her ears to block out the sounds of the scientists getting closer to the door. If Chris was here, he'd be able to help. He'd be able to keep her safe. they listen to him, even if they don't listen to her. If Chris was here, she wouldn't be scared.
A bit of pressure on her back caused her to stumble forward a few steps as the door was flung open.
"There yo a-"The scientist stopped mid-sentence as their face grew pale. "Captain Redfield. Sir um," The stammer while trying to correct their disheveled appearance from running after Rose. "My apologies. I didn't realize you were in here... What are you doing in here?"
Wait, what? Chris was here? Rose looked over her shoulder and found no one there before looking back to the scientists with a raised eyebrow. Wait, did they get shorter?
The lack of a response seemed to make the scientist all the more nervous. "Right not my business to ask. You're probably wondering what I'm doing, huh?" the scientist spoke and again there was silence as Rose stared at the man as if he had three heads. "Everything's fine. sorry about that, we're um just going on our way."
Just as quickly as the scientists showed up, they closed the door. Rose could still hear them muttering quietly, but eventually footsteps grew quieter, signaling they left the area.
"Well that was weird," Instead of hearing her own voice she heard Chris's. "What the hell?" Rose clamped her hands over her mouth with a terrified expression before quickly hurrying over to the light switch and turning on the light for the room she was in. She looked at her hands, but they weren't hers. Aged, scarred digits took the place of the hands she was expecting. She quickly went to get her phone from her pocket to find she was wearing Chris's uniform. What the hell was going on? She unlocked her screen, turned on her camera and flipped it to selfie mode and found Chris's face staring back at her causing her to jolt and almost drop her phone.
"I look like Chris?" She says while trying to process the change. How did this happen? the panic slowly faded as a smile formed instead. "I look like Chris." She could work with this. If she was Chris, she didn't have to go to the lab. She could do whatever she wanted. Her smile grew to a wide grin that seemed foreign for the face she currently displayed.
Rose put her phone back into her pocket before cautiously opening the door. The hallway was empty, and the coast was clear. All she had to do was make it outside. Rose pushed her grinning smile down to try and replicate Chris's usual scowling face. Instead, she got something halfway between a pout and constipation, but it certainly did its job as anyone who saw her rather quickly got out of the way and did not want to talk to her.
Her path led her out of the BSAA Headquarters and to the parking lot. It turns out walking was a lot faster when you have longer legs. Rose made her way through the parking lot past various vehicles until she found one that was familiar. Chris' car. she smiled as she opened the driver's side door and quickly raided the car for spare coins to scrap together enough money for bus fares. She had no idea how to drive, and she was not planning on figuring that out now. maybe another time. With $8.37 in loose change collected and stowed away in her pocket, she closed up the car once more and went on her way. past two guard stations that barely paid her any mind. out to the streets and down the road.
No one stopped her to ask if she was lost. No scientists chased her or told her what to do. This was pretty awesome. She happily walked along the streets before noticing a small flower store. Rose looked from the bus stop to the small store and back again... If she got flowers for her dad, she wouldn't have enough money to take the bus to see him...
"Next time," Rose says under her breath before going over to the bus stop and waiting for the tardy transportation to arrive. Next time she'd bring her allowance with her and she'd buy flowers for her dad. Next time she'd be more prepared. For now though she got on the bus and waited.
an hour passed as various people got on and off the bus. By the time it made it to the cemetery, she was the only rider once more.
The bus slowed to a stop and the door opened giving her time to stand up to signal to the driver she was getting off. "Toll," The driver reminded as Rose made her way to the front of the bus.
"Right, um" Rose replied while digging through her pockets for the coins and started shoving some into the box.
"That's. just go," the driver says clearly unimpressed with the small change.
She was not going to argue with that. She put the remaining coins back into her pocket and hurried off the bus, making sure to jump off the last step.
Again the driver was unimpressed to see such a childish display from a grown adult, but he closed the door and went on his way.
Rose smiled as she made her way up the hill to her father's grave. After finding it she moved to take a seat.
"Hey dad. I'm back," She says with Chris's voice. "This has been a bit of a weird day." she adds with a laugh. "turns out Emma wasn't lying when she said I could be anyone I want to be. How cool is that?" Rose remarks with continued amusement.
The grave was silent.
"So a lot happened since we last got to talk... I miss you," Rose says as her form slowly starts to shrink and warp. Short brown hair grew and shifted to longer platinum blond locks, and fabric changed in hue and texture. "I know it's mean that I'm not visiting the dream place anymore. I could actually talk to you there but. that girl. she scares me... I don't want to have to see her again." Rose admits with a guilty tone. "So, hopefully, this will work instead?"
While she wasn't sure her dad could hear her this way, she continued to speak to the grave for some time. While she did so, another conversation was well underway back at the BSAA.
"Captain Redfield, Sir," the scientist from before says as they hurry into Chris's office. "I'm sorry to bother you again, sir, but I'm afraid I wasn't completely honest when we last spoke."
Chris moved to stand up from his desk. "What are you talking about?" Seriously, what was this guy on about? he'd been in his office all morning and never spoke to this guy at all.
"Before when we bumped into each other back in the research wing. I'd mentioned that everything was fine. It's not fine. We can't find Rose."
"What?!" he shouts in a mixture of horror and anger. "You lost her?" he asks while quickly moving towards the door of his office.
"Well. Not really lost as much as she ran away," the scientist explains while following Chris. "We were escorting her to the next testing facility. The one we were in before wasn't equipped for the test we needed to preform. We were just walking through the hallways. She saw another bioweapon and after asking about them, she just took off with no warning."
Chris rolled his eyes at that. Considering the history Rose had with these jerks tormenting her, he wasn't particularly inclined to believe they were being honest. especially if they just admitted to lying to him earlier. How was that possible, he didn't remember talking to them at all. "Head back to the labs. I'll track her down."
"Thank you sir," the scientist says before hurrying off to do exactly that.
Meanwhile, Chris made a beeline for the security office. Once inside, he sat down at a spare desk and put on the headphones attached to the computer before quickly started rummaging through files. He needed the footage from today only. They said they left their usual lab, so let's start here around 9AM. Chris flicked through various files before finding what he needed. He was able to follow the recording from camera to camera after that, watching the scientist's escort Rose through the building.
"Who's that?" "Why did she have that thing on her face?"
"That was a bioweapon. A dangerous one at that," "As for the muzzle... Let that be a warning. That's what happens if a bioweapon under the BSAA's jurisdiction starts biting people."
Chris pinched the brow of his nose as he heard the conversation from the security footage. "Goddammit," he mutters while rubbing his eyes. Well, no wonder she ran off like that... He wasn't sure how he was going to protect her this time, though. He continued to follow Rose through the security footage as she ran into a room. an office of sorts the lights were off, so he couldn't see anything on the room's camera, but from the hallway he watched the scientists arrive. open the door and shortly after close the door and leave. it was only a few minutes after that, he watched himself walk out of the room with a wide grin.
If they learn she can turn into other people, they're going to freak out... Chris stared at the paused recording for a moment longer trying to think over what to do about this.
Deleting files 3 of 14.
8 of 14
11 of 14
Files deleted.
A tired sigh crossed his lips before putting the headphones back on the desk, so he could get up. This was probably going to be the last time he can cover for her like this...
Hours passed, and the sun started to lower in the sky. "And that's how I learned I could change my face. It's crazy right?" Rose says, and slowly her smile fades. "You don't think they'll actually... you know..." Rose paused as she tried and failed to finish her question. "Forget it. it's probably nothing," She says instead, as she pushes herself to stand. "I should start heading back. If I don't catch the next bus, then I'll get busted for sure." Rose explains while dusting off her jeans that had small damp dirt marks on them from sitting for so long.
"Bye dad. I love you," She says before closing her eyes and covering her ears again. Just like last time, when she opened her eyes, she found her hands and clothes had changed.
Now well disguised, she made her way back to the bus stop, which she rode into town. from there she walked back to the BSAA past the two guard stations and into the headquarters, but only long enough to get to the courtyard and make her way back to the onsite housing of tiny, cramped apartments.
Rose stopped outside of the doorway and allowed herself to slowly change back to herself before cautiously opening the door. Duke was resting on the couch as always and Chris was visible in the kitchen through the small pointless window.
"You're home late," Chris says with an attempt at a calm tone, though his irritation was evident all the same.
Rose winced at this as she closed the door behind her. "I just took my time is all," She answers while cautiously making her way over to the couch.
He knew that was a lie. "You're still grounded you're supposed to come-"
"Straight home. I know," Rose replies as she moves to curl up on the couch and hold her legs. "Are you cooking dinner again?" She asks in an attempt to change the subject.
"Yeah, What of it?" Chris asks while continuing to poke at a pan that had some watery mixture of rice and vegetables.
"... But you can't cook" Rose points out as she flops over on to her side as she shifts to take out her phone.
He could feel his irritation growing thanks to that comment, but he tried to keep an even tone all the same. "I resent that I cook very well," He corrects while staring down at his attempt so far. Okay, maybe he shouldn't have winged it this time, but he thought he remembered the recipe.
"I like Emma's cooking better," Rose states rather bluntly as she starts her game up so she could talk with Summer.
You little shit. "well, get used to mine. I'm cooking," Chris counters again while taking the pan over to the sink to try and strain out the water. maybe he could still salvage this.
A groan of annoyance could be heard from the living room as Rose looked over at the entryway to the kitchen. "... You're just cooking to avoid spam, aren't you?" She accused with a deadpan expression.
The accusation caused the fatherly figure to frown before moving to stand in the doorway of the kitchen so he could look at Rose. "Look, I'm not doing this to be called out," Accurately.
He shifts to check the pan again while continuing to speak. "When Emma is short on time, she makes quick meals. Which is fine. She has to commute and I don't." but it drastically increases the likelihood of spam.
Again he continued so speak while leaving out the mental addendums."So if a little effort on my part makes her life easier," and mine spam free, "It's worth the effort."
"Sure," Rose replies, while her focus remained on her game and everything he said went in one ear and out the other.
Chris's frown remained as he stared at the unruly child. He shook his head and went back to focusing on the meal.
'*'*'*'*'
Again, time continued on since that day. Rose was at least smart enough not to run away every day, but she learned her attendance was now much more optional, as she could simply choose to be anyone else and run away for the day. The warnings she'd received hadn't fallen on completely deaf ears, and she wanted to avoid pushing her luck. So for the time being, she continued to attend her daily lab tests and workbook study halls.
This was greatly appreciated by Chris who, unbeknownst to Rose, had silently agreed to keep her new power a secret. Since she was behaving, this gave him a bit of time to worry about something else. Something rather trivial yet important. Valentine's Day.
He kind of messed up the last... three valentines days? yeah... Amnesia, Toddler meltdowns, arrested for war crimes. He had a horrible track record with all of this... Good lord. Actually, 4 years. He was away for work the year before the war crimes thing... Not this time though. This time he was going to do this right. He got a dinner reservation well in advance. He scheduled a half day off, so he could leave early. He cleaned up around the apartment. Bought flowers, showered and changed. There was no way this could possibly go wrong.
Chris looked himself over in the mirror once more. Trimmed beard, check. Brushed teeth, check. Floss and mouth wash, check and check. With that, he checked his phone for the time.
Wednesday, February 14th, 5:04 PM.
Emma would be home in roughly 40 minutes and Rose should be home any minute. With that thought, he exited the bathroom and made his way over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. It took a bit of Rearranging, but he managed to stash a decent size arrangement of Roses and other flowers he didn't know the names of. For now, he left the bouquet in its place and took out a few ingredients to work on a quick dinner for Rose and Piers.
When in doubt, just make grilled cheese and tomato soup. It was a nice warm meal, easy to make and if you put goldfish crackers in the soup kids will usually eat it. And that's exactly what he did. He borrowed Emma's apron to try and keep his shirt clean. the last thing he needed was to worry about the soup bubbling and spitting onto his shirt and staining it.
"I'm hooome," Rose says as she makes her way into the apartment around 5:15. As usual, after closing the door behind her, she flopped onto the couch next to Duke.
"Welcome home," Chris replies while focusing on putting the meal together. The soup was warming up. He had the bread buttered and sandwiches ready to grill on the frying pan. "Can you set a bowl and plate on the table for yourself?" He asks while focusing on the task at hand.
Rose raised an eyebrow at the requests. "Just at my seat?" She asks confused as she looks away from her phone and over to the kitchen.
"Yours and if you could put a plate on Piers' high chair, that would be helpful," Chris clarifies.
That didn't really clear up her confusion though. Rose got up and walked over to the kitchen all the same. "Are you and mom not eating?"
Well crap. "Not quite. We're going out to eat tonight."
"Without us?" Rose asks annoyed. That's no fair. She was getting burnt grilled cheese and canned soup, and they get to go out to eat? The injustice!
"Sometimes adults get to do that," Chris says in response as he stirred the pot of soup.
Rose made a face but collected the dishes all the same, grumbling her whole way to the table as she put out the plastic plates and blunted silverware for the two. Once her chore was done, she made her way back over to the couch with a dramatic flop and went back onto her phone.
[Rose] UUUGH Mom and Chris are going out to eat without me, it's so unfair.
[Summer] Huh? Oh yeah, my mom and dad are doing that too. It's Valentine's Day. They do that every year.
Rose raised her eyebrow at this. as she continued to text Summer. It was a holiday? It seemed weird. She never saw them celebrate it before. What changed? Messages were sent back and forth and before long a ladle of soup, a handful of goldfish shaped crackers and an admittedly not burnt sandwich was added to her dishes.
"Rose, dinners ready," Chris says as he goes to start working on the next sandwich for Piers.
"Kay," Rose says as she got up and made her way over to her seat to start eating. She made it about halfway through her sandwich when the door opened.
"I'm home," says a clearly tired Emma as she closed the door behind her with her foot.
"Welcome home," She heard in response from the kitchen, along with shuffling and shifting that came with the opening and closing of the fridge.
"Dinner smells great," Emma comments with a content smile as she moves to put Piers down in his highchair. As she was fussing with the one-year-old and getting him safely strapped in to his seat, she heard Chris clearing his throat in an attempt to get her attention. Once she was sure the rather flimsy looking seat belt was properly clipped, she looked over and found Chris with a neat bundle of fresh and healthy flowers.
"Oh my gosh," She says to voice her surprise, though a smile quickly formed.
Seeing her reaction caused a short laugh to escape him. That was pretty much what he was going for. "Surprised?"
"Yeah. Wow. They're gorgeous," She adds as she walks over to give him a quick kiss and look over the thoughtful gift. He was dressed up too. Wait a second... "Are you wearing my apron?" Emma asks with an amused smile.
"Figured I couldn't go to dinner with a stained shirt,"
"Dinner too?" Emma asks as her excited and surprised expression returned.
"Mhm," Chris confirmed as his own smile grew. It felt like he'd finally got this right. "We have a reservation at 6:30."
Wow, when was the last time they just went out for dinner together. that - wait... "Whose going to watch the kids?"
Chris paused while his mind seemed to flat line.
Rose watched from the corner of her eye as both of their smiles fell and their air of excitement staled to disappointment.
"...Shit..." Chris says under his breath. "I knew I forgot something."
"It's okay. The flowers are lovely," Emma says, as she tried to stick to the positive to try and help him feel better. He clearly put a lot of effort into all of this, and she did appreciate it. "I'm already tired anyways, and I didn't exactly remember to get you anything... grilled cheese sounds good so-"
"I can watch Piers," Rose says which causes the two adults to pause and look over at her.
"hm?" Emma hums while looking at Rose with a confused expression.
"I'm old enough to go to lab tests and stuff on my own. and walk home by myself... I can watch Piers. We're surrounded by BSAA Agents anyways." Rose points out before taking another bite of her food.
"I don't know..." Emma says while rubbing at the back of her neck. "We'd be gone for at least two hours. that's a long time."
"It's like. two hours, so like 8:30? bedtime is 9 now anyway," Rose says in return. "I can do it. Summer said she's watching Maurie and Annie."
That's true, they did end up extending her bedtime by an hour... "I suppose that explains why she hasn't asked me about babysitting as much lately," Emma says quietly before looking to Chris.
"Two hours isn't that bad," He admits while bobbing his head. She had a point, if they were going to test out leaving her on her own, leaving her at the BSAA would probably be the safest option...
Emma looked at Rose while still a bit conflicted, her mother's advice from a few weeks back rang in the back of her mind. With that, Emma stepped back a bit and looked at the larger picture... Rose was trying to help and was asking for trust in return...
It doesn't change that it is scary at times when you're trying to raise a kid. You have to be willing to let go at some point.
"Okay," Emma agrees, though the word sound painful for her to say. "We'll give this a try, but if it's too much you just need to call, and we'll come right home," Emma affirms with a slight nod. "After Peirs finishes his dinner, we'll head out. That way, you just need to make sure he doesn't get into anything. We can put up the baby gate."
"Mooom I know how to use a phooone," Rose whines with a pout. "I can do this." she reaffirmed.
"Alright, alright..." Emma relents before looking to Chris. "I'm going to go change really quick. Are you okay to make sure Piers eats?"
"Yeah, I can do that," He confirms with a nod. He waits until Emma leaves before moving to get a vase from the kitchen, so he could set the flowers down on the table. "Thanks for the save," He says to Rose who nods.
"Summer said her mom and dad were giving her twenty bucks to watch her siblings," Rose points out with a slight smile.
Chris rolled his eyes at that but pulled out his wallet and handed over what he had. "Ten for now, ten when we make it back," It was at least cheaper than the fee for canceling the reservation last minute.
"Deal," Rose agrees and accepts the money before shoving it into her pocket. She'd have plenty of money for flowers this way. She could even buy pretty fancy ones like the one Chris just set on the table.
Before long Emma returned wearing a clean outfit and spruced up a bit, Piers finished his tiny cut up bites of grilled cheese and goldfish crackers, and the two parents left the house. Rose waited for a few minutes before checking out the window.
"Where is he..." She muttered while looking from side to side. Gary was always looking around somewhere. They never actually trusted her to be alone. He wasn't outside though. Rose got up and hurried over to the closet and threw the door open. "HAHA!" her smile fell as the closet was empty aside from a vacuum and a various household supplies. "Hmmm" she grumbled as she hurried to look around the apartment.
While rose continued her search, supervised by her little brother who was happily following her around the apartment, Chris and Emma had just gotten seated at the restaurant.
"It's been a while since we got out to spend time together," Chris admits quietly.
"Not too long. We went out for lunch after picking up your ring, remember?" Emma points out with a slight smile.
"True," He admits while thinking it over. They were at least doing better than their previous record of one date a year, if they were lucky. "That was still half a year ago."
"Was it?" She asks while thinking it over. That was in August so... yeah, 6 months. "Time feels like it's moving so quickly now."
"Yeah," He agrees with a slight laugh. "Rose the babysitter. Who would have thought."
Emma chuckles at that. "She's been very good with her little brother. I'm not too surprised," before glancing at their phones which they left on the table, screens up in case either of them got a panicked call for help.
"Fair enough," He agrees as his face relaxes into a smile. "Extorted twenty bucks out of me for it but, yeah. At the end of the day, she's a good kid."
"Did she really?" Emma asks amused.
"Summer's mom and dad are paying her twenty bucks to watch her siblings," He replies while mimicking Rose's voice.
Hearing this caused Emma to laugh.
"She might have a repeat customer if this works out," He says with a short chuckle of his own.
"I kind of like the sound of that," Emma admits in return. It would be nice to get to spend some alone time together.
The rest of the evening went just as smoothly. The two had their dinner while rather consistently checking their phones to see if there was a text or a missed call, and no such message arrived. In turn, Rose continued to search the apartment high and low for Gary and never found him.
Rose had just finished putting the last pillow back into place When the door to the apartment opened. Chris and Emma walked in to find Rose cleaning up around the apartment, while Piers was fast asleep and happily curled up on the couch next to Duke.
Chris nods in approval. The apartment was still intact. "How was your night?"
"I um... Good?" She says with a confused expression. They didn't have Gary watch from a distance? They actually trusted her? The thought caused a smile to form. "It was good." she said more confidently.
"I'm glad it went well," Emma says with a sense of relief. Getting out of the house was nice, but it was good to be back. "There's still a bit of time before you have to go to bed. Did you want to watch one of your shows?"
"Yeah," Rose agrees with a nod as she hurries to go and find the remote. As she did so Chris Picked up Piers and carried him to his crib to set him down for the night while Emma helped Rose look for the easily lost device. by the time Chris got back, the remote was recovered from under the fluffy canine. The three got comfortable on the couch and the TV was set to watch her favorite show before bed.
I got a request for some Emo phase Rose and boy howdy are we going to get Emo phase Rose. She's growing up and starting to understand that her life isn't normal and the more she wants that normal life, the more she's going to fight to get it. Despite Chris and Emma's efforts to give her a stable and loving home, it's not exactly good enough to just have a home. The rebellious habits that were alluded to in the RE8 cutscene are starting to take form.
Also gotta mention a huge thanks to babeygoddessveve and their OC Serena who makes a Cameo in this chapter. Babey is such a sweetie and green lit the idea, and Serena's such a cool character. So if you have the time to check out her story, it's linked in the 'inspired by' list just below this message if you're reading on Ao3.
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Review responses:
Enjyw - thanks so much ^v^ Hearing that made me so happy! hopefully I'll be able to continue providing a strong story to the last chapter.
starrat - Glad to have your support =v= thanks so much!
MiharuTousaka - Hi Miharu~ I'm not sure when/if you'll see this, but thanks so much for your comments on chapters 49 and 54 ^v^ yeah I think the lore behind the connection is pretty vague. they don't really get into it outside of a few DLC documents from what I remember, but The Connections is a crime syndicate involved in Bio-Chemical research, money laundering, murder and trafficking of weapons and drugs. So, while I do think they were trying to paint Mia in a more sympathetic light for RE 8 they missed the target since they don't show her repentance process from being involved in that kind of business.
