Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ethan kneels beside Mia's stretcher on the chopper, for a moment just letting himself be grateful they've both made it out. Grateful that hell is over. He doesn't know anything about this BSAA or why the chopper has the name of a defunct pharmaceutical giant on its side, but he knows they pulled he and Mia out. That's all that matters.

There's a sound from behind him, and he turns to see the man who had identified himself as Redfield. "Buckle up," the solider says, tilting his head toward the line of benches and harnesses against the opposite wall. "We're headed out soon."

Reluctantly, Ethan lets go of Mia's hand, grateful she's at least drifted off and won't miss him. He finds a seat, fumbles with the harness. It's been - he doesn't know how long - and his hands are still shaking.

Redfield makes a sympathetic noise as he approaches. "Let me?"

Ethan nods, letting his hands fall away. The soldier's movements are deft and sure as they secure him in place, and Ethan feels small and stupid.

"You're doing fine, Ethan," Redfield says when he's finished. He claps a hand to Ethan's shoulder and offers him a small smile. "You survived. That’s important. That's impressive."

Ethan feels like he should say thank you, but at the same time the concept seems ridiculous. Sure he survived, but he already has no idea how he's going to live with all of this. He saw things, knows things, no one one ever should. He's going to need so much therapy, in a way that's not even remotely a joke, and he's not sure that's even possible, that he can share any of it. He wonders how people like Chris Redfield even begin to deal with being involved in this stuff all the time.

The solider watches him for a moment, and Ethan can only imagine what the other man sees on his face, but he only says, "You did good. We'll get you to our forward base, let a medic take a look at you, then get you some food and rest. We can put off debriefing for a little while; I"ll make sure of it."

"Debriefing?"

Redfield nods. He takes a place next to Ethan and straps himself in. "You and your wife know more than we do about happened here. The powers that be have a lot of questions."

Ethan hangs his head, unable to hold back a long sigh. Of course. He'll have to relive the whole thing for them. Probably more than once.

"Hey." Redfield touches his arm again. "I'm not gonna tell you it'll be easy, but you'll get through. You already did the hardest part."

Ethan looks up just enough to set eyes on Mia, her chest rising and falling slow and even. She's safe. That's why he came here; that was the reason for all of it. He already has what he wanted more than anything. "Yeah," he breathes. "Okay."