After the stress of the last chapter, let's sit back and unwind with some family celebrations. We have a birthday boy after all! Fair warning the first portion has medical talk in it. So if you'd rather not read that, please skip to the first scene breaker and pick up from there.
Song Suggestion: Level of Concern by Twenty One Pilots
Disclaimer: I own nothing, praise Capcom. please don't sue. k thanks.
Three days had passed since Chris was able to visit home and the differences were starting to set in. Namely, that he hadn't been home since. He got his 8 hours of sleep and went right back to work. The sheer magnitude of the damage was becoming more readily apparent with each day that passed. Walls and floors were stained with blood, riddled with bullet holes and just about any glass that could break, did.
That was excluding the sizable dead zone from the multiple EMPs, where Chris was currently hard at work. He wasn't exactly an electrician but most of the facility staff was under trained for that situation and as such the greater percentage of the casualties. He one of the few alternatives for the time being. So long as the boxes came with instruction manuals, he'd probably read it eventually and figure it out.
A two-way stepladder became his perch as he worked on removing his 5th fried ceiling light fixture of the day. The process required a careful balancing act of holding on to a pair of pliers, a screwdriver and a flashlight since the breakers were flipped off to keep him from getting fried whiles messing with the wires. He got the final screw loose. While it took a moment, he eventually got the fixture out of the ceiling and had a decent enough hold on it to keep it from clattering to the ground as he climbed back down the ladder.
Chris walked over to lean the broken part against the wall before heading to the open box that held the last working light fixture before looking down the hallway. Considering how much was left here, and that multiple floors were affected, there were still another hundred or so lights to replace. which meant another two hundred light bulbs. not to mention the electronic lock system on the doors. all the windows.
He breathed a defeated sigh and picked up the part before climbing the ladder again. If he couldn't continue with repairs, there was always other work to be done. After a good 15 minutes of juggling tools and reconnecting wires, the new light fixture was installed. He climbed back down and worked to move the ladder out of the way leaving the fixture empty. Lightbulbs were a scarce commodity at the moment. to the point that many were pilfering fixtures from unused portions of the building to try and supply the portions that needed it most.
Chris made his way through the halls, signs of the internal looting and relocation of parts were more apparent as he looked around. Rooms with outdoors or doors without handles were particularly common. Entire rooms were repurposed as Desk and tables were discarded in favor of beds from the barracks to make more rooms for the injured and keep them closer to the medical wing.
The tables and desks became beds for those that were still fit to work as it wasn't uncommon to walk past a stray table where someone was sleeping on a backpack as a pillow. No one dared wake up anyone who was resting or make accusations of laziness, as it became accepted to let people rest when they need it. While he was tempted to find a desk and do the same, He made his way further into the medical wing instead.
"Captain Redfield, Sir, what brings you here?" Asked one of the nurses, who had dark bags forming under their eyes.
"We're out of parts for repairs. Figured I'd offer to act as a supply runner here instead," Chris explained, and his words seemed to cause the nurse to light up.
"oh good. good. It's been a while since we've had a replacement show up. um." they looked around. "Let me see if I can find one of the doctors. They'll know who needs the break."
"Alright," Chris agreed, and waited for the nurse to leave and come back a good 20 minutes later alongside a bandaged recruit.
"You'll be taking Jim's place and run supplies for Doctor Cohen. He's waiting for you in room H-43" The nurse announced as Jim gave a weak but grateful smile before walking past to find a desk to rest on.
Chris looked to the nurse, "Try and find a replacement too. You won't be helping anyone if you collapse and join the injured."
"Yes sir," The nurse replied as Chris walked away.
Down the hall, to the right and a few doors down, Chris eventually found his way to room H-43. He simply opened the door rather than knocking and found an equally exhausted doctor with a mountain of files on his desk.
Doctor Cohen looked over. "Captain Redfield. Thank you for your assistance." he said in greeting. "I can imagine you have your own mountain of work to deal with." with that, the man gestured to the stack of files.
"It's going to be difficult. There are too many letters to the families of the deceased to even know where to start," "Paperwork can wait though if it means reducing the number of letters we need to sign."
"Agreed," with that the doctor stood up. "Let's get to work."
"Yes sir," Chris replied and followed the doctor's lead.
Each room was as depressing as the last. some had been lucky enough to have minor injuries while others were left with broken bones, missing limbs or some mixture of everything. With each room they visited, Chris would wait until the doctor told him what to get and where to find it before hurrying off to do so. Chem-packs were reserved for those in the worst condition who needed it to remain stable, while the rest were left to more common medical practices of casts and changing out bandages.
While part of him hoped that this Doctor Cohen would be assigned to at least one member of his team, that didn't seem to be the case. After a few hours of rotating around through various rooms, he didn't see a single one of them. The rotation only stopped as they left the latest patient's room to find a bandaged Patrol officer waiting outside for them.
"Captain Redfield, The director wants to speak with you. I've been instructed to take your place," the Patrol officer announced without waiting for any sort of formality.
"Understood," Chris replied, before looking at the doctor to see if he'd agree. While normally Chris would hold rank, in this scenario he could recognize that his seniority did not matter as much. That the one in charge was the one that could keep the most people alive.
"Get going, as long as I have someone that can make it to the supply depo and pharmacy I'll be fine," Doctor Cohen agreed, and with that Chris took his leave.
His body was screaming at him to rest at this point, but he pushed on until he made it to the director's door. A moment of pause came as he stared at the handle before shifting so he could knock instead.
"Enter,"
Chris opened the door to find and equally exhausted director. While normally she did her best to keep her desk clear an empty for a meeting, this time it was just as messy as the dotor's if not more so.
"Chris, good to see you," she greeted and motioned for him to take a seat. While she tried to smile, it seemed as weak as any other, he'd seen over the last few days. Like it was held in place by a fraying string.
"Well, I first feel some level of congratulations is in order," the director started while trying to ignore the surrounding mess. "It's my understanding that Hound Wolf has managed to scrape through despite their injuries. It's always a celebratory moment to know that one of our elite teams will remain intact. I suppose that's no surprise do to your teams additional training and expertise."
"Thank you ma'am," Chris solemnly replied. While it was true it was a reason to be happy, it was a bittersweet reason for celebration if that. "You needed me for something?"
"To the point as usual I see," The director replied. "Yes. This whole," she paused to think of an adequate word. "catastrophe, Has brought to light my own painfully blatant lack of knowledge regarding bioweapons and what all that entails. Knowledge that you clearly have in spades. I likely would not have survived that attack had you not been there." Again, she seemed to pause as she moved to lace her hands together. "Because of my lack of experience in this field I'd like to consult with you regarding some information that the lab has provided me with after examining some of the enemy corpses."
"I'll do what I can to help," Chris agreed.
"It's appreciated," With that the director picked up the nearest file and opened it. "It says here that the lab believes that the time of death of the mercenaries we found, does not match the date of the attack. that these corpses have been dead for several years."
Hearing this caused Chris's eyebrows to knit together. "And you're sure they were examining the mercenaries and not one of the bioweapons?"
"I went down there myself to confirm it. It lines up," The director handed the file to Chris so he could read it over. "I asked them to test the one by the armory. I heard that one speak and it had the same results. dead for 3 years."
Chris accepted the file and read it over. "Assuming it's not a bad test result from damaged equipment, That might explain some of the radio chatter. They mentioned drones a few times. It might be that some of the mercenaries were actually bioweapons. The lesser mold infected bioweapons were showing Bronze Age level capabilities." Chris paused before deciding to add one last thought. "Rose and Ethan's existence stand as continued proof that normal levels of sentience is possible when it comes to the mold bioweapons." Hell they had proof of that possibility for the virus too but it was so rare that it was negligible. the mold though, this was becoming more common.
"I was worried you'd say that," The director admits as she held out a hand to accept the file back. "Considering how many there are, whoever is behind this has managed to figure out how to create these sentient Drones, as you called them, in mass." Once she had the file back she put it down on her desk. "I confirmed as much with the hostage, I figured you were my best bet to see if they were telling the truth. The confirmed that the gap in time of death was due to the fact that some mercenaries were Bioweapons. That the employer has some difficulty making them, but he's able to confidently recreate it enough that they're viable as an army for him."
Shit... "How can I help?"
The director paused before exhaling and relaxing into her seat. "Honestly... at this point. I'm not sure. I was kind of hoping you'd know what to do next."
"Without knowing where the target is, there isn't much we can do. We need to know where to look more than we need to know what they're producing,"
"Yeah, the hostage hasn't been particularly useful on that front. He just keeps saying that he doesn't know. that the guy seemed to only exist in calls, and anyone who had seen him mentioned he had a habit of disappearing when they blink. As if he wasn't real." The director explained as she moved to rest her forehead in her hand.
"We can't rule out that the target might be infected as well at this point. The information about the drones is helpful. It explains one mystery that's been bugging me from the village. The Bioweapons that the BSAA used back then were the same way. they looked and acted human while being dead. They were likely provided to the BSAA through the moles which means all of this is connected. If we find out who is doing this. we can shut down any last remnants of corruption at the source."
"Agreed, that was where my thoughts when as well after reading this. I'm glad to see we're on the same page," The Director agreed before pushing herself to regain her more professional stance from before. "BSAA Asia and BSAA South America are both sending teams out to look for leads. they'll be taking over the mission your team was initially assigned to before and follow the leads from there."
Chris pressed his lips together to keep from arguing and it was quickly noticed.
"I can understand wanting to go out and fight back. Your team is in no position to do that. they survived. I won't send them off to die chasing foolish revenge," The director warned. "You're needed here."
"Yes Ma'am,"
"With that said. How are you and your family holding up,"
"Well enough," Chris answered, He was never one for small talk but he'd stay until he was dismissed.
"I recall that you have children. How are they doing? I can imagine this must be frightening for Rose and," The director paused but fell short of a name. "I'm afraid I haven't met the other."
"Piers," Chris answered "He's too young to understand anything is wrong. He's turning two today."
Hearing this caused the director to remain silent as she watched him a moment longer. "How long have you been working for this shift?"
"Three days," He reluctantly answered. "I've taken my turn to rest for a few hours, so I'm still getting sleep."
"Chris," The director replied in a warning tone. "Go home. That's an order."
Hearing this was shocking enough that he simply stared in response. "But."
"I said before that you're needed here. Your family needs you too. Go home," She insisted once more, and predicted some arguing to come. "If we fall apart because one person is not here, then I am not doing my job right. Are you saying that I am not doing my job?"
"No ma'am,"
"Good," With that she moved to stand and walked over to the door to open it. "And Chris."
"hm?"
"Don't hurry back. Take the day. We need morale to be as high as possible, and that won't happen if I'm over working the only people I have left." She further explained before an attempt at a laughing smile crossed her face. "However, If you could pick up some lightbulbs on your way back."
"I can do that," Chris agreed as he got up and walked over to the door. "I guess after missing his birth, and having his first birthday postponed from the house being attacked. It would be nice to actually be around for once." He attempted to joke in return but it fell flat from how depressing it actually was.
A sympathy chuckle was all he got in response before the director nudged for him to leave. "go."
'*'*'*'*'
"Piers! Piers, it's time for cake," Emma called into the living room with a content smile as she carried as small cake with two candles over to the table.
"Cake?" Bastion happily repeated as the other guests happily watched as the toddler quickly stopped playing with his new toys in favor of hurrying over to the table.
"That is a motivated toddler if I ever saw one," Travis laughed as he got up and walked over to Mrs. Russo to help her get up as well.
"Well we better get moving or there won't be any left for us," Chelsea teased as she and Jack got up as well.
"Oh you go on without me then. I might be a minute," Mrs. Russo said as she held to Travis's arm and the two started making their way over to the table as well.
Despite this, the group waited. Piers sat at the end of the table while Rose, Summer, Maurie and Annie took the remaining seats, leaving Mrs. Russo to sit at the head of the table.
"It's not every day you get to be young again and sit at the kid's table," She happily laughed.
"So are we singing or are we just gonna blow out the candles and eat?" Bastion asked as he noticed Piers was getting antsy the longer he stared at the small cake in front of him.
"We might as well," Emma agreed. "Ready?"
Travis Hummed the starting note and the group began the traditional melody. The group happily sang out of tune as the toddler smiled and kept his eyes on the cake. "Happy birthday, Dear Piers. Happy birthday to you!"
Chris walked around the corner as he listened to the group. He was a little late but he'd at least get to see the kid blow out the candles.
"Da-dah!" The cake was quickly ignored as Piers got out of his chair and hurried over to give Chris a hug.
"Hey. Sorry I'm late," Chris replied as the group happily cheered at his arrival.
"Oh my gosh," Bastion said as Chris's black eye and various injuries seemed to finally be noticed. "You look, great." Bastion said through a wince.
"Thanks," Chris replied while rolling his eyes though he held back a wince after doing so.
"Up!" The toddler demanded while holding his arms up to be held.
"Not right now Piers. Go back to your cake," Chris instructed. It was finally becoming time where Piers was getting too big to pick up, as the child was now a good 3 feet tall.
The stubborn child remained in place with his arms in the air. Up was not optional.
Chris stared a moment before taking the child's hands and semi carried the kid back over to his chair by picking him up just enough and putting him down for a moon bouncing effect. Piers got his demand and so did Chris as he put Piers down in the same seat from before, then moved to stand next to Emma.
"Okay Piers, blow out the candles," Emma instructed as Chris put an arm around her waist.
Piers was more than happy to comply at this point and with a very spitty breath blew out the candles.
"Do you want to smoosh it?" Emma asked.
That was an option? "Yeah!"
"Okay go ahead," Emma said as she held her phone up to record it.
With permission given, Piers quickly went to town and shoved both hands into the cake to start eating.
"Ewww!" Maurie complained through giggles while making a face. "I don't wanna eat that."
"Can't say I blame her," Travis laughed as well.
Piers was find with this, as he did not want to share in the first place.
"No worries, I have a different cake over on the counter for the rest of us. Who wants chocolate and who wants vanilla?"
"Chocolate" "Chocolate" "Chocolate!" "Vanilla if you don't mind," "Can I get a bit of both?" "Chocolate."
Emma offered Chris her phone to keep taking pictures and videos. "Okay I think I heard four chocolates, one vanilla and one half. anyone else?"
"I'll wait until you're done with those and see what's left," Chelsea offered.
"Thanks," With that, Emma got to work cutting and serving the different requested slices of cake. the adults left the kids to sit at the table with Mrs Russo as they moved to sit down on the couches, while Duke was very content staying under the table to wait and see if tiny hands would send any crumbs his way.
Sitting down proved to be a mistake. Just as soon as Chris did, so the fatigue of the last few days set in, leaving him to pass out while holding a plate with a half-eaten slice of cake.
Some time passed before he woke up enough to realize the weight he was expecting to be holding, was gone. Ugh, he probably dropped it. great. This thought caused him to grumble as he slowly pushed himself to open his eyes and find that the living room was now dark and empty. He'd been covered with a blanket, and there was a source of warmth next to him. he looked over and found that Emma was curled up in another blanket with Duke by her side. She was likely trying to avoid leaning on him as she was resting her forehead on her knees.
Chris yawned as he shifted to move close and put an arm around her waist so they could share his blanket. Doing so caused Emma to stir as well, as she began to wake up as well.
"Sorry," Chris quietly whispered.
"It's okay," Emma mumbled as she nuzzled against him.
"How long have I been out?" Chris asked as he looked around for the time.
"Couple hours," Emma replied once more without opening her eyes.
Chris found a clock by the time she answered. it was 10pm at this point. He'd been asleep for at least 3 hours, and he didn't really feel like getting up. Instead, he shifted once more while holding on to Emma, so they could lay down on the couch. Causing Duke to reluctantly get up and walk away with a disapproving huff.
"The bed will be more comfortable," Emma pointed out, but didn't exactly shift to get away.
"I don't want to get up," Chris rebutted. This was the most comfortable thing he'd slept on in days.
"Mkay," She didn't have it in her to argue. A minute or two passed before she spoke up again. "Hey Chris?"
"Hm?"
"How's Hound Wolf doing?" She asked after another moment of hesitation.
"They'll make it," Chris answered, too tired to go into detail.
"I'm glad," with that she shifted to get a bit more comfortable. "Maybe we can find a way to have them over for thanksgiving? they're injured. It's going to be hard for them to make anything for themselves."
Chris gave it a moment of thought. "Pretty sure the Director is planning on giving everyone a few days off for thanksgiving in shifts. It might not be exactly the right day, but I'll see if they're healthy enough to leave. If they are, then I'll see about getting the same day off as them, so I can let you know when we'll have leave."
"Okay, I'll see if I can drop off your replacement phone once it gets here," Emma offered.
"Thanks," He said as he began to rub his thumb along her spine, since their conversation was lasting a bit longer than he'd expected. "Did you want to invite anyone else?"
Emma thought it over with a hum. "Nah. We just had the wedding. It doesn't make sense to have another huge gathering after that. Most of our family would have to travel pretty far just to be here, so asking them to fly twice is too much."
"True,"
"Hound wolf, if they're out of the medical ward. they're probably just as over worked as you. Figured they'd appreciate the break." Emma explained before moving to adjust her extra blanket.
"I'll bring it up with them once I head back tomorrow morning," Chris offered, while not so subtly letting Emma know that he'd be leaving again soon.
So soon? he just got back, but at least he was here for a little. "Okay," she relented without fighting. "Let's try and get some sleep."
'*'*'*'*'
Thanksgiving Day proper came and went but sure enough, as Chris had said, the director scheduled each working person to take some time off, to go home and rest for a proper holiday even if it wasn't the exact right dates. Hound Wolf Squad was assigned leave for the 29th, 30th and 1st. And so the new Thanksgiving Day had been set for November 30th.
Rose watched as the usually quite Saturday activities were thrown out the window in favor of rushed urgency to get the house ready. Chris helped sweep, mop and put away toys. the last task being the more difficult one as Piers wanted all of his new toys out to play with resulting in a circular battle between father and son over the toy box. Meanwhile Emma was hard at work as multiple dishes vied for her attention along with Duke who was hopeful for any sort of scrap. Mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, a roasting turkey and fresh bread all made the home smell warm and inviting.
"Rose, can you start setting the table?" Emma requested while trying to set a new timer.
"Okay," Rose grumble as she shifted to get up.
"I need to put an extra leaf in the table first," Chris said as he opened the coat closet to retrieve his jacket.
Rose sat back down. guess she was waiting.
"Ah. that's true. Rose could you help Chris with that so you can set the table?" Emma asked as she adjusted her request.
Rose rolled her eyes and moved to get up again.
The sound of Jingling keys could be heard from near the garage. "I'll do that when I get back, I need to go pick up Night Howl."
And again Rose sat back down.
"Chris I really need you to do that first," Emma quickly called back in a panicked tone, hoping she managed to catch him before he closed the door. "I need a place to put the food. it's not going to all fit on the island and the counter is a mess."
Could her parents, please, just make up their minds? Tired with the back and forth leading her to get up and sit down, Rose got up once more with a tired expression and looked around for the extra length of table. With a flick of her hand the table's rails extended on their own, pushing the chairs out of the way with a grinding screech of wood rubbing against wood. Another flick of her hand caused the extra board to soar over and plop into place before the table clicked back together. Now longer than before with room for 2 extra seats.
"Done. Can you stop arguing now?" Rose asked as she made her wait over to the cabinets to start collecting plates.
Chris and Emma looked at each other. A few years ago they would have scolded her but, at this point they'd mutually given up on trying to keep her from using her powers at home. At least she didn't do that in public. That they knew of.
"I'll be back in an hour," Chris said.
"Okay travel safely," Emma said as her focus went back to her work. She could hear the door to the garage close shortly after and the mechanical hum of the sliding door lifting so Chris could leave.
Clinks of plates and gentle chimes of silverware occasionally dotted the air after that as Rose got to work setting the table. "So wine glasses at all the plates too right?" Rose asked while cautiously watching Emma for her reaction.
"Everyone except yours and Piers," Emma corrects. "You can have some when you're older."
Hearing that Emma caught on to her scheme caused Rose to frown. "I'm allowed to go on secret missions where people die, but I'm not allowed to drink old grape juice? Tell me how that makes sense," Rose grumbled while motioning for the glasses to gently float down from their place on the top shelf of the cabinet, so she could reach them.
"It doesn't, and I don't care. You don't get any until you're 21," Emma firmly stated, though she found herself smiling, simply grateful that Rose would have the chance to be 21 where that was once an uncertain event.
"No fair," Rose grumbled and continued doing her assigned chore.
The table was set as instructed and two extra chairs were moved up from the basement before Rose sat down once more and went back to her game. There was a special holiday event that she wanted to try and finish up. If she collected all the hidden tokens around the map she'd get a new outfit for her character! Determination set in as she poked at the screen and before she new it 30 minutes flew by.
Her game was then interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door. Duke began to bark, which Pier's copied.
"Rose, my hands are still full can you please get the door?" Emma asked but Rose was already half way there.
Rose opened the door and allowed Canine through.
"Hey Rose, good to see you," He greeted, raising his one good hand since his other arm was bandaged and in a sling.
"Good to see you too," Rose replied as she closed the door behind him. "What happened to your arm?"
"Eh, nothing as exciting as the other's stories," Canine admitted as he walked into the living room and took a seat next to Duke so he could pet the dog with his good arm. "It's my own darn fault really. After seeing a few Lickers stalking around I was worried about the dogs. I managed to make my way to the kennels first and started muzzling as many as I could. Wound up spooking one of the guard dogs, and they got my arm pretty good before I got a muzzle on them."
"Licker?"
"Yeah, we're gonna be working on teaching you the different classifications of bioweapons after this. For now, they're bad news," Canine vaguely explained.
"Well, I'm glad it's just a bite. You're okay otherwise? and the dogs?" Emma asked.
"All fine. Managed to keep them safe. There were a few mercenaries that barged in, but I was able to handle it. the Kennel wasn't a high-priority target, so it was just a matter of keeping them all quiet and the door barricaded after that."
"Well I'm glad you're alright," Emma said as she walked over to place a glass of water on the coffee table for him. "If you need anything let me know."
"Will do Mrs. R," Canine said with a grin before picking up the glass.
Emma laughed a bit at that but went back to work. Another 15 minutes passed before the garage could be heard once more and the door opened shortly after.
"I'm back," Chris announced. "Night Howl's here too."
"Hey Night Howl," Canine greeted as the communications specialist walked on. well. rolled in. He had good reason to ask for a ride as Chris had to push the wheelchair for him. He had both hands covered in thick bandages and his foot was in a cast. "Yikes, you've seen better days."
"Yeah yeah," Night howl made a gentle motion with his wrist to wave off the comment.
This was enough to get Emma to look up again and concern just as quickly set in as she noticed the bandaged hands. "Oh. Are you going to need some help with your food?"
"Nah. I just can't put a lot of pressure on them is all. I can still pick up a fork though," Night Howl explained and held up his hands. "Electrical burns from keeping the system up after it almost fritzed out." he offered as an explanation before gesturing to his foot. "and the additional cost from knocking over the tool box after finally getting my hands off the wires."
Emma winced at the explanation. "Sorry."
"It's fine. I'll have the bandages off in a few weeks, so It's a small price. I hate to think what would have happened if we didn't get the power back online," Night Howl offered. "Luckily Lobo and a few others were there to help guard the place while I was out for the count."
"So the music was Lobo's doing," Chris asked with an amused smile as he parked the wheel chair in the living room.
"Yeah that was him, I'd set up the SOS initially, but the bastard saw the opportunity to mess with it after I cooked my hands and did," Night Howl grumbled with a forced scowled. "that song is still stuck in my head."
"Same," Chris and Canine agreed as Chris walked away to go and help in the kitchen.
"When's Lobo getting here anyways?" Emma asked as she started moving a few dishes over to the table.
"Should be here any minute. Traffic was pretty light today, so I can't imagine he got stuck," Chris answered.
"What about Umber Eye? is he joining us?" Canine asked since it seemed strange that the usually punctual second in command was nowhere to be seen.
"Nah. His wife wanted him home," Chris answered again, earning a collection of understanding 'ah's and nods.
"I can sympathize with that. The new work schedule they have you guys on is brutal. I'd probably give Chris a good hard stare if he tried saying he was going to run off drinking with you guys or something." Emma admitted.
"If it's anything like the Captain's I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that," Night Howl said with a laugh, only for the doorbell to be heard shortly after.
"I got it," Chris said and walked away to get the door. A minute or so later, he walked back into the open living space with Lobo at his side, who was short an eye and sporting an eye patch to cover it up.
"Hey patchy made it," Canine laughed, earning a solid middle finger from the heavy weapons expert.
"You're just mad you got the pansy ass story and I look like a badass from duking it out with a hunter," Lobo said with an attempt at a cocky grin as he took a seat on the couch next to Rose. "Maybe I can get a cool metal eye covers, like from that one Thor movie."
"So do they got you working shifts or are you bed bound?" Canine asked.
"eh, I'll be on shifts soon enough," Lobo answered. "Doc says I'm still too shakey, whatever that means. Gotta get signed up for some exams," He explained with a shrug.
"Exams?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow. "Like School exams? or Lab exams?"
"Lab exams," Lobo answered. "Nothing too crazy. All I gotta do is pass a few doctors tests to prove being a Cyclops won't affect my flying, and I'll be back in the air in no time haha... hah," The attempts at being optimistic had taken their tolls as he didn't have the energy to push through another fake laugh.
The room was silent for a few moments after that as everyone stared at Lobo, unsure what to say or do at this point. Before anyone else could speak, Lobo spoke up again.
"Ah, you guys are acting like this is a funeral or something. I'm not dead. I'm just missing an eye. We're supposed to be having a party, right?" He grumbled before pushing himself to get up. "Em, the food smells great. Is it ready?"
"Yeah. Dinner's ready when you guys are," Emma confirmed.
"Great, what's the seating order? I'm starving," Lobo asked as he moved to help Night Howl over to the table.
Emma paused a moment before looking at the group. "Chris can you sit at the head, I'll have Piers sit to your Right. I'll sit next to Pier. Rose, sit next to me. Lobo, please help night howl over to Chris's left. Canine, please sit next to night Howl and Lobo, can you sit next to Canine?" She requested as she did her best to put Lobo at the end with his good eye facing the group so he'd be able to see everyone without constantly craning his neck.
"Can do," "Yes ma'am" "You're the boss,"
Everyone took their seat while Emma helped Piers into his. The child stared at the meal in wide eye awe. He'd never seen so much food all at once before. Everyone acted at once and started pulling different dishes onto their plates, while Emma worked to fill her own and Piers. Turkey, potatoes, peas, green beans, rolls, deviled eyes and much more slowly piled up in small portions and the toddler wasn't sure where to start.
Once Piers had a bit of everything to try Emma got up and went to get the wine she'd set to chill in the fridge. As she did so, the toddler stared at his plate and in particular the bright pinkish purple jelly sitting off to the corner. He liked Grape jelly, that looked yummy! Pier used his hand to nudge the wiggly jello like food onto his spoon and happily shoveled it into his mouth, only for his expression to shift to soured instant regret. That wasn't grape at all!
"Oh look at the face," Canine laughed as Piers just as quickly spat the food back out onto his plate.
"Ew," Piers quietly whimpered.
"Eat something else, kid. Stop spitting on your plate," Chris said as he picked up the roll from Pier's plate and offered that.
Piers happily accepted it and started to munch on it to try and get the taste out. Why would his mother betray him like this and put such gross food on his plate?
"You should try that next," Rose pointed to the small pile of green beans with a mischievous grin. "see, yummy" She added as she scooped up a spoon full of the same dish from her own plate and ate it.
Piers looked at the green beans for a moment. Well. If sister said it was yummy, then it would probably be safe. "Otay," Again he used his hand to nudge some of the dish onto his spoon and stuck that into his mouth. Just as quickly as before a notable expression of regret formed on his pouting face though this time he seemed at odds with himself. This was even worse than the sour jelly, but she said it was yummy.
Rose giggled to herself as her prank of sorts worked.
Chris gave a tired sigh as he watched Pier's face start to turn red as he continued to chew the food but refused to swallow it. "Just spit it out."
With permission given Piers did exactly that before coughing and grabbing his cup of water.
"Easy kid, leave some for the fishes," Lobo warned, though it fell on deaf ears.
"I left for a few second," Emma said as she noticed the forming mess on Peir's plate. "Okay red or white guys?"
"Red" "White," "Red"
Glasses were poured and Emma got to take her seat and sipped at her own glass. It was nice to finally get to sit down. The meal continued as the group relaxed as well and avoided talking about work as much as possible. Occasionally stopping to laugh as Piers made some commotion about trying something he didn't like.
"It's nice getting to spend time together outside of work like this," Canine said as he scraped the last of his meal onto his fork to eat.
"Agreed, it's been too long," Lobo chimed in before sipping at the last of his drink.
"It's been 2 months," Chris countered.
"Still, it's nice" Night Howl agreed, as he leaned back slightly in his chair.
"Would have been perfect if we had Umber Eye here too. But it can't be helped," Canine then moved to stand up. "Here I'll get the plates you've been on your feet all day right?"
"That's very sweet of you but you have one working arm," Emma countered as she got up as well. Last thing she needed was broken dishes. "I'll take care of it, sit, rest."
"Alright, sorry. I'll try and be more help next time," Canine said as he sat back down.
"Next time sounds nice," Emma smiled and worked with Chris on clearing the table.
"When do you get your arm out of that sling anyway," Lobo asks as he shifted to see his team a bit better now that he wasn't as focused on his plate.
"I got another week, after that they said it should be fine,"
"I get my hands back in two weeks," Night Howl chimes in after. "Maybe we can schedule a poker night some time after that? See if maybe Umber Eye can tag along this time. Or if not maybe we can go to his place for once."
"Well. We can be a bit much," Canine winced. "If is wife is upset with the BSAA, rightfully so, chances are she may not be too happy to see us."
"That's a good point," Lobo agreed with a frown.
"If Umber eye can make it or not, you guys are always welcomed here," Emma chimes in during one of her trips from the table to the sink. "Just know that Piers does have a bedtime so you'll need to keep the noise down."
"Could always set up in the basement, that was part of the plan before right?" Chris asked which caused Emma to pause and think.
"That could work," She agreed.
"You were planning for us?" Lobo jokingly asked with a mock touched tone. "Guys he might actually like us."
"Shove it, or you're doing laps once the gym is back up and running," Chris warned.
"I'll take a 3-month IOU on that," Lobo said with continued confidence.
"3 months, sure, we don't even have doors replaced and it's been a month," Canine laughed.
"All the same, poker night does sound good," Night Howl added after.
"yeah"
"True"
Agreed"
The group grew contently quiet after that as they took a few moments to just feel like normal friends, gather for a good meal and waiting to add dessert on top of their already full stomachs. And in that moment they were truly and genuinely happy.
Oh gosh, next chapter is chapter 100. I've been looking forward to this for so long. Please forgive me if it takes a few extra days for me to write. No combat, but it's a pretty big milestone, so I want to make sure it's extra special. As a reminder, chapter 100 will be the last chapter until the end of October/early November. Once "Shadow of Rose" is available, I'll pick back up for the remaining 6 chapters. After that is the long pause until RE9 is released. I think I set myself up pretty nicely for it, but we will see how badly Capcom wants to take my knees out with a bat.
