The bonds of family

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Claire stared down at her ring, and realised she didn't want to contact Leon. She wanted him far away from Alex and any harm she could do him. "The last thing I remember is being put under for surgery. I don't know how i ended up here, or even how long I've been here." She confessed. Her secret fear, was that Leon would believe her dead.

Parker shook his head and rose to his feet. "I don't the help of some lovesick children!" He sneered. "I'll find Rebecca myself!"

Claire didn't seem to react at all to the sight of Steve possibly mutating again, only smiled sadly. "It's okay, you don't have to pretend anymore." She told him. "It's okay to be afraid, and it's okay to want someone else." She added, casting a glance to Jessica.

Parker actually laughed at that last remark. "Sometimes I would agree. He and Claire, they seem so... strange, don't you think?" He asked. "She's the hothead, and he's always there to calm her down."

"She kissed me!" Again Steve reacted badly. He struck Claire hard, sending her to the ground with little effort. When he realized what he'd done it was too late.

"Yeah." Sherry answered, distracted. She was still waiting for Jake and wondering why she was bothering.

Claire's head hit the wall, just as it had the last time. She seemed to waver for a moment, then simplu slumped to the ground.
"Nice going." Jessica snorted. "Real sure she'll forget all about the boyscout to coming running back to you now."

Parker glanced into the side mirror and shook his head. "The boy isn't coming. At least not with us."

"You shut up." Steve snarled, hearing Alex'so cruel laughter down the hallway. "At least I kept her from Neil." He added as he knelt to pick her up and carry her back to his cell.

"Yes. I know." Sherry sighed. She was forever alone. That would never change. "Tell me you've got really big guns and lots of ammo?" She asked, hoping a change of subject would make her feel better. She stomped on the gas, squealing the tires of her little black car. At least that made her smile.

"For how long? You know he wants her head!" Jessica called after Steve, her shrill laughter echoing down the hallway.
Claire groaned quietly, though she wasn't full conscious she was still away she was being carried someplace.

"Funny thing when someone steals the one you love... You find enough destructive force to start a way." Parker snorted. "They drugged me and dumped me when Wesker turned me lose. Other wise I would have found my way back there long ago."

"Forever if I have to!"Steve shouted, glancing up at the camera that was following him down the hall. "She is mine! You hear me?!"

"And the reason you came to me is... I'm a monster too? Or because I have plane and you don't or both?" Sherry asked with soft laugh.

Claire was lost in a hazy world as her head bobbed against Steve's shoulder. She had the memory of him waking her on the plane with a kiss, and how she had then confessed how she didn't think they were going to make it. Maybe they hadn't. Maybe she had died right then and this was Hell.

"You understand better than most." Parker breathed. "It isn't always about what is best for everyone else, but what is sometimes best for those you love."

Chris jerked awake, taking in a gasping breath. He'd had the same nightmare about his sister for months now. He got to his feet and headed down stairs, leaving Jill sleeping. Mutt followed him, and waited patiently for a slice of bacon while Chris made coffee. He didn't know why he was having this nightmare. His sister was dead. Wasn't she?

"Yeah. But it sucks being the good guy all the time." Sherry sighed softly. "Just once I would like to go into a situation. Without knowing I'm the one that's going to get hurt."

"Chris?" Jill had followed him downstairs after pulling one of his shirts on, and was nervously hugging her arms around herself where she hovered in the doorway of the kitchen. "Is everything okay? You've been getting up like this for weeks now."

"Maybe that's the price for mortality?" Parker suggested with a shrug.

"I think maybe it's the chili." Chris said thoughtfully, getting another cup down for Jill. "I probably should throw it out but it's too good for that." He shrugged, not for a moment considering that Jill could read him better than that. 

"I suppose." Sherry said, though the sound of her own voice was odd when she waited an extremely long time to speak.

Jill was behind Chris and sliding her arms around him, her head resting against his back. "You're a terrible liar." She breathed.

"So tell me, how does someone with your background turn to law enforcement?" Parker asked curiously. "It might be blunt, but how are you so well adjusted?"

"It's just a nightmare. You know better than anyone what that's like." Chris sighed. He pushed away from the her and moved to the fridge, tossing a piece of bacon to Mutt. "I'll be okay once I've caught a few fish."

Sherry laughed. "That's not the word I'd use. Repressed is a better way to put it. I learned early on the push everything into a dark hole and leave it there. As for the law enforcement...I wanted to be like Jill And Leon, they are my heroes."

Jill wasn't smiling, or agreeing. She was watching Chris with a stony expression as he moved away from her. "That's your answer for everything; fishing!"

"Not Chris?" Parker asked curiously. "What happened with you two? Didn't Chris help you a lot too?"

Chris found himself wishing he hadn't promised Jill he would quit smoking. Right now he could really go for a cigarette. Instead he poured coffee and handed her the cup again. "Stop worrying so much. It was just a dream, babe." he sighed. "Too much chili."

Sherry shrugged. "Chris didn't like me much. He said I made him nervous." she laughed softly. "I think it was the day I fell out of the tree in their front yard and broke my neck that may have made him feel that way. It was the first time he made the comment about my dad..."

Jill still didn't look amused. "We're out of bagels." She finally informed him, setting the coffee on the kitchen counter and returning to their bedroom to get changed. 

"You broke your neck?" Parked asked with wide eyes. "How do you do what you do with an injury like that?"

Chris waited until she was gone and dug through the cabinet, pulling out a pack of cigarettes he'd hidden behind an apron and went outside. That damn nightmare...he couldn't get it out of his head. He pulled out the lighter he'd given to his sister and his insides felt as if they were being ripped out. 

"Oh I don't have that injury anymore. It's the reason Chris doesn't care much for me. I'm a monster. Just like my dad was." Sherry said. "It's how he found out. He was yelling at me to get out of the tree. I was hiding from him..
from everyone...and he was pissed because he'd made lunch and I wouldn't come down and eat it. To Chris everything is pretty black and white. He gets lost in the grey."

Jill had simply sat on the edge of the bed she and Chris shared once she was dressed, staring out the window that looked out over the lake. She had thought she could do this life, but it was beginning to seem that maybe she and Chris were simply too damaged to function without conflict.

Parker was nodding his head. "I sometimes think Rebecca is so much like Chris." He agreed. "She too finds herself unable to see the grey."

Chris lit the cigarette and took a deep drag, letting the taste fill his lungs. It brought back the peace and serenity that he remembered and for the moment it helped him forget.

"Maybe after what happened to them...the Grey is a scary place." Sherry said. "I know the black was for me."

Fortunately for Chris, Jill was still in a bad mood and had grabbed the car keys before tearing down the track that lead onto the road into town. She didn't even see the man Chris often went drinking with as he walked toward their house. 
"You pissed her off again?" Logan snorted as he slumped down beside Chris outside the house.

Parker continued to nod. "But without the grey, life has no depth." He pointed out. "They aren't the only ones going through stuff, you know?"

Chris chuckled handing over his box of cigarettes to Logan. "Yeah. I pretty much insulted her chili. Again." he held out his lighter too, thinking nothing of it. 

"Yeah." sherry snorted bitterly. "parker...be careful. Okay? You're a nice man...I don't want you to get hurt."

The other man knew what the lighter meant to Chris, and nodded his thanks as he took it and lit his cigarette. "So remind me again how someone like you landed someone like her?" Logan asked with a smirk as he handed the lighter back.

"It's a little late for that, Sherry." Parker breathed sadly. "I just want Rebecca out of there. I want my child and my family back." He added, turning to look out the window rather than at Sherry. He almost thought he saw a familiar figure darting a motorcycle in and out of traffic beside them, but then it was gone.

"I don't think there's an answer to that one. I think Jill is a little touched if you know what I mean." Chris teased. He couldn't get over thinking this man matched the description Rebecca had once given him of Billy. But maybe he was just trying to cling to the past. 

"Understandable." Sherry said, missing the figure completely as she negotiated traffic."I will do my very best to help you do that, Mr. Luciani." She added cheerfully.

"She must be to not have kicked your ass before now." Logan laughed before taking a long drag of his cigarette. "I'm surprised you let her go into town alone, I'll bet she ends up in the bakery." He added, even without knowing Jill had indeed made some comment about bagels earlier. "You know how John has the hots for her."

"What about you?" Parker asked suddenly. "What's important in Sherry's life?" He added, rubbing at his head, feeling a painful headache beginning. They happened often when he thought of what could be happening to Rebecca.

"John is a pervert. She'll punch his face right in." Chris muttered, already on to his second cigarette. "Are we going fishing? Or are you going to tell me what an asshole I am?"

"Sherry doesn't have a life." The little blonde laughed. She turned her car toward the air strip, able to see the buildings rising up in the darkness. "Sherry's a monster."

"I can do both." Logan replied with a grin before pushing himself back to his feet and stretching out his long legs.

"Her mean boyfriend sure doesn't think so." Parker pointed out, actually wondering what it would be liek to come to an airstrip without being 'on duty'.

"Lucky you." Chris snorted, stuffing the cigarettes in his back pocket. He began shoving gear at the other man and heading toward his truck. "Nice tattoo. What's it say?"

"He's not my boyfriend. I think he made the clear today." Sherry sighed, pulling up beside a sleek black plane.

Logan glanced down at his arm, then simply smiled. "Should it say something?" He asked rather evasively.

"How so?" Parker asked as he got out the car. "Just because you had a fight?"

"You're the one who paid for it, dumb ass. So yeah. It should." Chris snorted. The fact that Logan was evasive did rub him the wrong way for some reason though he chose to leave it alone for the moment. "We have to stop in town for bait so dropping by the bakery for breakfast won't hurt anything." He told the other man thoughtfully.

Sherry shook her head. "It's not just that." she said softly. "Come on. You don't get air sick or anything. Do you?" She opened the trunk of the car and started tossing guns and ammo gear at him.

Logan arched his brow slightly when Chris made this suggestion. "Checking up on her?" He mused before picking their gear up and carrying it to Chris' truck.

"Even if I did, that wouldn't stop me." Parker replied as he began strapping his gear into place.

"No." Chris tried to sound like the very idea was disgusting "I like Bertha's Kolaches. I haven't had a hot one in a while. John is a hell of a reason to avoid that place. Fat bastard..."

"Glad to hear you say that." Sherry smiled, latching on her holsters. "Rebecca is fine, Mr. Luciani. Wesker needs her too much to have hurt her."