We're back with another chapter~ and it didn't take me 6 months to write it too hahaha. Side note, have you guys seen Death Island yet? My gosh, that was a good movie. Not gonna give spoilers, but it was so good. Might go back and make some edits to earlier chapters to make sure that I reference it.

Song Suggestion: Darkside by Neoni

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination. CapCom, please don't sue. k thanks.

Rose yawned as she flipped the page of the report she was currently reading through. It was her 5th and final day of quarantine after her trip into the mold's consciousness, and she'd made sure to use every moment of that studying. Her various requests for documents and records were catered to, as she stayed in her assigned barrack. To the relief of the director, there were no more attempts at running away or arguments with the medical teams.

She closed the file she had been reading and reopened one that she kept returning to.

Specimen: E-001, Eveline

Sex: Female

Height: approx. 4ft 6in

Weight: est. 100lb

Date of birth: approx. 2010

Status: Deceased

Date of death: 7/20/2017

Known abilities:

*Mind control - allows the host to create illusions and control the actions of people around them.

*Mold spores - can spread lethal levels of mold spores. Seems to have the ability to telepathically control the root-like network of mold in highly infected areas. These roots are dense and can be deadly.

*Mutation - can forcibly infect itself further, resulting in deformation and increased strength.

Nature: Aggressive

Notes: E-001 was developed by an underground group of bioterrorists known as The Connection. The group was led by their head scientist, Miranda. Using a sample of mold specimen "mutamycete" and a sample of DNA from the head scientist's deceased daughter, they created the first successful mold-based bioweapon on BSAA Record. This resulted in the creation of a new classification, E-series. Prior failed attempts have been labeled and recorded under the D-series record system.

According to the previous handler of E-001, Mia Winters, the connection developed E-001 as an infiltration-specialized Bioweapon. The mold was modified to age up its host artificially so she'd look like a child sooner, to better serve this purpose. E-001 was programmed to seek out a family unit to better blend in while controlling the people around it to meet the desired result of its handler.

According to Mia Winters, The prospects of a bioweapon that could change the course of war without the need for bloodshed or traditional weaponry upset the illicit arms traders of both munition and biological weapons. This forced the connection into hiding around 2014. Shortly after this, while trying to transport the specimen to Central America via a cargo ship, she lost control of E-001 resulting in near-total casualties.

The destabilized bioweapon and her handler washed up on the shore of Louisiana shortly after and remained there for three years resulting in the Baker Incident. [See related case file No.103462]

Her reading was interrupted as she heard a knock at her door. "Come in," she called while putting the report away. The door creaked open, and to her surprise, Chris walked in instead of the doctor she was expecting. "Chris?"

"Hey, I just got the all-clear from the med team," He greeted as he closed the door and moved to lean against the wall next to it. "How's studying going?"

"Uuuugh"

"That well?" Chris asked through a sympathetic chuckle.

"I'm leading a mission in 3 days and I can't figure out where they stored Eveline's remains," Rose replied with a huff.

"You're not leading a mission," Chris corrected. "You're too young, and don't have a rank."

"Yeah, but the Director did approve you going to Louisiana with Hound Wolf Squad, which includes me. For a mission, I requested." Rose countered in return, and a shit-eating grin started to pull at her lips. "Sooo I'm pretty sure that makes it my mission."

"Smart aleck," Chris teased as he shifted to get up so he could walk over to stand by Rose's desk and check on her work. "You're gonna need to wrap it up for now though. It's a school night, and I'm here to take you home."

"Just one more hour?" Rose quickly asked as she hurried to pick up one of the reports she'd yet to read. "Seriously I need to figure this out or the whole thing is going to be a bust."

Chris raised an eyebrow at this but after a moment of thought he spoke. "How about a compromise then? I know the answer to that. So, I tell you, and you pack up. Deal?"

"Deal."

"It's not documented because we didn't store them," Chris bobbed his head while thinking of how to explain. "Her remains are the Louisiana infection site. It's why we have a long-term position set up to guard the area."

"Excuse me?" Rose asked with horrified confusion.

"When Ethan, was lured there by Eveline through Mia. He wound up having to fight her and the infected victims. That's how he got his infection which was passed on to you." Chris further explained. "From what he told me, he figured out that injecting her with some variant of the D-series strain would neutralize her abilities since it seemed to keep her from attacking anyone treated with it. Instead, it caused her body to fall apart and merge with the mold around the house."

"Dad killed her?"

"Not completely on purpose," Chris defended. "He was an engineer, he didn't know the first thing about bioweapons. He wasn't sure what it would do, but he needed to stop her."

"She's a kid."

"She was a kid that killed a couple of dozen innocent people by that point," Chris corrected but took a moment to think over how to better explain what he was trying to say. "She didn't just hurt the people that created her and were using her. Innocent civilians that got too close to the baker's residency were killed. She was also severely deteriorating. She wouldn't have survived much longer either way. Your father was left with a difficult choice to protect himself, your mother, and the other survivors of that incident."

Rose remained quiet as she tried to process this.

Chris gave Rose a gentle pat on the back. "Come on. Let's get all of this put away."

The teenager quietly nodded and with Chris's help, she cleaned up the reports that she'd been granted access to and took them back to the file rooms. Once that was taken care of she followed Chris out of the BSAA headquarters, to the parking lot, and into his car where she waited in contemplative silence.

Rose finally snapped out of it once the car finally came to a stop in the ever-comfortingly familiar garage of her home. "Do you think dinner is still warm?"

Chris finished taking his keys out of the car before getting his phone to check the time. Thursday, April 3rd, 7:46 PM. "Probably not," He replied as he shifted to put his phone away. "But I'm sure Emma will warm something up for you if you ask."

The two got out of the car, and Rose's stomach loudly complained.

"You really are hungry, huh?" Chris asked with a note of amusement.

"Hey, you've eaten the stuff at the BSAA. You should know," Rose pouted, which only caused Chris to laugh more.

"Yeah, I know." He agreed before opening the door. "We're home!"

"Welcome home," Emma called in unison with excited shouts.

"Osey! Dadah!" Piers greeted as the two-and-a-half-year-old hurried over, currently sporting a set of pajamas with cartoonish dinosaurs printed on them and a mop of damp, freshly washed hair.

As he ran over, Chris bent over to pick him up with an exaggerated groan of difficulty. "You're getting too big, you know that?"

"Am big now!" Piers proudly declared.

"I can see that," Chris replied as he started to feel his age. How was it that it still felt like Piers was growing too fast even though he knew well enough that Piers was growing at a normal rate? He made sure to have the kid-tested after all. He couldn't be too careful, considering the number of infections he'd been exposed to.

Rose gently pinched at one of Piers' toes as she walked past, causing the child to giggle and squirm. As she walked into the main living space of the house, Rose found Emma sitting at the dining room table with Duke curled up at her feet. She seemed to be working away at what Rose guessed was a freelance project.

"Hey mom," She greeted more directly as she made her way over to the fridge to look for something to eat.

"Hey," Emma replied as she moved to get up. "If you're hungry, I can make you something."

"Don't worry about it, Leftovers are still leagues better than the BSAA food," Rose replied as Chris poked his head in for a moment.

"Hey, I'm gonna put Piers to bed," He announced before heading for the stairs.

"K, thank you," Emma replied as she slowly moved to sit back down. It was nice having everyone back. She thought about that a moment longer before looking back at her computer to try and remember her train of thought from before.

Rose plated up her leftovers in the meantime and put them in the microwave, glancing over at Emma every so often as she waited. The microwave chime came quickly enough, and Rose moved her plate over to the table to sit next to Emma. She poked at her food and ate a few bites while trying to think of what to say.

"Hey mom?" Rose quietly asked, which caused Emma to look up from her work again.

"Hm?"

Rose remained quiet a bit longer while trying to pick her words. "If you know that someone else did something bad. Like. Really really bad. What do you do?"

Emma took a moment to take a deep breath while she thought over the question and closed her laptop. It was one of those hypothetical but not-so-hypothetical teenage questions that usually meant something was wrong. "Well. I guess it kind of depends."

"Depends on what?" Rose questioned further.

"Do they feel bad about what they did?" Emma asked as she started to assume that Rose was talking about herself.

"I don't know," Rose admitted.

"Hmm. Do they want to keep doing the bad thing even though they know it's bad?" Emma asked.

Rose thought it over. "What if they didn't know it was bad?"

The hypotheticals were starting to drive Emma's already delicate nerves up a wall. If this kid was thinking about running away again, she might be the one doing something bad, so help her. "If they didn't know, then did they have time for someone to teach them it was bad?"

"I don't think so, no." Rose admitted.

"Well, I think in that case, it would depend on if they're willing to learn and not do it again," Emma answered.

"And if they're not? Even if you try to help?"

Emma paused as she tried to press down her bubbling concerns with Rose's sudden interest in ethics. "There are two main forces behind the consequences of our actions. Justice, and Mercy. Justice tends to demand repentance and Mercy offers forgiveness once that repentance is paid. True mercy can't be offered unless justice is satisfied." She tried to explain though she wasn't sure if this would make sense. "Let's say I said something really mean about Auntie Chel behind her back. Then Auntie Chel found out. In that situation, I'd need to understand that I did something wrong and acknowledge that she's right not to trust me as much anymore. That's justice's portion of my consequence. The mercy portion would be Chel forgiving me and moving on, even if she doesn't have to be willing to have me around anymore since that trust was broken."

Rose quietly nodded. "Can you make up for something someone else did?"

At this point, Emma was feeling a nostalgic yearning for the times when the most hard pressing question Rose would ask was, 'Why is the sky blue?' "Not necessarily, no." Emma hesitantly answered. "If this other person is still running around doing the same thing, it doesn't really matter how much other people apologize for them."

"Oh..." Rose whispered as she looked at her food. How would that work with her situation, though? Her dad definitely couldn't come back to life and kill Eveline again, and her mom was in jail, so it would be hard for her to hurt Eveline from there. But. Eveline hurt people too. There was no way to say for sure that she'd accept the chance to be a better person, even if it was offered to her.

Emma watched as Rose seemed to withdraw into her own thoughts. "Rose?"

The teen quickly looked over to Emma to see if she'd missed something while spacing out. "Hm?"

"What you can do, is keep being a good person," Emma instructed. "Don't worry about what other people are doing wrong. Focus on what you can do and the good you can create. Okay?"

Hearing that finally gave Rose the sense of peace she was looking for. All she could do was try. "Thanks, Mom." with that, Rose got up and gave Emma a peck on the forehead. "Love you. I'm gonna get some sleep."

Emma smiled weakly. "Love you too. See you in the morning." None of this was getting easier, but it was worth it.

'*'*'*'*'

Rose nervously shifted to adjust the weight of her backpack on her shoulder as she waited for the school bus. Part of her felt that it was kind of cruel to have to go back to school on a Friday, but she was also out of unexcused absences from how many times she skipped class.

With that, she cautiously glanced behind her at the black SUV that was waiting and watching her only 3 houses away. Yeah, Gary got chewed out for getting too comfortable and not keeping a closer eye on her. "Sorry Gary," Rose whispered, knowing well enough that he'd probably be able to hear her if he was using a listening device.

Her phone went off shortly after announcing the arrival of a text message which she opened.

[Gary] Don't worry about it. I'd rather get a wake-up call that I'm being too relaxed where you were safe the whole time, rather than one where we genuinely lose you.

[Gary] But don't do it again

Rose chuckled at this. "Well, I was thinking next Friday-" her phone cut her off as another text arrived.

[Gary] Don't

"I'm joking," She insisted, having someone to talk to helped her ignore the butterflies in her stomach. The bus arrived before long, and she pushed herself to get on and take her seat. The ride was unusually quiet. Not in the literal sense, the others around her were still talking, but in all that noise and chaos, there was a sense of calm.

Rose anxiously waited for the bus to stop in front of the school and followed the gaggle of students into the building. As she walked in. No one seemed to notice or care that she was there.

Alicia, are you going to Issac's party on Saturday?

Yo bro, let me borrow your homework. I have science first period, and I totally forgot about the worksheet. Mr. C's gonna kill me man.

Oh my gosh, you look so cute! You got your hair cut? I love this for you!

H-hey, so um, do you maybe want to walk together to class?

Rose took a deep breath as she took in the noise around her. For once, it wasn't a suffocating sense of silent judgment and whispered insults. No one was talking about her, staring or glaring at her. She stood there in wordless awe as she was left to wonder how much of what she'd heard and seen, the pain that came from it, how much of it was all in her head. How much of that was Miranda trying to get her to give up?

The overwhelming sense of relief caused tears to start to form in the corners of her eyes. Not wanting to make a scene, Rose cleared her throat in an effort to collect herself and made a B Line for the bathroom, where she dried her eyes and took a few breaths.

Once she felt well and able enough to do so, Rose made her way to her homeroom class, and to her relief, she was able to focus properly for the first time in what felt like years. Everything felt lighter, the teacher's voice was still tired and warn out but no longer held a note of constant disdain. Any mutters and mumbles in the class were usually targeted at the books on the student's desks, and most importantly to Rose, her sweating issue was not as prevalent.

The bell rang, classes changed, the halls filled with activity, and Rose felt safe and content as just another face in a sea of people. However, by the time lunch came around, she found herself frozen outside of the cafeteria door.

If there was one thing that she was sure genuinely happened, it was the incident in the bathroom. Emma had to buy her a special shampoo to get the dye stains from the cleaning chemicals out of her hair, and that was still in the bathroom back at home.

After staring at the door a bit longer, Rose turned around and walked away, back down the hall and toward the library. Things were certainly better, but she wasn't ready to risk the sense of peace that she only just recovered. The Library was usually a quiet and peaceful place to escape to, but today, that was not the case. A mobile whiteboard had been set up to work as a makeshift classroom for a teacher who'd scheduled time for their class to use the library for a research project. That, mixed with the usual study hall that used the space meant there were no open tables.

Rose heaved a tired sigh as she would likely get in trouble if she sat with either class and took out her lunch. Instead, she entered the various rows of books while mentally suppressing her memories of the castle library filled with the corpses of her clones. Once she found an unoccupied path, she took a seat and opened her lunch box to find the usual semi-soggy sticky note. This time it had a quote from one of her favorite songs that she'd play on loop while cleaning her room and the logo of the band doodled in the lower right corner.

"Hey,"

Rose looked up from the sticky note to find another student; a boy with short tight curly hair, had entered the row of shelves and was staring at her. Oh no.

"You're Rosemary, right?" he asked as he cocked an eyebrow and his head tilted slightly.

"Yeah," Rose replied as she slowly started to close her lunch box to be ready to move if needed.

Hearing this caused the boy to grin. "So you can talk." with that, his stance relaxed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked as she gave the intruder of her peaceful lunch a hard stare.

"Nothing. Sorry. I just don't think I've ever seen you talk to anyone before," he quickly admitted, raising his hands to signal peace. "If you need a place to sit, you can sit with me."

Rose cautiously glanced around to see if this was some kind of prank where someone was waiting with a mop or a bucket.

With no answer given, the boy allowed his hands to fall to his side so he could pat his legs. "Anyways, I should get back to study hall. Offer stands if you want a place to sit."

Rose leaned slightly to watch the intruder walk away before looking down at her lunch and back again. Memories of her father replayed in her mind.

'Go live a normal life. Make friends.'

With that Rose took a deep breath, stood up, and collected her things before heading back towards the sitting area of the library. It took a moment, but she eventually found the boy from before sitting at a large round table with three other kids and two open seats. She hesitated for a moment but walked over.

Shit I forgot to think of what I was going to say when I got here! "I uh. You didn't tell me your name." Rose muttered.

"Huh? Oh shit, you're right." the boy replied as he moved to hold the side of his head.

"Smooth one Jayce," Said a girl wearing oversized headphones around her neck and a loose beanie.

"Can it," Jayce grumbled as he relaxed into his seat. "Did you want to take a seat? We can introduce ourselves properly."

"Sure," Rose agreed as she hesitantly sat down.

"Jayce, are you claiming a new freshie?" asked one of the two other boys at the table.

"Huh?" That immediately set off alarms in Rose's mind.

"Rick can you not for five seconds," the girl at the table spoke up while glaring at who Rose assumed was Rick. "Okay, so I'm Iris. Nice to meet you." she glanced between the boys at the table. "And that's how you tell someone your name first." Iris chided before returning to smile at Rose. "And don't worry about Rick. It's kinda a thing our friend group does. Once you've finished your freshman year, you pick a freshman, befriend them and look out for them. Make sure that they're not lonely and they're doing okay until they graduate high school. We call it claiming a freshie. So I have a freshie, and I'm also someone else's freshie. We don't really know who started it, but they've long since graduated."

"Oh, uh," Rose blinked a few times while processing this.

"And to answer your question, No, I'm not. She's not a freshman," Jayce answered in return.

"Homeschooled, close enough." the final member of the group chimed in.

"How did you know that?" Rose raised an eyebrow. While it wasn't completely accurate, it also wasn't completely wrong.

"You showed up out of nowhere, you're in some of our classes, so you're a junior, and you're really, really quiet. Also, this isn't the first time we've noticed you hide in the library for lunch. Classic homeschooler." the boy explained before going back to his comic book.

"Names!" Iris reminded once more.

"Oh right, uh, Johnathan but friends call me JJ."

"Short for John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt," Jayce quipped, causing the others to chuckle.

"You're hilarious," JJ grumbled.

"Thank you,"

Iris rolled her eyes. "So yeah, just to make sure you got all that. Rick," she pointed at the boy with messy blond hair and blue eyes to Rose's left who was in the middle of folding up a paper football. Some paint on his shirt suggested he was in an art class somewhat recently. "Iris," She pointed to herself, then pointed to the boy next to her. "JJ," With that JJ held up a hand.

"Ohayou-gozaimashita!," he greeted though nothing about him aside from the thick comic book he was holding suggested he was remotely Japanese, considering he used the wrong greeting. Thick-rimmed glasses framed light green eyes, and his light brown hair was half shaved and half grown out.

"And Jayce." Iris pointed at the boy in a red plad shirt who invited Rose to the table. "He likes art, I like music, he's a weeb, and he likes photography," Iris listed as she pointed at each person in the same order as before. "So what about you?"

"Oh, um, Well. I'm Rosemary, everyone just calls me Rose though, and," What did she like to do... "I don't know. Um. Video games? I like DreamScape."

"Yaaaaas," JJ's cheer started rather loud but quickly grew quieter under the glare of the supervising teacher. He cleared his throat. "I mean that's cool."

"Please try not to corrupt her," Iris requested with a deadpan expression.

JJ waved off the warning. "Anyways, it's nice to officially meet you Rose. Feel free to sit with us whenever you have a class with one of us. We'll let the others know too."

"Yeah, Welcome to the party," Jayce greeted.

"You're adopted," Iris laughed.

Rose's smile fell once more when she heard Iris's welcoming. "How'd you know that?" Rose asked with renewed concern. Were they stalking her? That felt completely out of left field.

Iris's expression dropped to a mile-long stare as the trio of boys started cracking up.

"What's so funny?" Rose nervously asked, unsure if they were laughing at her or not.

Jayce shook his head and put his hand on Rose's shoulder in an effort to comfort her. "Nothing, Nothing. I just don't think I've ever seen anyone break Iris like that." He admitted through snickers. "I think I'm gonna like you."

"We kinda call picking a freshie or adding a new person to the group, adoption. So, she just meant she likes you. But that's also good to know you're actually adopted, we'll try and be more sensitive about calling it that." Rick explained while a now very red-faced Iris slowly moved to take her headphones from her neck and put them over her ears in an effort to hide in plain sight. "Ah, come on now Icy, it was an honest mistake. You didn't know, right?"

"I feel really bad, I'm so sorry," Iris squeaked out. "I wasn't making fun of you, I promise."

Rose looked at the group, and a smile pulled at her mouth and laughter soon after. "I think I'm gonna like you guys too." She admitted.

'*'*'*'*'

Rose barely had time to rest after this. Saturday came and went, and with the arrival of Sunday, Hound Wolf Squad was on their way to Louisiana. While technically, missions were on hold, they were given a short one-day exception since Rose had heavily insisted she could provide information on who attacked HQ.

It was a tall order, but with what research she was able to do, she hoped she could fill her own personal goal and get the information she promised in one go. Rose glanced up at the pilot's seat where Chris was currently sitting while Lobo sat across from her in Chris's usual seat.

Rose watched their grounded pilot with concern as he'd been quiet the whole flight so far. Actually, everyone had been. Usually, Lobo was the one making flight attendant jokes to keep everyone's morale up, and without that, it just felt sterile. Rose reached up to activate her headset.

"Hey Lobo."

Lobo reached up to activate his set, while the other nonpilot members also shifted to look at Rose. "Sup Street Wolf," Lobo replied.

"Why did Emma tell me to do my homework on the flight over instead of last night?" Rose asked.

Lobo's eyebrows knit together in confusion. " Why would I know that?"

"... Because she wanted me to get a higher education."

Lobo forcibly kept his mouth shut and gripped his mic to keep any nose-whistling chuckles to himself. While she couldn't hear it, Rose watched as the other three members moved to hold their faces, and bouncing shoulders gave away their laughter.

"Alpha, you heard that, right?" Lobo asked.

It took a moment, but an answer came. "Trying to ignore it."

Lobo grinned all the same. "I knew she'd take after me someday."

"Prepare to land," Chris interjected and shut down the mics from his place at the head of the helicopter.

One silent landing later, the group of six exited the helicopter and stepped onto the designated landing pad by the large overgrown wetlands.

"So, what exactly is the plan?" Canine asked as he looked between Chris and Rose, still unsure of who would actually be giving orders.

Chris shrugged and looked at Rose. "Street Wolf?"

"Okay, so I need access to a patch of the mold. Close to Eveline's place of death if that's possible," Rose answered. "After that, I mostly just need you guys to be ready for whatever happens next." She shrugged. "Because I've never really done this before, and I have No idea if this is going to work or how long it will take."

The group shuffled to clear the discomfort with the situation from their body.

"So yeah. If it starts raining, maybe hold an umbrella over me if you wouldn't mind," Rose requested before another thought came to mind. "Oh! And maybe have a map and a notebook in case I need to quickly jot stuff down so I don't forget."

The group started laughing in response.

"If you wouldn't mind?" Night Howl parroted with a quizzical expression.

"Kid if you're leading the mission, you gotta be more assertive," Lobo instructed. "Maybes and Idonnos don't work here."

"It's good that you want to be polite but, try being more direct. You're not going to hurt our feelings," Umber Eye offered to try and help Rose feel more comfortable.

Chris winced and nodded in agreement. Maybe it was a good thing that this was her first time taking lead of a team. Even if on paper it was his mission.

"Yeah, why do you think we put up with Alpha?" Canine joked, earning him a glare from their team lead. "I mean, I'm just saying. Grumpy or not, he's direct and knows what he's doing."

"Take a deep breath, and try again," Chris instructed.

While now highly embarrassed by their response, Rose shifted to try and stand more confidently despite her flushed face. Let's see. What does Chris usually do when he's starting a mission? "Hound Wolf Squad Round Up!"

"Sir, Yes Sir," all five replied and got into line, and all five struggled to hide their proud grins.

Rose paused to go over the steps in her head again. "Alpha will lead the way to the central mold site where Eveline passed away. Once there, the team will move to a defensive standby position while I connect with the mold network. It's important I remain undisturbed since I'm still new to this, so make sure to watch after me." Rose instructed and her confidence felt spent. "Okay?"

the team gave an acknowledgment shout.

"Let's get moving then." Rose said in an attempt at an order.

"Not bad kid," Canine praised, ruffling her hair as he walked by.

Umber eye gave Rose a quick side hug squeeze while night howl gave her a pat on the back.

"Captain, our baby's growing up," Lobo announced as he gave Rose a quick side hug while resting the side of his head on top of hers for just a moment. "I said I wasn't gonna cry."

"Hey, get into formation," Chris warned, which Lobo waved off despite moving to do exactly what he was told.

Chris took a moment to pause by Rose as well. "Good job," With that said, Chris took his place at the head of the team and led the way into the baker's residence. "Masks on," he instructed, and the team did as they were told. All six made their way through the dilapidated halls, past decomposing furniture and various inky globs of mold that covered to any surface it could cling to.

They eventually approached a room where a large portion of dark glassy obsidian stone, partially covered in mold, was woven together like creeping vines into a thicker trunk-like structure. it stretched and warped out of the room and around the outside of a portion of the house. Rose stared at the massive petrified remains. It had to be a good 15 feet wide and over 60 feet long, considering how far it reached outside of the house. "That's Eveline?"

"That's what's left of her," Chris confirmed.

There was more before? Rose tried to process that for a moment before shaking the thought from her mind. "I'm going in then. Defensive positions." She reminded and the team did so. Rose kneeled down and took off her mask. She was about to reach forward and put her hands in the mold when a strong hand caught her shoulder.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Don't touch it." Chris chided. What. Why did that need to be explained?!

Rose made sure she looked Chris square in the eyes before speaking quietly. "Trust me."

Chris hesitated. Every experience he'd ever had told him this was a really bad idea. Yet, despite this, he let go. "Night Howl, connect to Rose's wrist monitor. Keep an eye on her vitals. The second they show abnormalities, this mission is finished, and we move out. Canine call in a medical team to wait on standby." She didn't plan for this very well, but that's why he was here. With that, he looked at Rose. "Be careful."

"I will, I promise." Rose agreed.

"Connection secured, captain," Night Howl announced.

Rose faced the mold once more, slowly placing her hands in it to make sure it wouldn't hurt, then closed her eyes to focus.

'*'*'*'*'

Rose opened her eyes and found herself standing in a grassy field surrounded by a brilliant white void. There was no sky or sun, but the area was illuminated as if it was constantly midday. She could see a house in the distance, a large garden plot next to it, and a barn nearby. A small lake could be seen near the barn, along with a large apple tree that provided shade. Rose quietly hummed as she looked at the scene. It was missing something. She held out her hand and thought about the distant green mountains she saw during her camping vacation. Slowly the sky began to turn a vibrant blue, dotted with clouds and mountains formed around the safe haven. Hopefully, with a proper sky, this place would begin to have a day-and-night cycle. Maybe even seasons.

The sound of barking in the distance caused Rose to smile as she hurried over to the house. As she walked in, the interior of the home looked like her home had been put into a blender with the house that Micha- Her dad showed her. A large dog hurried over who looked similar to Duke though its fur held a slightly different color pallet and large floppy ears were replaced with more alert pointed ears. "Hello Dutchess, aren't you a cutie. Are you keeping an eye on Dad?" Rose greeted before noticing the house seemed empty. "Dad?" Rose called.

"Coming," Footsteps were heard as Ethan made his way out of a room and down the stairs. While he still looked a little worse for the wear, with bandages peeking out from under his shirt collar, and a slight limp in his step, his consciousness had survived. "back again so soon?"

"I promised I'd visit you every day," Rose answered in return as she moved to stand up.

"You don't have to do that. I'm just glad you're safe," Ethan replied but moved to give his daughter a hug all the same.

Rose's expression shifted to one of guilt as she froze up. It didn't take long for Ethan to pick up on that.

He quickly shifted to stare at Rose. "What's wrong?"

"I'm kinda here for work," Rose admitted.

"Work?" Ethan shifted to hold his face with his three-fingered hand. "Damn it, Chris. This is not what I meant when I asked you to teach her to be strong."

"Actually, it was my idea."

"Rose!" Ethan stared in bewildered horror. Was almost getting killed by a demented bird woman not enough to show her this place was dangerous?

"Look, a lot's happened. I can handle this. Besides, a lot of people could get hurt if I don't," Rose quickly explained to try and calm her father. It didn't work, but she kept trying. "The BSAA got attacked. They got a hostage. The hostage said some guy that goes by Duke is behind it."

"Duke?" Ethan asked as his horror turned to confusion. "I know the guy, he was in the village when I was trying to save you. He helped me. Made me pay for it, but he'd sell me ammunition, food, and even upgraded some of my weapons. Always seemed rather fair since he'd even buy things if I brought him something valuable. For some reason, he was really interested in these skulls and the remains of the lords."

Rose held her face. "You sold him dead bodies? Dad, he's making bioweapons."

"So that's why he wanted those," Ethan muttered. "In my defense, my wife just got killed in front of me by the one friend I was legally allowed to have, and my baby was being held hostage. I wasn't really thinking straight."

Rose shook her head. "Anyways, I think he might be infected, and if he is, I might be able to use what I learned from reading Miranda's research to peek into his mind and figure out where he is so the BSAA can stop him before he hurts anyone else."

"He's definitely infected," Ethan confirmed though his voice was quiet and distant. "Just be careful. I'll help how I can from here."

Rose nodded before heading to the back door of the house and out to the fields again, towards the small lake so she could kneel beside it. What should have been gentle slopes was replaced with a sheer edge that led to a seemingly bottomless abyss. She took a deep breath and dunked her head under the water. It took a moment to fight past the instinct of holding her breath, but she eventually allowed herself to breathe as she stared into the void filled with shards of memories.

She reached out a hand into the void as the other clung to the side of the world she built. "Show me the Duke." her veins began to glow as soft specs of light descended into the void and swirled together to create a somewhat distorted image. While it was blurry, Rose was able to see from the Duke's perspective. He seemed to be in a lab of some kind. There were large metal cylinders. Pods?

"- is on schedule," Rose heard the tail end of someone speaking to Duke.

"Good, very good. And where are we at with specimen AW-045," Duke asked curiously.

"Unfortunately, it's failed, sir. Our research team is moving on to developing specimen AW-046," The person who Rose assumed was some form of scientist answered.

"Again?" Duke scoffed. "And I suppose the south american branch needs more resources?"

"Well. Yes," the scientist hesitantly admitted. "But to be fair, Miranda's research used full bodies to try and create a new one. We're just offering a few sample strains of DNA from a collection of hair from a brush."

"If we keep looking, we'll find a compatible host," the Duke replied, waving off the scientist's concerns and excuses. "Reach out to our merchant friend at ancestral affairs. I'm sure he's good for a deal."

Rose pulled herself out of the void. "That'll do, she said as she swirled her hand to create a copy of her school notepad and pen and then wrote down what she could. South America branch, so multiple locations. AW-046. Dealing with a business called ancestral affairs. Male contact. Merchant. Whatever he's working on is 'on schedule'. It wasn't a lot to go off, but if he was connected to the mold, potentially more than she was, she didn't want to risk sticking around too long and getting caught while snooping.

Rose took the page from the notebook before allowing the rest to disappear into particles of light. She pocketed the page before glancing back at the house to make sure Ethan wasn't watching. Rose concentrated once more and created a knife and a t-shirt which both fell to the ground next to her shortly after being created. Rose picked up the knife and quickly cut a long thin ribbon of cloth from the shirt. She then reached her hand into the dirt of her created world and pulled out a long, pointed prism of purifying crystal. Light slowly flaked away from her hand and into the crystal, as she held it, causing her to quickly drop it onto the ground next to the strip of cloth.

"Well, good to know it works," Rose grumbled while thinking over how to do this. While it took some effort, she wrapped the lower half of the pointed prism in the strip of fabric she created, which allowed her to hold it though doing so did make her feel weaker. She pocketed the makeshift purifying crystal stake and got up to face the lake once more. As much as the whole stratum concept still confused her, she at least knew that leaving this area would mean going to a stratum she didn't have control over. She'd be weaker.

Rose took a few steps back from the lake, enough to get a running start, and jumped in. As she began to fall, she forced her eyes shut and concentrated on where she wanted to be. While she fell for a few moments longer, she could feel her equilibrium shifting as if the world around her had flipped upside down, and she was falling upwards instead.

The chime of an elevator and a sense of weightedness pushed her to open her eyes again. She looked around to see an old fashion elevator covered in wood pannels with only one button to operate it. the doors slowly moved with a rusted grittiness to them as if they'd been neglected for some time, causing the door to stop before they could fully open. The home the doors guarded was dull and dark and in a similar state of disrepair.

"Eveline?" Rose called out.

The walls echoed in response, "Go away."

Rose stepped out of the elevator and looked around. "If you want to play hide and seek again, I'm a pretty good seeker."

This time the only response she got was the soft groaning of the floorboards as she walked forward.

"I said go away," Eveline's echoing voice insisted. "I hate you!"

"I want to help you," Rose replied while looking around to see if she could figure out the direction the voice was coming from, yet it felt like it was coming from inside her own mind.

"You're a nobody," the child argued. "You're the one that's weak. You need help. I'm better than you."

"Just keep talking," Rose requested as the voice seemed to get louder the further she walked.

A frustrated, ear-shattering scream caused Rose to grip her head.

"I said go away!" Eveline howled as the walls of the house shuttered and crumbled away, showing only a dark emptiness that held a red-ish underglow. Eveline floated in the distance as Animate doll and mannequin arms filled the space around them, reaching and pulling at the air. "Why are you always so selfish!"

As Eveline shouted her insult, a dresser was flung at Rose from the void. The dresser met its mark, shattering as it hit Rose, sending her flying back to tumble and skid along the ground toward the ring of grabbing limbs. Rose forced herself to get up and just as quickly started running towards Eveline in a serpentining pattern. A moving target would be harder for the child to hit.

"Guess we're doing this the hard way!" Rose shouted while holding out her hand to fire a blast of energy at Eveline, which was weakened by the pull of the crystal in her pocket.

Eveline howled in pain and momentarily dropped from her place in the air, catching herself before she could truly fall, then floated back to safety. "Leave me alone!"

This time the shouting resulted in a strong gale of wind that forced Rose back toward the edge of the arena that Eveline had created for them. The gale came to an end as the scream quieted, allowing Rose to run forward again.

Another inaudible shout caused oversized silverware, scalpels, and scissors to rain from above. Due to their size, the ground quaked with each impact as the sharp edges dug into the unseen surface.

Having to dodge while keeping her balance proved to be too much for Rose to juggle. As she narrowly got out of the way of a giant butcher's knife, a vine line branch sprang out of it and caught her stomach, causing Rose to scream.

Eveline giddily laughed. She finally figured out how to make Rose hurt too!

Rose held her bleeding side with one hand and started dodging more vines through the maze of sharp utensils. She managed to land another hit against Eveline. Though, without Ethan's help, it seemed to only distract the child for a few moments and piss her off more. Upon realizing this, Rose's eyes darted around to try and think of a new plan. She'd almost circled back to where she'd been stabbed before, and the branch was still there. In fact, everything Eveline summoned stayed in place.

Rose hurried to a lower branch that had targeted her feet before and stepped on it as she ran past. The branch supported her weight. Realizing this caused Rose to smile. She continued to run around, and as Eveline's attacks continued, a maze of branches started to form enough for Rose to be able to climb onto and jump from branch to branch. While she moved slower, Eveline kept attacking, and with each attack, a new higher branch was provided to climb later on until she was a good 5 feet above Eveline and maybe five or six feet away.

In a hail-mary effort, Rose took the crystal from her pocket then jumped to grab Eveline and, with the force of the ground's impact, shoved the shard into Eveline's gut.

'*'*'*'*'

Chris and Hound Wolf Squad waited around the remains while shifting around. While Lobo and Canine had taken to a game of i spy to pass the time, Chris anxiously waited and watched for any sign that something was wrong.

"Night Howl, Status?" Chris requested.

"Same as before, She's healthy and breathing," Night howl answered for the 5th time that hour.

"Is it that plank of wood over there?" Lobo asked seemingly unphased by the leaders usual levels of anxiety.

"Nope. closer." Canine answered.

"The mold?" Lobo tried again.

"Nope."

Umber eye stared at the two unamused. "It's his eyepatch."

Lobo glared at Canine but before he could say anything, movement caught his good eye. "Woah, hold up." Rose's arms were quickly starting to sink into the mold and the obsidian vines held a dull red glow as they began to grow dim and crumble. "There's a floor under there right?"

Chris didn't care to check. Instead, he moved to grab onto Rose and pull to no avail. "Everyone grab on and when I say pull, you pull!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

The team worked together, Chris, Umber Eye, and Lobo held onto Rose and her gear, while Night Howl and Canine held on to Lobo and Umber Eye as anchors.

"Pull!"

Their efforts caused Rose to stop sinking further though at this point, her upper torso was submerged.

"Pull!"

Again they worked in unison, slowly inching Rose back from the mold.

"Pull!"

Rose's head was free and an audible gasp and sputtering could be heard as her lungs cried for air.

"One more, Pull!"

As Rose was clawed back from the consuming ichor a large mass clung to her and came with her as a second gasp for air was heard. by this point Rose was concious again and started to pull as well.

"What the hell."

"Don't shoot!" Rose shouted as she continued to hold onto the figure. Once she was sure she was safe she used a hand to wipe the mold away from her eyes to see a little girl, Eveline, clinging to her.

"Holy shit," Lobo whispered.

"What the hell did you do?" Chris asked while trying to process what he was seeing.

"There is a floor under there, right?" Night Howl repeated Lobo's earlier question.

"Yeah. there is."Umber Eye answered just as stunned as the others.

"How?" Canine asked as Eveline started to wake up.

Eveline groggily looked around before realizing that she was surrounded by people with guns and Rose, who just stabbed her. The little girl yelped and quickly pushed Rose in favor of shuffling away.

"Go away! You can't see me!" Eveline ordered as she held out her hand, and nothing happened. Panick continued to build as she realized they were still staring at her. "You don't know who you are or why you're here!"

Nothing.

"You're dizzy and confused, attack each other."

"Die!"

Nothing. At this point, reality set in, and Eveline began to hyperventilate. "No. NONONONO!" Eveline howled as she curled up to hold her head and began to sob. "I can't be useless. I can't! Now mommy will never love me. It's not fair! I hate you! It's all your fault! You're so selfish! Go die!"

Hound Wolf squad watched the tantrum in confused horror as Rose pushed herself to get up.

"What do we do?" Lobo asked as he watched the child begin to thrash around, punching and kicking anything nearby.

"I think we wait," Umber eye answered.

Eveline's voice grew raspy as her shouting sobs continued. It didn't take long for the newly revived child to wear herself out. Flailing grew limp, and screams quieted to an intermittent whisper between sniffles. "It's not fair. It's not fair. I hate you... you're useless... you're worthless."

Chris shook his head and slowly walked over to see if the tantrum would start up again. The most Eveline could do was try and slap his boot and give a frustrated screech. Chris kneeled down and hesitantly picked up the child, who wiggled and struggled for a few moments before giving up. "We need to get both of them back to the medical team. Stat."

"Yes sir!"

Chris looked at Rose. He'd question her later. Medical treatment was a first priority.

'*'*'*'*'

A week passed since then, and needless to say, after getting half-dunked into the mold, Rose was put back into quarantine. Rose would have to stay longer due to her more direct contact while Chris and the rest of the team were given the all-clear after three days. However Chris still needed to stay on campus for work.

Chris massaged his face while still trying to process everything. On one hand, Rose did get some good information like she promised. On the other hand, she went rogue and brought Eveline back from the grave, confirming yet again that such a thing was possible. Chris looked down at the report on his desk.

Sex: Female

Height: 4ft 6in

Weight: 96lb

Date of birth: approx. 2010

Status: Reactivated

Date of death: 7/20/2017

Date of reactivation: 4/6/24

Known abilities: None

Nature: Aggressive

Notes: E-001 has been reactivated. Any previously noted powers seem to no longer be available to the specimen. Compared to samples from similar specimen RW-001, Infection appears dormant. Tantrums and death threats are frequent due to it's aggressive nature, confirming a lack of prior ability to act on thoughts to harm others. Lab setting seems to be aggravating its condition. Tends to do better with female attendants when assessing the potential for cognitive recalibration.

Chris shook his head and muttered under his breath. "I swear it's like they're allergic to the word therapy." As soon as he said this, a knock at the door cut off any further complaints. "Come in."

A scientist entered the room. "Captain Redfield, Sir. The viewing room you requested for Specimen E-001's progress has been set up. You're expected at observation room 4."

"I'll be right there," Chris agreed as he moved to get up. His phone went off as he started walking toward the door, causing him to stop.

[Emma] I'm here

[Chris] I'll be right down.

Chris did exactly that and left his office to make his way down to the front entrance of the BSAA to see Emma first. "Hey."

"Hey, what's going on?" Emma asked as she walked over. "I had Bastion come over to watch Piers like you asked. What's wrong? Where's Rose?"

"She's fine. She's in quarantine. The mission went well," Chris paused. It went well enough not to go into detail and scare her. "There's just someone Rose wanted us to meet because she thinks we can help them."

"Okay," Emma replied, still just as concerned and confused. "Lead the way, I guess."

Emma followed Chris through the all too familiar halls of the BSAA. For an organization she wasn't really supposed to know about, she was here too often for her liking.

The two entered the viewing room that the scientist told Chris about earlier. A pannel of one way glass allowed the two to look into a large lab like room where a therapist in a long lab coat was sitting on the floor and talking to a little girl with dark hair wearing a hospice gown.

"Oh no... Not another one," Emma quietly muttered as her heart broke seeing yet another child in a lab. How did this keep happening? "The poor thing. Parents?"

"None, she'll be moved to a federal observation facility if we can't find another place for her," Chris stated before deciding to rip the bandaid off. "Emma, meet Eveline."

Eveline that's a pretty na... wait a minute. Emma turned to stare at Chris. "Eveline? You mean that Eveline? The murderer bio-weapon child, Eveline? The equivilant of the boogie man for Rose? That one?"

"Yep, minus the powers," He confirmed, all to calmly for Emma's liking.

"And you're sure of that," Emma asked as she stared at him bewildered. Chris had told her more than enough about this whole situation. How was she supposed to be sure that he wasn't being mind-controlled?

"Sure enough that her record got updated. No one's dead yet, despite the threats. Considering how much damage she did before, it's safe to say they're gone. She wasn't exactly an actress." Chris explained while watching the pair in the observation room play with toys and talk. "All things considered, she's making pretty good progress."

"...What happened to the Chris that nearly set Rose's favorite toy on fire because it had the same name as a dead bioweapon," Emma pressed while looking between Chris and the one-way glass.

Chris simply continued to watch as the therapist in the room with Eveline got up and walked out for a moment. "Rose mentioned someone telling her how people should have a chance to learn that their choices were bad, so they can become a better person," Chris explained while trying not to smile. "Something about how consequences contain justice and mercy."

"This is not what I meant, I thought she was talking about running away again," Emma replied as she felt her shoulders drop. Rose was trying to help; Emma understood that, but this was a lot to consider.

"I know." Chris confirmed.

Emma watched Eveline for a moment longer. The therapist returned holding a soft white rabbit, and Eveline's eyes seemed to widen and shine.

"We're going to want to get a lock for the kitchen knife block," Emma whispered.

"Probably."

"And keep an eye on her for a minimum of two months. No free access to the house at night until we're sure she won't hurt the others," Emma insisted.

"Agreed," He wasn't keen on the idea of a midnight scare either.

Emma took a breath and watched through the glass. With a bit of coaxing and reminding from the therapist, Eveline gingerly took the rabbit and cautiously held it. It took a moment, but Eveline grinned as the gentle creature tickled her face with its whiskers. "... She's got a gap in her teeth. She'll need braces." Emma pointed out.

"Most likely."

"She's going to try and bite the orthodontist, isn't she," Emma asked as she tried to push back a tired smile.

"Yep," Chris's word made a popping sound as the last syllable formed.

"I can probably take on a few extra freelance projects..." Emma glanced over at Chris. "You know I feel like it's usually the guy that says this, but two was enough. We could have stopped there."

Hearing this caused Chris to laugh a tired, wheezing chuckle. "Yeah. Could have. But Rose wanted a sister."

"And you're okay with this?" Emma asked as they continued to watch.

"If she keeps making good progress like this," Chris shrugged. "I don't mind giving it a try. I've been proven wrong before. She's a bioweapon, but she's also a child."

Emma held her face. "I don't know if I'm cranky or proud of you."

"Probably both,"

"Yeah," Emma could feel herself starting to relax.

Aaand that's a wrap on another chapter! I gotta give proper credit to the amazing /CoffeeBrownn over on Twitter for their adorable headcanon that Eveline has a gap in her teeth. It's so cute. Seriously go and check out their art because they have an amazing style and post so many creative headcanons for Chris and the WinterField ship!

That said, we have Eveline joining the family, Rose school life shenanigans now that we've introduced four new friends for her, and the resolution of the Duke arc to look forward to, And...

And I have one chapter left... Well, I guess It's time for a poll.

Should I add an Eveline arc?

A) Finish at 107.

B) Pause at 107, finish your other open projects, then reopen this one when you have more bandwidth to add an Eveline-focused arc.

C) reopen the chapter count (set it to ?) and keep working on this to add an Eveline arc but at a slower pace while finishing the other open projects.

As always, for those that don't want to comment, here is a straw poll so your voice can be heard too. Just take out the spaces and add a forward slash between com and the code.

straw poll. com NMnQ5kXVBn6