So slow to catch on

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"I did. But not you." Chris breathed, the grief of it all taking hold of him as it hadn't done in some time. "Wesker uses you to get to me. He's always hated me. One day...I'm going to have to stop being a coward and face him head on... No one should have to suffer for me."

"They're dirty." Chris snapped, making it clear that he was going to argue even if Ruby said the sky was blue.

"So's my face now, you gonna find me a new one of those too?" Ruby shot back sarcastically.

"I'm sure it could be arranged." Chris growled, giving Jill an exasperated look. In his own way he was begging for help. He wasn't too good with handling precocious youngsters.

"You heard that! He's gonna mess my face up!" Ruby turned her sapphire gaze up at Dave now, pouting like the spoiled princess she had been as a small child as she jabbed a finger in Chris' direction.
Meanwhile, Jill had a hand pressed to her lips, trying not to laugh quite so loudly. "Just think... you and I could be having one of those soon..." She teased, in reference to any conversation she and Chris may have had about having children of their own. Little did they know that family had already started.

Chris shook his head, the shadow of a grin suddenly dying. "No. Not us. We can't have children. Not after what Wesker did to you." He muttered, motioning that everyone follow him as he fished the keys from his pocket.

Jill's mood suddenly seemed just as sullen as her daughter's as she silently followed behind Chris. Again this wall was coming up between them, with Chris and side that held all Jill's memories, and Jill herself left on the other, chasing hosts in a bid to make herself whole again.

Sherry heard a car door slam in the driveway, followed by three others. She was instantly sitting up, her entire body twitching with fear in the way a bunny's would.

Ark didn't really hear the doors.he had fallen to slumber again, his body still fighting to hold into his life in the way he knew it.
Outside Ruby was lingering by the car, not liking the look of the large house that loomed in front of her. Trust wasn't something she gave freely, and it bothered her that Dave seemed so willing to place both their lives in the hands of mere strangers.

Sherry finally managed to crawl out of bed and pull on Ark's t-shirt. She hovered near the window until she saw it was Chris and Jill. It took her a moment to make out who was with them.
"No!" She roared, shoving open the second story window and shouting down at them. "NO! You're not bringing them here!"

Ruby's acute hearing recognised Sherry's voice before she even looked up at the window. If Sherry could have seen the younger girl's eyes, she would have seen the hurt in them right then. Before she realised she had done it, Ruby had reached for Dave's hand, holding it tightly. She hadn't known Sherry would be here, but now she realised her thoughts of having at least one friend had been a lie. "This was a mistake..." She whispered.

Sherry was only afraid that Ruby might hurt Ark. She knew how much the other woman hated him and it terrified her.
"No!" She shouted, now standing in the doorway down stairs as Chris opened it. "Make them leave. You should all leave!"

Ruby's slender hand squeezed Dave's hard enough to have broken the bones of any normal man. "See... Even my supposed friend doesn't want me around..." She whispered, burying her face against Dave's shoulder in a rare moment of weakness.
Jill closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. "Sherry... You don't even know them. They need our help." She told the young woman, thinking it to be true that Sherry didn't know these two.

"I know the girl that left me alone to fight Wesker." Sherry hissed. "I know the girl who made sure I was far away so that Wesker could hurt Ark! I was what she wanted!"

"You're the one who left me!" Ruby shouted, moving away from Dave and stepping around Jill. "You left me to languish in a hospital basement while you played happy families with your dumb ass boyfriend!"

"You let that son of a bitch hurt him while you tried to make sure his bitch didn't have a baby!" Sherry howled, shoving past Jill and leaping onto Ruby, taking them both to the ground. "You said you wouldn't let him hurt me and you lied!"

"Try standing up for yourself for once!" Ruby snarled as she rolled across the dirt with Sherry. "Why did I always have to be the one to be strong?! I had to grow up fast, just to keep you safe!"

"You grew up because he made you!" Sherry shouted, grabbing a handful of Ruby's hair. "You did nothing for me!"
"Girls!" Dave barked, finally managing to catch hold of Ruby by the waist and yanking her into the air and off the other woman.

Ruby's arms and legs were still lashing out, trying to get one more attack in. "I did everything for you!" She roared. "If not for me, you would still be in a cage in Wesker's basement, lying in your own filth!" Even with one of Dave's powerful arms around her slender waist, the young woman continued to struggle.

"Ruby." Chris would forever wonder why he was the one to step forward and place a gentle hand on her arm. "Sweet heart...calm down. This is fixing nothing and it's drawing unwanted attention. Can we...take this inside?"

Ruby looked up into the face of the man she didn't know to be her father, her tearful eyes filled with a deep sorrow, even as flecks of black marred their sapphire depths. Sherry had never been her friend, that much was clear now. The elder girl had used Ruby to get free, to get back to Ark. "No." She whispered simply. "You make me go in there... I'll rip that bitches heart out." She swore, even as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Jill feels the same but I have a feeling that Sherry is just a scared li...young woman just like you. We can talk this over. Everything will be all right." He held out a hand to her, offering a smile. "Trust me?"

There was something in Chris' eyes that did make Ruby want to trust him, however, after everything she had been through, and what she had just discovered about Sherry, trust was not something Ruby gave all that easily. Any progress Dave had made with her these past few months was also most likely sent reeling backwards. "One night. That's all I'll stay." She finally replied in compromise.

Dave groaned openly, able to see this effect in Ruby's eyes. He wanted to throw himself down and kick and scream like an ill behaved child. He wondered if it would make him feel any better.
"Ark isn't going to like this." Sherry said as she shoved to her feet and stomped past them.

"Given that his likes include screwing around with a backstabbing whore, you'll forgive me if I find it hard to care." Ruby snarled. Ruby had never been naive enough to think Dave loved her, and so would not understand if it bothered him that he was now at arms length, just like everyone else.

Dave let go of Ruby and allowed Chris to lead her inside. He was fully aware that Jill was watching him, though he wasn't sure why.
Sherry brushed past them and returned to her place beside Ark in the bed, though she found herself wondering why she hadn't gone back to hiding in the attic.

"Do you love her?" Jill asked Dave bluntly once they were alone outside the house. "I've seen how hard she tries to be strong for you, despite her tender years. I have to wonder... Do you love her, or is she something new you are hoping to conquer?"
Ark's mind was slipping again. He had no memory of Chris, or of the dark haired young woman he had all but tossed from his home the last time she had been here.