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!"

"Out little secret." It wasn't Logan who spoke this time, but Jill as she smiled, leaning over Chris' shoulder and kissing his cheek lightly. "You think I can steal my husband back yet? Pregnant whales shouldn't be made to hoist themselves into bed alone." She added, grinning at Logan.

"That was Logan, hes a ventriloquist." Chris said as they walked away. He paused patting his friend on the shoulder. "Dinner tomorrow you and the new girl. Not hearing no for an answer." He added, sliding an arm around Jill and leaving Logan alone on the porch.

Logan felt his whole body tense as he drained what was left of his beer. He was not looking forward to breaking this news to Rebecca. 

"New girl?" Jill asked as she and Chris returned indoors. "He finally found someone to put up with him?" She added with a playful smile.

"Says he did but wouldn't show me any pictures or anything. I don't expect to see him tomorrow to tell the truth." He said thoughtfully, removing his shirt and tossing it in the corner.

Rebecca was already asleep when Billy returned to the house. She'd  cooked and left it all on the counter, clearly upset that no one had been there to ear it with her.

Jill lowered herself down onto the edge of the bed and attempted to removed her boots. It was a rather comical sight to say the least. "I hope he does have someone. He's a nice guy, he deserves to be happy. Despite you trying to force him to take Claire off your hands." She added with a smirk.

Billy saw the food, and instantly felt even worse than he already did. Rebecca had made an effort, and he had been drinking beer with a man she had confessed she hated.

"I just thought he could make her happy and maybe himself. He's been so distant and sad lately." Chris said kneeling to take off her boots and kiss her legs while he worked. "And claire...I was hoping to make her happy too."

Rebecca had nightmares every night. Some worse than others. This was particularly bad one. She woke up screaming, begging the captain not to take her baby.

Jill smiled as Chris' lips brushes her skin. "Claire will be fine, she always is." She assured her husband gently. "It's Leon I worry about... No one has heard from him since he left the hospital."

Billy came sprinting into the bedroom, too used to the sound of Rebecca's screams. "It's okay..." He breathed into her hair, holding her close as he say on the bed. "You're safe, I'm here, remember?"

"I can't go look for him right now, Jill. Little bit is about to be here." Chris frowned. "But maybe Barry or Parker..."

Rebecca clung to Billy as she always did, trying hard to shake off the nightmare. "I'm so sorry." She whispered, her voice ragged from screaming. "I killed her...him...I kill everything I touch..."

Jill rested her hands on her belly and sighed softly. "So much for this being smooth sailing, huh?" She asked. "Ever think we spend more time looking after everyone else than we do ourselves?"

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Billy breathed gently. "I'm not so easy to kill, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Yeah. I think it every day." Chris confessed, tilting his head to kiss her belly. "You go to sleep. I'll make a few calls and come to bed soon okay?" He didn't wait for her to answer. He was already back on his feet and reaching for his cell phone.

"You still haven't told me how you survived that. I buried a body. I grieved for you. I need you to explain how it is that you are here now, Billy Coen." Rebecca said firmly, wiping at her tears as she pushed away from him.

Jill sighed softly as she watched Chris walk away with his phone in hand. She flopped backwards and stared up at the ceiling, her hands still stoking her belly. "Better get used to it, kiddo... He's always got to be someones hero."

Billy groaned and smoothed his fingers over his dark hair. "You know Wesker, and you still ask me that question?"

Chris didn't come to bed that night. Instead he sat on the porch staring down at his phone. He'd called Parker's phone first only to receive a garbled answer that sounded more like a monstrous scream than a man's voice. Then he'd heard a woman's voice...not Rebecca or Jessica telling the beast to hang up the phone. Then worst of all...he'd been certain he'd heard Wesker's purring reply of praise to the beast for answering in the first place...

"You're telling me he made up a body...a clone...to fool me?" Rebecca asked. "But why go to all that trouble over me?" She didn't even stop to consider he'd done it because she was the only one smart enough to destroy his virus before it ever truly got started. While she was busy grieving she would be out of the way. It had been a perfect plan.

Jill had woken in the small hours to reach out and find Chris' side of the bed still cold. She sat up, bothered that he hadn't even come to bed at all. The dark haired woman pulled a robe on and poked her head into Claire's room, comforted a little to find the younger woman sleeping soundly. That was one Redfield accounted for, just as she felt a sudden pain ripple across her rather large bump. "Not now little bit..." she muttered.

Billy was shaking his head. "You really don't get how important you are, do you?" He breathed. "You really think the meatheads would figure out a way to stop Wesker? You were the one that worried him. You were always the thorn, never Chris, or even Jill. They were amusements."

Chris couldn't help the feeling that he'd just done something very wrong. It made his stomach churn. He dumped the phone on the table and headed out toward the lake, unable to push the feeling aside.

"I'm nothing. I can't even keep a baby alive. I kill everything I touch. Don't try to tell me I'm important." Rebecca hissed, shaking her head. "Wesker called me mouse. He's not worried about me."

Jill saw Chris stood out there all alone when she glanced out the living room window. She knew him too well to ignore the tense way he was holding his shoulders. "Who did you call?" She asked, joining him out there, but not mentioning the pain she had felt minutes earlier.

"Then why did he keep you? Why did he try so hard to break you?" Billy breathed, reaching out to touch the scar in Rebecca's cheek.

"Parker." Chris said softly, not looking back at his wife. He didn't say anything else, he couldnt. He didn't want her to carry the weight that now burdened him. 

"He did." Rebecca hissed, shoving his hand away from her face. "He did much more than that."

"You found him?" Jill asked, her voice brightening a little. "But... Why is that a bad thing?" She added, standing beside Chris and looking up at him. "You're hiding something."

Billy allowed Rebecca to shove him, though he didn't move very far. "That's it? You give up?"

"I didn't say I found him. I just said I called." Chris said darkly. "I called Barry too. He's on the way."

Rebecca wrapped her arms around herself and didn't answer. "I'm going back to sleep." She said finally. "I missed the part where Wesker's son shot Parker. I have to relive the whole thing."

Jill shrank back slightly when Chris responded so harshly. "You wanna tell him to some lotion, so he can remove the stick up your ass?" She snapped as another stab of pain rippled through her.

Billy nodded silently, feeling like he was utterly useless. "We have dinner plans tomorrow." He whispered to himself as he turned away. He wanted nothing more than o help Rebecca, but he simply didn't know how. He figured Jill would have been perfect at helping him with a problem like this.

"You didn't have to sound like it made you so happy." Chris whispered, his insides on fire as he heard the monstrous roar inside his head again. And then Wesker's voice... it was eating him alive. 

"We do?" Rebecca's tone was filled with an odd sort of hope and a bit of trepidation.

"Happy that a friend isn't dead?" Jill asked curtly. "Yes, how very selfish of me."

Billy turned back to her when he heard the slightly lighter note to Rebecca's voice. "Yeah, I mean... I totally understand if you don't wanna go though..." He was rubbing the back of his neck nervously, torn about telling Rebecca who it was the would be having dinner with.

"I wouldn't he so quick to say that." Chris muttered, his chest aching now. He was fairly certain he might be having a heart attack. It was bad enough to have him rubbing at it.

"Where are we going?" Rebecca asked, crawling to the edge of the bed to catch up with him. For a moment the old Rebecca was back. She even wrinkled her nose in a tiny grin.

Jill sighed heavily and shook her head. "I can't believe you still don't trust me." She told Chris sadly. "You're actually jealous I was happy you had gotten in touch with Parker?"

Billy smiled a little himself when he saw that grin. "What if I told you it was a surprise?" He asked, tapping her pert nose lightly.

"I don't want to talk about this right now." Chris said softly, rubbing harder at his chest. "I need a bit, ok?" 

Rebecca shook her head, her smile fading. "I don't trust surprises." She said softly. She pulled away from him, returning to the safety of her covers.

"No, you never do." Jill whispered darkly. "Take all the time you want, Chris." she added before turning to head indoors. The dark haired woman was beyond sick of their lives being put on hold at the drop of a hat.

Billy's broad shoulders sagged, realising he had already screwed up. "I'll call them and cancel." He assured Rebecca, though the disappointment was obvious in his steel coloured eyes.

"I'll cook breakfast in a bit." He said softly. Chris continued to rub his chest, leaning hard on the dock frame. "Just give me a bit."

Rebecca didn't answer. Instead she threw the covers over her head and buried down deep, refusing to allow Billy to hear her cry.

"What did you do?" Jill asked wearily when she saw Chris rubbing at his chest. "Claire won't be awake for hours yet anyway."

Just like Chris, Billy was sat outside at dawn, staring out at the trees around their home, wishing he knew what the right thing was.

"Nothing I told you. I called Barry. He's coming." Chris muttered, still rubbing. "He's a good tracker, Jill. He'll find Leon and set him sraight. It's okay. It's all going to be fine." He ground out quickly, knowing he was lying when he told her this.

Rebecca dreamed that Wesker managed to turn Parker into Nemesis. It had her sitting up in the bed another scream tearing her throat raw.

"You're a terrible liar, Chris Redfield." Jill breathed. "You didn't call Barry to look for Leon, you've had months to do that. You wouldn't suddenly change your mind now."

Billy closed his eyes when he heard that scream. He was never going to be able to make Rebecca whole again, but he would keep trying. He returned indoors, there to hold her once more until she pushed him away.

Chris sighed. He could never fool Jill. He'd called Barry to track down Rebecca and Parker. Trying the tiny woman's phone had brought up no better results than Parker's. He'd heard a strange woman's purr and then Wesker's voice again. "Fine," he breathed, now sitting on the edge of the dock. "I didn't call Barry. I'll deal with Leon later." 

Rebecca wished she could stop these nightmares. She needed something to do with her hands. Something to keep her mind working. "I need a chemistry set." She said after several long minutes of simply being held by Billy.