Chapter 15: Going Home

"Adversity isn't an obstacle that we need to get around in order to resume living our life. It's part of our life." ~Aimee Mullins

Two (2) Weeks later:

"Claire! Tell Chris to stop burning dinner up!" Piers called from the living room.

Piers got a laughing response. "You tell him Piers, he's your boyfriend burning up your dinner. I learned a long time ago not to trust Chris to make dinner!"

Chris could be heard giving an audible grunt and short laugh from the kitchen. "Claire, quit making it sound like I cook poison to eat."

Claire winked at Piers as she moved into the living room. "Oh I don't know sometimes Chris… you must put something in the stuff, I mean how else would someone like Piers stay with someone like you?"

Chris left dinner alone for a moment and stepped into the living room with a playful smirk. "Because of my natural charm obviously."

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Really now, what exactly is so charming about a bear who hibernates every night?"

Chris almost looked offended. "Hey, bears can be nice and cuddly, am I right Piers?"

Piers rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I have NO idea what you could possibly be talking about Chris."

Chris smiled and walked over behind where Piers was sitting while Claire eyed him knowingly. "Really Piers?" Chris said from a couple feet away from him.

Piers didn't even bother to turn around. "Nope, not a single clue Chris."

Chris looked over at Claire and winked. "Rawr!"

Piers yelped as Chris flipped the couch over, dumping him onto the ground and soon being tackled by Chris while Claire sat nearby laughing hysterically. Piers tried in vain to get away and eventually just let Chris do his bear growl routine as he continued to almost die of embarrassment right in front of Claire.

Chris finished with a short little growl as Claire continued to laugh from her seat on the other side of the room. "Care to concede yet Piers, bears are cuddly aren't they?"

Piers rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you say Bearfield. Just get off me before I die from embarrassment in here!"

"Piers, how are you going to die from embarrassment? I'm the only other person in here and I think you fit into Chris' arms quite nicely!"

Piers was still wrapped up under Chris. "Hey, thanks Claire that just reminded me!"

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Reminded you of what?"

Piers smirked from under Chris, who was continuing with small playful growls. "I got a different arm that's what!"

Piers used his mutated arm and push Chris off of himself, while Chris fell back over the couch that was tipped over. Piers had a laugh at Chris' expense while he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and righted the couch, sitting down on it and bringing Piers with him.

"Yeah, I really don't get you Piers. I mean, you really fit into his arms pretty good."

Piers frowned from his spot wrapped up in Chris' arms. "You say that when you're the one stuck in this spot."

Claire rolled her eyes while Chris smiled. "Who do you think he did that to when we were kids? At least he isn't doing it to try and torture you."

Chris laughed and rested his chin on top of Piers' head, whom continued to frown. "What's so torturous about this Claire?"

"Chris, being trapped like that by you is like sitting in a sauna with twenty people that haven't showered in a year."

Chris pulled back from Piers a little bit and frowned. "Damn, am I really that bad?"

Claire winked at Piers who got up quickly, having the extra room to move. "Nope, just thought I'd give poor Piers there a little help."

"Aw c'mon Claire!"

"What do you expect Chris, me to just sit here and let you bear hug your boyfriend to death?"

Chris chuckled and looked over at Piers. "Actually, yeah, I kind of did."

Claire rolled her eyes as the phone started to ring in the other room. "Chris you should know by now that I don't live up to expectations, and hold on let me go get that."

Claire walked out of the room while Chris yelled after her. "Isn't that the truth sis!"

Chris looked back at Piers and started another playful growl while Piers rolled his eyes. "Really now Chris, keep that up and you might have Hope thinking there's another dog in the house." Chris almost looked offended.

"What do you mean, another "dog"? I'm a total bear!"

"Just my own personal grizzly huh Chris?"

"Well, if you say so, but you are my personal slimy Ace then Piers."

Piers shrugged and looked at his arm. "It's shrunk a lot though, you think it might finally come off soon Chris?

Chris smiled at Piers. "I sure hope so, but maybe V will be back soon and he can try to tell you more about it hmm?"

Piers nodded. "Yeah, how do you think he knows so much about this stuff anyway?"

Chris looked at the ceiling in thought for a moment. "That's a good question… let's remember to ask him later shall we?"

Piers was about to answer when Claire called from the other room.

"Hey you guys! Get ready, V and the others are landing soon! Chris, don't forget to turn off that dinner you probably burned it to hell already, meet you guys there!"

Chris' face turned slightly red as he got up to go turn off dinner and Piers remained in the living room, watching Claire go dashing out of the door. Piers watched Hope through the back door as he waited for Chris, watching her enjoy the fading sunlight outside. Chris walked in and grabbed a light jacket, considering the late night air would be a little chilly. He offered his hand to Piers, who took it with a smile and hoisted himself up, although quickly being pulled into side-hug by Captain Chris Bearfield.

"You're going to call me a cuddly bear before the night is over Piers."
Piers laughed and tried to break free, although this time Chris had a much better grip on him. "Whatever you say Chris."

"Grrrr Piers! C'mon, you can't deny my growl isn't sexy."

Chris loosened his grip slightly around Piers' shoulder and he took the moment to duck out and go through the front door. "I never said it wasn't sexy, you scraggly bear."

"Hey! Why am I suddenly a scraggly bear?!"

Piers chuckled and walked over, pointing at his face a little. "Why else would you be a scraggly bear? Now come ON Chris let's go! I don't want to miss them setting down!"

Chris ruffled Piers' hair. "Whatever you say little Ace, race you there?"

Piers smirked in triumph. "You bet, try to keep up this time and win!"

Chris chuckled as Piers started taking off and he ran himself to catch up.

Five (5) Minutes later.

Claire had taken the truck that was sitting outside to get down to the helipad quicker than Piers and Chris, knowing she would be stuck waiting for them to get through their short little love fest before actually leaving. She saw them coming down the road, Piers slightly in the lead with Chris seemingly refreshed right behind him. She could hear the helicopter in the distance, it wouldn't be too much longer now.

"G-gonna b-beat you… Chris!" Claire smirked as Chris just picked it up a little and got right next to Piers.

"You sure about that, Piers?"

"As if I'm going to let you beat me tonight Chris!"

Claire laughed as Piers pushed a little bit more to get ahead and almost fell down next to Claire from exhaustion. Chris moved a little bit slower to come to a standing stop next to Claire who smiled and grabbed out some water to hand to Piers. Claire pointed to her ear and motioned towards the incoming chopper which Piers and Chris had apparently not even realized was so close.

Chris nodded to Claire and kneeled down next to Piers, giving a squeeze on his shoulder. "Ready Piers?"

Piers finished gulping down his water and smiled at Chris. "You bet Chris."

Chris smiled and gave Piers his hand, who happily took it to hoist himself up again, falling into Captain Bearfield's hug trap once again.

The helicopter came in at a slightly quicker speed than expected, but considering neither Chris nor Piers had been on a helicopter in quite some time, neither of them gave it any kind of thought. Claire however, raised an eyebrow at Chris, having been used to seeing emergency fueled helicopter landings while working for TerraSave, although Chris didn't seem to notice her.

The helicopter touched down and several people came rushing out as soon the back of the helicopter opened. Chris and Piers noted the different teams, and what looked like to be a stretcher following behind the first group to step off.

"Hurry up and get him to the medical barracks, and make sure his doesn't try to do anything stupidly heroic again."

"Copy that, Captain."

Chris, Piers, and Claire stood on the side while the soldiers all came rushing out, the stretcher going as fast as anyone dared to take it. They all managed a glance and whom they saw on the stretcher was only barely recognized by Chris and Piers, Claire having zero clue at all who the person was. V was standing near the helicopter, conferring with a couple other soldiers. Once he was done he noticed the three standing nearby and walked over to them.

"Hey V, how's it going?"

He chuckled in response. "Fine I guess Piers, how are you doing yourself?"

"Pretty good, arm is a lot smaller than it used to be though, I can even move it pretty well."

"Can you now, well that is certainly interesting. What's up Captain Redfield, and miss…?"

"Redfield, Claire Redfield, nice to meet you Mister V."

He chuckled again after shaking Piers' hand, who was still wrapped up inside one of Chris' arms. "Two Redfields and one Nivans eh guys? Well, that must be one hard fight, so which Redfield keeps the other Redfield and Nivans in check?"

Claire flicked her hair. "That would be me obviously; Chris couldn't keep Piers in check if he had a to-do list."

Chris rolled his eyes at Claire. "Always with the sibling rivalry huh Claire?"

"Only when it's just so easy Chris, you ever going to let Piers out of your little bear hug?"

Chris laughed. "Yeah, as soon as he calls me a cuddly bear."

Piers poked Chris in the ribs and just got a laugh. "Not in front of everyone else Chris."

Chris' eyes lit up with a spark of challenge. "So does this mean you're still going to call me one?"

Piers winked. "Well, maybe later. On a more present note, V I had some questions if you wouldn't mind answering them?"

V smiled slightly and shrugged. "Whatcha want to know Piers?"

Piers tapped a finger to his chin in thought for a moment. "Well, when we saw you in the comms room you had a cast on, what happened to it?"

Chris nodded as well while Claire stood by and watched since she did not know too much about this. "Well… where to start… mind if I hop on the hood of your truck there for a moment?"

Chris nodded and V hopped up on the hood, pulling the sleeve of the arm that had been casted up a bit. "So, I guess I can kind of start with this. So you know how people have those prosthetic arms and legs and such? Well… mine is kind of a mix between that and a regular arm I guess. I can use it, I can feel it, but it's not completely fake and it's not completely normal if you kind of understand what I am saying."

Piers and Chris nodded in understanding, Claire as well. "Is that the same with your eye then?"

V looked towards the medical barracks for a moment, shaking his head. "Nah. The eye is completely fake, even though I am able to see through it. When you see as much crazy shit as I've seen, and you are pretty damn techy, you learn to make some pretty weird stuff."

Piers raised an eyebrow and broke away from Chris for a moment and opened the truck. He went into the back and started rummaging around while the other three looked at him curiously. He came out after a few moments holding his old goggles in his hands.

"Hey here you good V! Thanks for these man they were awesome!"

V smiled and took the goggles. "No problem Piers, glad they helped you out as well as they did."

"So am I, so, sorry to ask but… what happened to the guy who went by us earlier?"

V sighed. "The Lieutenant? Kid tried to do some dumb heroic stuff, all this stuff about all of the Captains we have now and such being the future because we've seen the beginning and the end of almost every virus. Then he took a bullet for me and I almost kicked his ass myself. He'll be fine, but damn if he didn't scare the shit out of me doing that. The Veterans of the B.S.A.A. ma have seen more than the younger troops, but we need to train them, because they are the ones who will take us into the future." V slid off the hood of the truck and pointed at his arm. "Things built by man never last forever, and it is only a matter of time until I can't build something to help when it's needed. Things that have stood the test of time, through good and bad, no matter what could happen or how far down it went; those are the things that last."

Claire stood by, taking in every word that was said. Piers looked up at Chris and Chris looked down at him. Piers buried his head in Chris' shoulder and Chris rested his chin on the top of Piers' head. Piers mumbled something into Chris' shoulder and pulled his head out with a smile on his face.

V and Claire chuckled nearby just watching the sweet scene before them. "So Piers, you said you could move your arm for the most part? Let me see it."

Piers obliged and held his arm out for V to inspect.

"Hmm… that's real good, I mean yeah obviously it is smaller no surprise there, sorry I'm stating the obvious, but the fact you can move it is really good. You won't be fully cured from the virus but maybe… have you tried using some of the bio-electricity on it to see if anything happens?"

"No, not really, I never really thought to actually try to do something with this arm in case I couldn't control it."

V looked at Chris. "You guys got one of those battery containers I gave you in your truck there?"

Chris walked over and opened the back door to the truck and started looking around. "I think so… yeah here's one."

"Alright sweet, bring it on over here Chris."

Claire decided to pop in and ask her first question. "So, what exactly is all this stuff for?"

"Well, I made Piers some goggles and some stuff for his A.M.R. and they were actually using bio-electricity, which with its unique properties is just really freaking amazing. You can use it to power stuff like ten times longer than normal electricity, or, in Piers' case, you can use it to enhance some stuff and use it as a sort of speed up for repairing or healing something much better than medicine can."

"Damn, I wish TerraSave had someone like you to help them out."

V's eye lit up with a little spark. "Just because I'm with the B.S.A.A. doesn't mean I can't help someone else now Miss. Redfield. Just work it out with the higher ups and I can always help you with something you need. Ok so Piers, just try to see if you can actually… draw the electricity out of this and into your arm."

Piers raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. He set his arm on top of the storage case. Everyone heard a crackle, Piers felt a buzz of energy, and his arm took a slightly blueish glow. In a few moments the heard a slight cracking sound and as they watched, breaks started appearing on Piers' mutated arm. Nobody said anything but watched with mouths hanging open as it eventually broke into pieces and fell off.

"P-P-Piers… can you… can you move your arm?"

Piers looked up at Chris and flexed his arm. "Definitely…"

Everyone broke into a huge grin as Chris brought Piers into probably the thousandth bear hug for the night. "Holy shit that's amazing Piers!"

Claire and V just kept standing by in a muted silence as Chris picked up Piers and swung him around in a circle. "Ha ha, ok, ok, put me down you bear!"

Chris set Piers down and walked over to V, clapping him on the shoulder. "I really don't know how to thank you, honestly, you did so much for Piers and me both and you probably don't even realize it."

V smiled, happily, and Chris thought he saw some kind of regret laced in there somewhere. "Yeah… glad I could help you guys out."

Claire walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "Hey don't feel down, I'm sure whatever happened it happened because they thought you needed to keep going. I'm glad you could help out Chris and Piers, you can be an honorary member of the Nivanfield fan group just like me!"

Piers and Chris stared at Claire for a moment. "The… the what group now Claire?"

Claire rolled her eyes at Chris. "The Nivanfield fan group… think of it as like your own little group of admirers."

V chuckled and started to move past Chris. "Good luck to you three, hope we might meet again someday."

They all waved goodbye to V as he walked towards the medical barracks, seeing the sun setting in front of him. "So what are we going to do now Chris?"

Chris looked from Claire to Piers. "I don't know, what are we going to do now?"

Piers smiled. "I don't know, I just want to spend some time with my cuddly bear and hopefully have it be normal for once."

Chris' mouth widened in surprise and Claire giggled. "Yes, I got you to call me a cuddly bear!"

Piers laughed. "Yeah, yeah, don't get too excited now Chris you might have a heart attack."

Claire giggled again, hopping into the driver's seat of the truck while doing so. "Oh come on now give him some credit Piers, if he's gone this long with someone like you I'm sure he can take it. Hurry up and hop in though let's go home!"

Chris smiled and kissed Piers on the forehead before hopping in as well. "Yeah, let's go home Piers."