The fire crackled softly in the mansion's living room. Snow tapped at the windows, and for once, everything felt still. Safe.
Lia sat cross-legged on the rug, warming her hands near the flames. Ada leaned against the wall, arms folded, watching the fire with that distant look she wore when memories crept in.
You sat beside Lia, resting your arm across the back of the worn sofa. The quiet held for a few moments before your daughter finally broke it.
"Can I ask you something?" she said, looking between you and Ada.
Ada raised an eyebrow, cautious. "Of course."
Lia hesitated, then asked, "How did you two meet? I mean… before me. Before all the running."
Ada smiled—soft, rare, and a little sad. "It was a long time ago. And… not under normal circumstances."
You chuckled. "Definitely not. It was during the Raccoon City incident. I was embedded as a support tech in an extraction unit. She—" you nodded toward Ada "—was pretending to be someone else entirely."
"Typical," Lia said, grinning.
"She saved my life," you continued. "Twice, actually. First from a Licker, then from my own team when they found out I'd gone off mission to help civilians."
Ada looked down. "You saved mine, too. But I didn't let you know it."
"She vanished for years after that," you said. "Then one day, in Istanbul—there she was, bleeding, cornered, and still too proud to ask for help. I patched her up anyway."
Lia watched you both, amazed. "So… you weren't supposed to be together?"
Ada let out a breath. "Nothing about our lives has ever gone according to plan. We kept crossing paths. Missions. Coincidences. Near-deaths."
"But it stopped feeling like coincidence," you added, locking eyes with Ada.
Lia smiled. "And then I happened?"
Ada walked over, kneeling in front of Lia. "You weren't planned, Lia. But you're the best thing that's ever happened to us."
Lia leaned into Ada's arms, and you wrapped them both in yours. For a few rare moments, there were no enemies, no experiments, no Umbrella.
Just the three of you, together in the quiet.
Outside, the storm clouds rolled in—but inside, the fire kept burning.