Thicker than Water

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Alex Chambers stood on the helicopter landing pad his fingers pressed to his forehead to block out the morning sun. He was dancing from one foot to the other, unable to hide his excitement.
"I see them!" He shouted back to his mother, who was standing near the entrance with a medical team. None of them knew what kind of shape their heroes would return to them in but Alex didn't seem to care. Already he was hopping up and down waving at the chopper as it drew closer. He cheered when Chris Redfield waved to him and repeated the action when Jill Valentine did the same. But as the helicopter touched down his smile began to fade. Not everyone he'd hoped to see was stepping out.
"What happened?" Rebecca Chambers soon came to stand beside her son, her lips set in a thin line as she looked from Chris to Jill. "Where is Parker?" She'd done her best to keep herself from saying this man's name first but she couldn't seem to help herself. "Where's Jessica?" She added, hoping this would make for a decent cover up.

Chris was even quicker to move. Cursing under his breath he shoved his fingers through his hair and made a beeline for the living room. This night wasn't even half over and he was in hell.

Rebecca swatted him on the chest, biting her own lip to keep from laughing as well. "I watch those girly movies with mom sometimes." Alex grumbled. Apparently he didn't think it was so funny. "I know what kissing is and now they're mad."

Jill was still fighting to control the racing pulse Chris had just left her with. This kiss certainly complicated things for both of them. "Alex, honey... It wasn't what it looked like..." She told the little boy feebly, knowing he wouldn't believe that.

"They're mad, huh?" Parker asked, revealing in this new development that was, no doubt, excruciatingly awkward for both Chris and Jill. "How mad? Is Chris off sulking somewhere?"

"Yes and yes and Jill just said it wasn't what it looked like!" Alex told Parker, now the one to snicker. "I'm seven, Jill. But I'm not stupid." Rebecca couldn't help but laugh at her son's words. "I love you, Mommy." He said softly when he heard her laughter. "I love you too, Parker. Come home soon, okay?"

"Love you too, kiddo." Parker replied, his throat tightening at the thought of how close he had come to not seeing Alex again. "Make Chris and Jill squirm for me, okay?" He added with anther grin, then hung up.

Alex was all too eager to do this and pushed the covers back. All thoughts of the Boogey man, or him as everyone else knew him, were gone. "Hey Chris, here's your phone." He said to the sulking man on the couch.

"Don't say that to my son again." The laughing Rebecca had disappeared all over again as she jerked herself and the phone out of Parker's hands. "That's not something to tell a little boy."

Jill was on the other side of the room, looking out the window as she chewed on her thumb nail. She wasn't sure what Chris thoughts on what had just happened were, as he hadn't said one wor to her since she had returned to the living room.

"What? You're forbidding me from telling your son I love him?" Parker asked thinly.

"Alex, just drop it. Okay?" Chris said softly. The boy was startled by the tone of his voice and simply dropped the phone on the floor. His eyes went from Chris to Jill, now worried that he'd made things that much worse.

"That's exactly what I just said." Rebecca hissed. "Never say that to him again. Ever." That said she stomped out of the room with the blood sample, slamming the door behind her.

"Come on Alex. I'll make you something to eat." Jill told the boy, her own voice filled with what could only be described as fear and doubt as she took Alex by the hand and silently led him to the kitchen. Her biggest fear was that she had just lost her best friend, all for the sake of one little kiss.

"Well he should hear it from at least one person." Parker told the door as it slammed.

"I'm sorry I told." Alex whispered, sniffling loudly. He was overly tired and now terrified that everything was going to change. Though he didn't know it yet, soon enough it would. "Don't hate me."

Rebecca returned nearly an hour later, flushed and still angry. She looked exhausted. "I'm going to give you a shot." She said woodenly. "It's going to make you sleepy but you need it. When you wake up, you'll be back at the main medical ward in London. But don't worry. I'll make sure you're safe until you get there. All right?"

Jill lifted Alex up and sat him down on the counter top. "You did nothing wrong, Alex." She assured him as she turned to open up the fridge, only remembering that she hadn't yet had the chance to buy anything since returning when she saw the rotting food that was left in there.

"No. Not alright." Parker replied thinly. "I don't need a shot, least of all from a woman who can't even tell her son she loves him. In fact... I don't even want you being my doctor anymore!"

"Ewww..." Alex whispered, leaning toward the fridge as he inspected its innards. "That's cool! How long has it been like that?" He asked, sounding like his mother.

"Fine!" Rebecca shouted, her chin quivering violently. She slammed the vial on the counter next to her hard enough to shatter it. "But stay your ass away from my son! You come near him and I'll shoot you in the head! Do you hear me?!"

Jill sighed and shut the door. "I was in such a hurry when I heard Chris was missing... I guess I forgot to empty it before I left." She confessed quietly.

"Oh, I get it!" Parker suddenly boomed. "I am not good enough to be near your son, but Chris is a perfectly fine, drunken, promiscuous, father figure?!"

"If we gave the onion a T-virus injection...you think it would come back to life?" Alex asked curiously, now smoothing a hand over his mouth and chin in the way that Wesker often did when he was thinking.

"Chris is there because he knows!" Rebecca shouted before she could help herself. She was suddenly feeling very woozy and something warm was sliding through her fingers. But...for some reason she couldn't force herself to see what it was.

Jill didn't think Rebecca had been telling Alex all about the T virus, and frowned at his sudden statement. "Why would you think something like that?" She asked.

"Knows what? That you'll never let anyone but Alex's father close to you?!" Parker demanded.

"It's true isn't it?" Alex asked. "That whole thing with Raccoon city was about bringing people back to life. So...how come we can do that with your food?"
Chris' ears were suddenly burning and he headed to the kitchen, now frowning at Jill over Alex's head.

"Alex...Wesker...it's...not..." Rebecca was slurring her speech. "None of your..." She finally managed to lift her hand but she could only watch as blood slid down her palm and dripped onto the floor.

When Jill felt Chris' glare upon her, she narrowed her eyes right back at him, silently telling him he had no right looking at her that way in her own home. "Sweetie... When someone dies, they're gone. Nothing suddenly brings them to life." She told Alex gently.

Despite the pain it caused him as his own stitched tore open, Parker got out of bed and caught Rebecca as she began to sway. "See what happens when you get mad at me?" He breathed, carrying her over to the bed he had vacated.

"Whatever you think you know about that city is wrong, kid." Chris growled. "Your mother would paddle your hide if she heard you talking about it. Where did you even hear that shit?"
Alex turned, now the one to glare at Chris. Chris nearly struck the boy right then and there. He'd seen that look before and he still hated it.

"Don't touch me!" Rebecca cried suddenly, a final burst of energy flaring as she fought Parker like a cat headed for water. "Don't let him touch me!"

Jill was quick to push Alex behind her, squaring up to Chris despite his anger. "Watch your tongue!" She hissed, or I'll be the one doing the paddling!"

"Let who? Rebecca... It's Parker, you were bleeding, you looked like you might pass out."

Chris couldn't help the smile that tugged at the edge of his lips. All at once the tension was broken completely and he was laughing.
Though Alex no longer felt threatened he still kept his distance.

"Don't touch me!" Rebecca was screaming now, clawing at Parker's arms as if he were trying to hold her down. "Get away from me!"
Her screams brought a set of nurses, who immediately got the wrong idea.

Jill groaned and rolled her eyes. "I should have known you would be into something like that!" She remarked, jabbing a finger into Chris' chest, though she didn't do it all that roughly, more for show.

Parker was quick to hold up his arms in innocence, revealing the blood on his chest. Unfortunately, the nurses assumed it was Rebecca's blood and were shouting for security.

Chris laughed even harder at this. He couldn't help it. It was so good to feel the tension gone from the room. It had gotten so heavy so very quickly. He never wanted to feel like that with Jill.
But soon enough matters were taking them back in that direction. It was shortly after dawn when Chris responded to an emergency call that had him flying back to Parker's location, leaving Jill and Alex to fend for themselves.

Jill had put on a brave face, telling Chris to get his ass out of her apartment and go bring Parker home. In all truth, she had actually wanted to kiss him again and beg him to be safe. As it was, she and Alex were now sat in the park, eating ice cream.

Parker's wounds had been stitched again, but no one was believing that he hadn't been trying to hurt Rebecca. He was currently under guard, not allowed to leave until everything was smoothed out.

"Why did Chris get so mad at me?" Alex asked, watching his icecream dripping off the cone and onto the ground. He seemed more concerned with the outcome rather than the loss of the treat.

"Well, you've done it now." Chris said as he entered the room. He knelt before Parker, checking his injuries over. "I keep telling you, buddy, we don't let them know we're feeling them up. Stealth, man, stealth."

Jill saw that Alex's ice cream was melting, and swapped him for her own, which was in a tub rather than on a cone. "Chris... Is scared of very few things." She began. "One of the things he is afraid of, is something happening to you, to anyone he cares about." She continued. "So when you talked about Racoon City, the place we both used to call home, I think he just remembered all the people we lost there."

"Chris! You son of a bitch, I thought you were ignoring old Parker!" The Italian exclaimed, embracing the other man and giving him a friendly slap on the back.

"No. Not the city. The way he was looking at me when I got mad at him. There was something in his eyes. He looks at me like that a lot. Sometimes...Momma does too. I want to know why. I can't stop doing whatever it is they don't like if they don't tell me." Alex whispered, now poking at the tub of ice cream.

Chris returned the hug, though he offered a gentler slap. "I was trying to get laid. Though I think my technique when over a bit better than yours." He teased.

Jill slid an arm around Alex's shoulders and hugged him gently. "I don't look at you that way, do I?" She asked softly.

"Yeah, I heard you finally put the moves on Jill. Took you long enough!" Parker laughed, sitting down again with a hand pressed to his wound.

"No." Alex whispered, resting his head on her shoulder. "That's why I love you so much. Cause you don't look at me funny."

"We were whispering. Alex read too much into it." Chris said, handing him a wad of bandages. "Rebecca sent these and she told me to look at your arms."

Jill smiled, though it was somewhat sad. "I love you too, little man." She breathed, kissing his head as his mother should do.

Parker clearly didn't believe this. "Oh yeah? And what were you doing at Jill's apartment in the middle of the night in the first place?" He asked, rolling his sleeves up for Chris to see the scratches Rebecca had left behind.

"Will you please tell me why Chris hates me? Why Mommy is sometimes scared of me?" Alex whispered, his own eyes watering.

"Good grief, Parker. Rebecca did this?" He asked, pulling out his phone to tell Rebecca that the other man was going to need stitches. "We'll talk about me and Jill later. Right now I need you to tell me what happened."

"I'm sorry sweetie, I can't tell you something I don't know." Jill breathed. "Chris... Is still a mystery to me even after all these years."

"Aha! So there is a you and Jill!" Parker declared triumphantly. "Look, stop with the phone... I don't need stitches. I've had worse than this. A little wound salve and I'll be ready to fight again...ah... Not that I fought Rebecca in the first place."