Title: Chasing After the Dawn

Fandom: Resident Evil 8: Village
Pairing: Chris Redfield/Leon S. Kennedy, Ethan Winters/Mia Winters, Zoe Baker/Mia Winters

Rating: PG
-13
Length: 1333 Words
Notes: Major spoilers for both Resident Evil 7 & 8. 
Do not read if you don't want it to be spoiled!
Summary: It's always the 'what-ifs' with Chris.

It’s always the hypothetical ‘what-ifs’ with Chris.

The ride to BSAA Europe is slow and dreamlike. The village is just a bad dream and that bitch Miranda never swapped bodies with Winters’ wife and abducted their child for nefarious purposes. The BSAA isn’t rotting from the inside-out with corrupt bureaucracy and bio-weapons. Ethan Winters is still whole and hale, not having been a walking dead man for the past three years.

“Fuck,” Chris curses and slams his fist into the titanium frame of the chopper.

Canine, the dog handler of his squad, looks up from his German Shepherd with a frown. “You gotta stop beating yourself up over this, Cap’n.”

“You did all you could,” calls Lobo from the cockpit just through the next compartment. “That and then some.”

Mia Winters is silent, preferring to huddle in a corner of the cargo bay away from the rest of his squad and trying to shush her baby. She spares a few glances for Chris, though, completely devoid of warmth.

How many times do I have to see a widow and an orphan because of some selfish asshole trying to play God?

No matter how many times Chris asks himself, he can never come up with an answer.

Tundra crosses the bay with a can of milk and a silicone nipple stretched over the top of it as Mia requested. “It’s a good thing we were outfitted for a baby’s company,” she murmurs as she hands the milk over to Mia.

“No, thanks,” Mia mutters and shakes her head when Tundra offers her additional rations for herself. “I don’t have an appetite.”

The guilt is overwhelming, like the burden of Atlas, and Chris almost succumbs when his Communications officer, Night Howl, waves to him from inside the cockpit.

“Incoming transmission from the French embassy, Cap,” he says and holds the radio aloft to him. “Says he’s a fed.”

Life sparks anew within Chris’s dark eyes as he stumbles over a few cargo crates to reach Night Howl and the receiver outstretched to him. He waves the officer away with a grunt and clicks the button down to speak, “Redfield here. Identify yourself, please. Over.”

“You already know who it is,” crackles a familiar voice over the speaker. “If I had half a fucking brain then I would just dump your ass here over the radio for taking off all rogue like that. You know that I have high blood pressure.”

“Leon,” Chris breathes with a smile. “God, it’s good to hear your voice.”

A soft chuckle tinkles over the speaker. “It’s nice to know that you aren’t dead, too. What happened?”

Chris frowns again and looks over his shoulder at Ethan’s widow and child. He speaks in a low voice, “The situation was more grave than I had anticipated. That bitch scientist swapped bodies with Winters’ wife and faked her own death, and then she kidnapped the baby we’d been investigating.”

Leon is quiet for a moment. “What of Winters?”

“He…” Chris’s voice trails off. “I shouldn’t have…”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, babe,” Leon says in a more candid manner than the rest of Chris’s squad are used to, raising a few eyebrows around the chopper. “You did what you felt you had to, right?”

Chris nods. “I should have let him in on the plan, though.”

“Would that have prevented his body’s decay?” Leon asks. “Yeah, I know all about the Dulvey incident and the fact that Jack Baker mudredered Winters three years ago. I met up with an unlisted survivor by the name of Zoe and she told me everything.”

“I had no idea,” Chris mumbles into the receiver. “I was fucking clueless about everything, Leon. About Miranda and her abilities, about Ethan and the mold, and the BSAA…”

Leon seizes the proverbial reigns and says sternly, “Now’s not the time for pity but retribution, Chris. I’ve uncovered more intel on the BSAA and I think it’ll help pin them down for this one. At least, the European branch.”

A thousand-and-one scenarios continue to flip through Chris’s conscience like a film reel. If only he’d been made aware of the attack on the transport and the ensuing crash sooner, then he may have been able to spare Ethan and his family a little of this. His eyes keep returning to the scene behind him, with Tundra attending to Mia and Rose in the corner of the cargo bay.

“You’re right,” he says at length. “Ethan deserves justice.”

Leon’s smile can almost be heard through the speaker as he agrees, “We’ll be the ones to deliver it personally, too. I also have Miss Baker here awaiting Mia’s arrival; she’s prepared to take both mother and daughter in temporarily.”

“I’m usually the one cleaning up after you,” Chris says with a laugh. “Can’t thank you enough, partner.”

“What are amazing fiancees for?” Leon boasts and laughs afterwards as well.

Chris straightens his posture and takes another look at Mia with grim determination set about his features. “Say, how do you feel about becoming something equivalent to a god-parent?”

“Provide for the kid, you mean?” Leon hums thoughtfully. “I already have two adopted kids, so what could one more hurt? It’s better than letting the feds or BSAA take control over her.”

“I’ll have to confer with her mother, of course, but…” Chris furrows his brows and clenches his fist. “I want to make this right; I owe that to Ethan.”

Leon adds, “We’ll be waiting for you on the roof of the embassy, then, I’ve already given Lobo the details on the landing strip and traffic control.”

Just before Leon ends their transmission, Chris whispers into the receiver, “Thanks for this. It’s good to hear your voice and I needed a pep talk.”

“Anytime,” Leon says. “Over and out.”

The airwaves grow silent once more and Chris slumps back in the seat with a sigh. He can’t help noticing the wistful grin on Lobo’s face and asks, “What?”

“Nothing,” Lobo shrugs. “Just enjoying the view.”

Canine and Umber Eyes have the same goofy grins on their faces and Chris suddenly feels a little embarrassed. He rises from his seat and approached Mia towards the back of the hangar, still siting with Rose and Tundra at her side.

“Mrs. Winters,” he says softly to her, “we will avenge your husband and assist you in any way we can with Rose and her upbringing. Not just my squad and the feds, but myself personally.”

Mia looks up at him through heavy lashes and tears misting her vision.

Chris smiles just a little for her sake. “There’s an old friend of yours waiting at the embassy, too. She’ll take both you and Rose in temporarily until we get this sorted out.”

Mia blinks a few times and the tears escape down her cheeks. “Friend?”

“Zoe Baker,” Chris answers and the way her face lights up restores some of his humanity. “She’s with an FBI agent as we speak, so she’s in safe hands. They tell me that she’s been trying to meet with you for a while now.”

“Zoe is…alive?” Mia questions with an incredulous look on her face. “God, I can’t believe it.”

Lobo turns to call over his shoulder, “We’re almost there, Cap! Everyone strap in for landing!”

Chris sits beside Mia and reached over to brush his finger against Rose’s chubby cheek, grimacing. “Someone will pay for all of this. That I can promise you.”

Mia nods and holds her child closer. “Thank you, Chris. I’m sorry for – “

“Don’t,” Chris stops her and holds his hand up. “You have every right to be angry and mourn. Leave the rest to my squad and I. Ethan’s death will not be in vain.”

They all look towards the horizon with a little more hope in their hearts than when they first set out from the village, and as the sunlight peers over the mountains to sting their eyes still fresh with tears, they’re grateful.

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