Work Text:
-- "sorry, ethan"
✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.*
The BSAA gifted you the task of ensuring that the Winters family was adjusting well to their new lives in seclusion. The alliance uprooted their everything they knew and placed them in a cold area in Europe where snow covered each corner of the ground. Ethan and Mia were initially troubled by this idea but you promised them that it was the best thing for them to do. It wasn’t your idea, though. Chris Redfield, your ex-boyfriend, was the one who orchestrated them to move -- for their own safety.
But you didn’t hear from Chris since then. He disappeared from your life and it had been a long, long time since you’d seen each other. Where was he? What was he doing? You weren’t sure if you’d ever see his handsome face again...
✧.*
It was your first ever visit to their home in Europe and you could smell the aroma of Mia’s new learned cuisine that were native to the local area. “Will you be the taste tester for Mia, while I put little Rose to bed?” Ethan asked as he held his sleeping infant close to his chest. Her chubby face was soft and content as she drifted off into another realm of slumber. “As long as she doesn’t poison me for helping to bring you guys here!” you joked as you followed the brunette woman into their large kitchen.
“Now, [Y/N]. How many times do I have to tell you?! We’re adjusting here quite well,” she walked directly to the stove and hovered over a boiling pot, then took a deep breath in. “Well, I’m glad to hear that...” you sighed in relief - you couldn’t imagine how it felt to move across the ocean. Mia smiled as she took the ladle in her palm and stirred the orange liquid, which caused the steam to roll into the air and then to your face. You too took a deep inhale and your stomach growled loudly as a result. Mia chuckled, “Sounds like someone is hungry.” Your hand went to your belly and you groaned, “That’s an understatement. I have the worst jet lag on Earth right now and that smells amazing.”
Ethan soon returned and informed the two of you that Rose was “sleeping like a baby”. Mia brought over the boiling pot to the kitchen island and when Ethan tried taking a bite before she was ready, the back of his hand got a whap from her metal spoon. “It’s Ciobra de Legume. It’s a local recipe. But it’s not ready yet,” Mia let the pot to cool before the three of you would eat and took your hand in hers to lead you to the dining room that was attached to the kitchen, “Please, sit.” she instructed as Ethan brought three wine glasses to the table. “If Ethan’s going to sulk all night. Maybe we should enjoy the wine instead.” You obeyed her request and took a seat to her left.
✧.*
Not long after an argument brewed between the two of them. Ethan was insistent that they needed to talk about what happened in Louisiana, but Mia firm on her opinion that they just needed to forget about it and move on. You sat in silence across from Ethan as you watched Mia grow frustrated with his behavior. She raised her hands, “I don’t understand why you are so --,” just before she could finish her sentence, a bloody hole formed in her shoulder. It was no “hole” but a bullet wound. As it dawned on you what it was, you immediately pushed your chair back with all your might and hit the deck just as Ethan yelled to get down. However, Mia did not in time and soon was full of holes from the many weapons that fired into the home from outside. The flashes from the muzzles light up the dark house house like a macabre strobe light show and the sounds of Ethan’s yelling was muffled out by the roar of the automatic firearms.
The initial panic that enveloped your mind soon faded and when you reached for your own weapon -- it was apparent that your handgun was nowhere nearby but in the room in the upper floor, so, Ethan and yourself were defenseless against whoever it was that attacked the Winters home. You looked into Ethan’s panicked eyes as they darted from you to his most likely deceased wife on the floor. As quickly as it started, the flying bullets ceased and you could hear the sound of heavy boots on the wooden flooring, then followed by silence.
The table that was once your shelter was pushed to the side and you were exposed to a man in black. Despite all the years of your BSAA training, you were frozen in your tracks, your eyes did not move from the black shoes of the person who stood before you. “Chris!? What the hell!” Ethan yelled. When you heard the name, your blood ran cold and you went from afraid to confused. Your eyes moved from the floor upward and met the cold stare of the man that you once found yourself to love. “Sorry, Ethan.” was all he said, he didn’t even acknowledge you, but instead he pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Mia’s unmoving body. “No!” you screamed as you leaped toward him to smack the weapon from him to spare her. The two of you struggled over dominance of the weapon for a brief amount of time, but Chris pushed you out of the way with barely any effort. It didn’t hurt when you hit the ground because he did not use his full strength but you were still stunned. You tried to get to your feet fast enough to stop him again but just when you were able to be in arms length, Chris released several rounds quickly into Mia’s limp body.
Your knees felt weak and buckled from beneath you. Mia, Ethan, and now Rose were the three people in the world that you were supposed to keep safe but now -- now Mia was dead and anything you tried to do was useless. Even worse, she was taken down by the one person you believed would do the right thing -- someone you trusted with your life, but now he took the life of someone you cared for.
Redfield caught you before you could go down to the floor. His arm was wrapped around your waist and his palm was flat against your pelvis. He looked into your eyes and they held you in place. They were the same eyes that you remembered and adored, but -- you didn’t think you could forgive him for his actions. A silence held in the air between the two of you but your attention was stolen from Chris when Ethan let out several curses and yells in the direction of your former acquaintance.
✧.*
You proceeded then to shove Chris away from you and once you did so, you took several steps back to only bump into one of the cronies dressed in black that helped murder Mia. The man placed a firm hand on your shoulder which you shrugged off, and Chris attempted to do the same but you stopped him with a pointed finger. “Don’t.” you sneered, “Not now.” Chris complied and walked toward the entrance to the ruined home. You allowed Chris’s teammates to take you under their custody...
Chris’s guards pushed you and Ethan in the same direction but sectioned you off away from the poor man. “What’re you doing, Chris?!” you yelled as you tried to grab for the blonde but Chris pushed you back to the wall beside the staircase. The sound of Rose’s cries grew louder as a masked guard brought her down the stairs, then placed the infant in Chris’s arms. “Doing what I need to”, he paused before he gave a nod, “take Ethan away.” Winters was not about to let Chris and his goons take Rose away from him, especially after just murdering his wife. So, Redfield instructed one of his men to knock him out with the butt of his firearm once he showed a struggle. You watched Ethan hit the floor with a thud and be dragged away. How could Chris do this? Treat the people he helped take care of so cruelly?
“Come on,” Chris said as he turned to leave. “What makes you think I’m going with you?” a scoff left your lips. He grew silent before he cornered you in the doorway, baby still crying in his arms. “You’re welcome to stay here then,” Chris turned away again but you pulled him back with force, your eyes fixated on Rose. “Where have you been? You left me without a word and now-now, this!?.” he didn’t answer but walked toward the caravan that he arrived in, you followed after him quickly with anger, your gaze returning to the distraught infant and asked the same question several times.
Chris raised his voice at you to silence, “I will explain it all once we arrive at our checkpoint.” His tone dropped, maybe he felt bad for his reaction to your questions -- so, he proceeded to place his gloved hand on your bicep and gave it a squeeze.
Unfortunately for everyone, no questions were able to be answered because the caravan was never able to reach said checkpoint according to plan.