Newcomer
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Jill Valentine placed her old R.P.D uniform into her locker and affectionately touched the material of her old suit, recalling the many days she had worn it. She was so proud of herself when she was given her R.P.D badge a couple of months ago. Now, she was standing in front of a full sized mirror, wearing a new attire that hugged her curvy and svelte figure. The S.T.A.R.S. logo imbedded on her beret reconfirmed that she had successfully passed her S.T.A.R.S. exam and would now be part of a new division within the police department. Turning back to her locker, she touched the smooth material of her police miniskirt once more just to remember its texture before shutting the door tightly. It was a sexy outfit, but it gave her a headache at the same time. She received too much unwanted attention whenever she was in the police station or on duty. She was glad that her new S.T.A.R.S. uniform consisted of pants instead.
"I hope the guys in the S.T.A.R.S. division are also a lot mature than my old colleagues…" she muttered under her breath as she grabbed her belongings and walked out of the changing room. Her new office was going to be on the floor above her old one, and she suddenly remembered that she still had a couple of boxes she needed to move from her old office to her new one. She checked her watch and realized that she was going to be late if she decided to make the little detour. "I'll just get it later. Don't want to be late on my first day…"
Jill raced down the hall with quick footsteps that matched the hastened beating of her heart. Standing before her new office door, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to calm herself. Grabbing the doorknob, she turned it swiftly and walked into her new office gracefully. As soon as she entered, streamers and loud honks filled the air followed by a round of applause.
"What's all this?" the confused woman asked, startled at all the commotion in the room. She was so surprised that she had to check the door again to make sure she had entered the right room.
"Haha, don't worry hun! You're in the right place!" A man in the corner waved and held up a small round cake. "We just wanted to throw you a small surprise party."
Jill closed the door behind her and walked into her office with a wide grin. She saw many smiles around her and immediately relaxed at her new colleagues' friendly expressions. She was truly touched that her new comrades had gone out of their way to put together a small party for her. "You guys…" she started, unable to find the words that expressed how happy and excited she was. Finally, after a few long moments, she settled with a "Thank you so much!"
The man holding the cake brought the pastry to her desk. "Nice to meet you. I'm Joseph Frost." He extended a hand, and Jill gratefully shook it.
"Valentine, Jill Valentine," she said warmly. "Thank you for all your efforts." She nodded courteously to the group of men surrounding her. Luckily, her experience as a police officer prior to S.T.A.R.S had made her accustomed to being around men, a lot of men, all the time.
Someone in the crowd shouted, "Damn, I didn't know our new recruit was going to look so hot!"
"Ugh, please don't mind Brad Vickers. He can be very annoying sometimes," Joseph laughed. He glared at Brad and shot him a reprimanding look. "You wouldn't want a cut in your pay now, would you?"
"Oh please, like you have the authority to do that!" Brad retorted.
"No, but I do!" A loud jolly voice boomed from the crowd as a middle aged man emerged. He was slightly shorter than the rest of the crew and had a thick mustache that made Jill laugh. "Ah, nice to meet you, Jill. My name is Barry." He shook her hand quickly before turning to the rest of the crowd. "Here, let me introduce you to everyone. We have Richard, Enrico, Edward, Kevin, Forest, and Kenneth." Barry finished pointing to everyone in the group and placed a thoughtful hand on his chin. "It seems like we're missing someone…"
"Chris Redfield. He's late again. Maybe he's trying to make himself look extra nice for the new girl!" Brad quipped.
Everyone burst into a fit of laughter, which made Jill feel extremely embarrassed and awkward under the spotlight of attention.
"Haha, okay guys, cut it out! We don't want to make our newcomer feel out of place here now, do we?" Barry waved his hands, signaling everyone to calm down. "Sorry, us guys here can be sort of rowdy sometimes," he whispered into the young woman's ear.
"Oh, it's all right," Jill reassured with a pleasant laugh. "You should see the regular cops. They're actually a lot worse!"
"Oh, we're too cool to hang out with them so we wouldn't know," Forest replied humorously before turning his attention to the cake. "You know, we should have some of that ice cream cake before it starts melting!" He made a quick beeline toward the cake and picked up the knife, preparing to cut the cake into individual pieces.
"Yeah, I'm with you man! I didn't even get a chance to have breakfast yet," Enrico spoke with a light but noticeable Italian accent.
Jill smiled as she watched all the men move toward her cake. Shaking her head, she noted to herself that men will be men, and there was nothing better than free food except for women and whatever goes on in an M rated bedroom.
"Jill, you want some? You better hurry before this hungry pack of wolves eat everything!" Barry shouted through the loud munching and burping from his colleagues. Sometimes, they really did embarrass him by showing men's most hideous nature to a lovely female.
"Oh, no! I'm okay. You guys take your time!" she giggled as she watched the crowd disperse from her desk once there was only a small piece of cake left, presumably for her.
"All right! Enough horsing around! It's time to get back to work!" Barry commanded and ushered everyone to his respective areas. "Jill, if you need any help or have any questions, feel free to ask me or any of the guys here. We'll be more than happy to help you out."
"Thank you, Barry." Jill confirmed with a small nod. She kicked a few streamers out of her way as she made her way to her desk. She transferred the cake from the platter to a small paper plate and left it at the corner of her desk before throwing away the trash and empty soda cans by her computer. Just as she was about to give the piece of cake to one of her hungry colleagues, she suddenly remembered that Barry mentioned one of the members was late. Jill decided to save the pastry for the latecomer and hoped he was going to make it to the office soon, or else the there would be no more cake left. Just as she seated herself in her soft chair and turned on her computer, she recalled that her work files were still in her old office.
Barry wouldn't mind if I went to go get it…
Standing up, she made sure to check the other boxes beside her quickly just to make sure none of her work files were in there. When she couldn't find them, she left her desk and walked toward the door. Just as she was about to reach for the knob, the door opened and someone on the other side hastily rushed in, knocking her down in the process by his heavy force.
"Jill, you all right!?" Barry called as he heard the commotion near the door.
Jill groaned and rubbed her head. Something heavy had collided with her head and she shook it to relieve some of the light pain pounding by her temple. "Yeah, I'm okay…" She looked up at the person who had knocked her down but couldn't see his face. A large box held up by a pair of well-toned arms was shrouding the man's upper body.
The man immediately dropped the box he was holding and kneeled on the ground on one leg. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you all right!?" he asked with concern weaved through his soothing voice.
"I…" She glanced at the box on the floor and then turned her gaze toward the man in front of her. His brown eyes were wide with worry as he reached a hand out and touched her shoulder, gently shaking it to get a response from her. Jill remained fixed in her sitting position for the next few moments as she looked intently at the person before her. He was a very handsome young man with a chiseled face and dark hair that was neatly combed in place with the exception of one loose strand that rested peacefully against his forehead. Jill couldn't help but notice that he a had lean, but strong built as well when her eyes traveled past his face and reached his vest. The familiar S.T.A.R.S. logo was proudly rooted into his top.
His dark brows knitted in great alert as he shook her again. "Miss!?"
"I'm okay…thanks…" Jill finally found her ability to speak again and the man responded with a soft sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry about that. I didn't see you when I was coming in," he apologetically replied.
"Redfield! Where have you been?" Barry demanded loud enough to everyone in the room could hear his frustration with lateness. "You're twenty minutes late!"
"Yeah, we all thought you went to look sharp for the new female recruit!" Brad yelled from his desk and made an outline of a heart with his fingers.
Everyone, including Barry burst into another round of laughter as they watched Jill blush and the man next to her shift his eyes uncomfortably. Jill could have sworn she had seen the poor embarrassed man wince from Brad's teasing, and found it to be rather…cute.
"I was just picking up the box the new recruit left in her office downstairs." He defensively pointed to the box and opened the flaps to pull out the files as proof of his lateness.
"Oh, I see. Doing some ass kissing already, eh?" Brad sneered and went back to his work, lightly joking with his partner next to him.
Barry smiled before returning to his desk as well. "Well, you can personally hand the box to the new recruit then since you went through the trouble of getting her stuff for her. She's right in front of you!"
"Oh! So, you're Jill Valentine?" the man asked in surprise. His eyes couldn't help but look her up and down quickly before he grabbed the box beside him in embarrassment. "Um…here are your items. I went downstairs to grab it for you because I noticed you left it here last night when I was downstairs." He had never seen her before, but he knew that a woman named Jill Valentine was going to be joining S.T.A.R.S. It couldn't have been a coincidence that the plaque on the desk in the office below had the same name. He was a bit shocked to see that she was so attractive. Most of the females in the police station with the exception of a rare few were rather not a pleasant sight for sore eyes.
"Yo man! Are you gonna give her back her items or are you just gonna keep gawking at her!" Brad quipped again from his desk when he noticed that his friend had not moved from his squatting position.
Jill could hear light snickers from the rest of the men in the room and immediately tried to push herself up from the floor.
"Here, let me help you," the man quickly said as he tried his hardest to keep his blush from becoming apparent. Standing up, he extended a hand and pulled her to a standing. "Oh, you dropped this." He smiled sheepishly and picked up her beret. He carefully placed it back on her head and admired her beauty quickly again when her head was bowed. He noticed that her pale blush accentuated her lovely cheekbones and her slender eyebrows arched gracefully over her striking hazel eyes. Her body figure was enough to make him blush again so he decided it would be in his best interest to stop staring. "Nice to meet you. My name is Chris Redfield."
"Jill Valentine," she spoke softly as she hesitantly gave him her hand for a simple handshake. There really was no need to introduce herself again, but she figured she would be courteous since he was kind enough to help her bring up her belongings. She couldn't explain why her body was rather tense. The muscles in her arms tightened as Chris shook her hand firmly before picking up the box and bringing it to her desk.
"Thanks…I was going to go get it, but you saved me the trip."
Chris looked around the room and could see his friends throwing him random winks. He ignored them and silently prayed that they would just go back to their work and stop giving him a hard time, even though he knew they were just messing around with him. With a cheery grin, he turned back to the woman and said, "No problem. How does it feel so far to be part of S.T.A.R.S.? I guess I missed the party…" He looked around the room and found streamers and confetti all over the floor. He mentally sighed. Most likely, he was going to be the one to clean up the mess since he was usually the last one out of the office.
"Everyone is really nice here. I'm glad I get to work with all of you." She was finding it hard to look at him without feeling shy. When her eyes shifted to the last piece of cake on her desk, she took it and pierced a fork into the ice cream layers before handing it to Chris. "Oh, here. I hope you're hungry. It looks like it's going to melt soon!"
"Huh? What's this?" he asked as he took the cake. It was only after he asked her that he realized how stupid the question sounded. "Uh…I mean…"
Jill dismissed his silly question with a wave of her hand, understanding completely what he had meant to say. "The guys threw me a party here. Barry mentioned that you were late so I decided to save a piece for you."
Chris's mouth was slightly wide with surprise as he accepted the cake courteously with a small nod of gratitude. "Oh, thanks a lot! You didn't need to do that."
Jill laughed as she saw his eyes lit up the way an innocent child's eyes would sparkle at the sight of mass desserts and no veggies. "Don't worry about it. Just enjoy it."
Barry coughed loudly, clearly tipping off to Chris that he needed to get to work.
"Um, I guess I'll talk to you later. I have to finish these files for Barry or else I'm not getting out of here tonight." Chris smiled warmly and took the cake with him to his desk. "If you need anything, I'll be right here." He pointed to his desk, which to Jill's astonishment was right across from hers.
"Yeah…talk to you later," Jill whispered softly to herself as her hands dug into the cardboard box for her work files. She caught Chris's smile once more before she sank into her seat and turned on her computer. Everyone here is pretty friendly, especially Chris.
Chris turned on his computer as well and tried to focus on his work. Every now and then, he couldn't help but inch past the side of his computer screen to catch a glimpse of the newcomer. Valentine…
---
"Are you going home now?" Chris found himself interested in where his new colleague was heading. He had been thinking about her nearly the entire day, and her presence had greatly detracted him from his work. Everyone in the office had already left except for Jill and Barry, and it looked as if the young woman was about to go home as well.
Jill turned off her computer and filed her papers neatly into a folder. "Oh, I don't know yet. I was just going to get changed and decide. What about you?"
"I think I'm gonna be here a bit longer. I'm usually the last one out of here anyway."
Jill pointed to his stack of paperwork. "Still have a lot of work to finish?" She crossed her arms and casually leaned her hip against his desk, watching Chris type on his keyboard.
From the corner of his eyes, Chris stole a quick glimpse of Jill's curvy hips and found himself backspacing many of his spelling errors on the screen. "Hm…sort of," he stated flatly as he tried to focus on his work again.
"Heh, okay. I'll leave you alone then. See you in a bit. I'm gonna get changed and come back here to grab my stuff." She pushed away from his desk and headed toward the door. She waved to Barry on her way out and jogged down the hallway to the locker room.
When the door closed, Barry walked up to Chris and patted him in a friendly gesture on the shoulder. "Redfield, you know you could have done a lot more work if your eyes were on your computer screen and not on the woman across from you. Do I need to change your seat?" Barry laughed full heartedly at his own comment and slapped a hard hand against Chris's back.
"I-…" Chris started, but he knew he couldn't deny Barry's words. He had to admit that he had been watching Jill a lot and noticed the smallest and most trivial things she had done such as drumming her fingers on the desk while she waited for her papers to print and curling the ends of her short brown hair when she wrote small notes to herself. "I was just making sure she got everything under control. It is her first day here, you know." Chris ignored his friend's playful jokes and continued typing.
Barry cleared his throat and gripped Chris's shoulder tightly before retrieving Jill's work for the day. "Yes, I know that very well and I can see that you're going out of your way to help her."
"Is there something wrong with helping a newcomer?" Chris challenged, his eyes still glued fervently to the screen.
"What would Wesker say?" The lighthearted atmosphere suddenly became tense when Barry brought up that name.
Chris could hear his partner sigh as he walked back to his desk to drop off some papers on his desk and retrieve his jacket. As Barry zippered up his fleece, he reminded Chris in a stern tone, " You know Wesker has not been himself these days. He's not the old Wesker we used to know. I'm sure he would give you a hard time if he found you slacking off."
"I know…you don't have to remind me, Barry." Chris was fully aware of the fact that the leader of S.T.A.R.S. had changed drastically. He was always in a sour mood and would not tolerate even the smallest mistake made by his subordinates. "We used to get along quite well, and now he just gives me the cold shoulder. What the hell happened to him?"
"Beats me…but I'm warning you, Chris. Stay out of his way and you better not slack off because of this new girl." Barry sighed. What he really needed right now was a warm bath and a good filling dinner with his loving family. "Don't forget to clean up the party mess before you leave."
"I got it I got it. See you tomorrow, partner," Chris said without turning around. Once he heard the door close behind him, he looked around the room and groaned. It looked like he was going to be trapped in the office for awhile to finish his work and then clean up the mess left by his careless friends.
His hands froze on the keyboard when he heard the door open behind him. The sound of heels clanking against the floor made him turn around to satisfy his curiosity of finding out who was behind him. "Jill!" he exclaimed when she walked past him with a brief smile.
"You look surprised. Forgot that I was coming back?"
"N-no…" Chris swallowed hard as he watched her pick up her handbag to find her phone. As she checked her phone for missed calls and messages, he couldn't help but shamelessly fix his eyes on her new outfit. She was wearing a short black miniskirt that exposed her long lean legs. A blue tube top that hugged her chest and waist tightly and accentuated her womanly curves replaced her uniform top. Chris wondered why he had never noticed her in the police station before. He watched as she tucked behind a few loose strands of her short brown hair behind her ears before closing her phone. Even a simple gesture like that mesmerized him.
"Still not done with your work yet?" she asked as she threw her phone into her bag before zippering it.
Chris immediately darted his eyes back to the screen and tried to control the excitement that was starting to bloom beneath his waist. "Uh…umm…no, I'm almost done. But, I have to clean up the mess here afterwards. It's Barry's policy that the last person out of here has to tidy up the office."
"Oh, let me help you then!" Jill offered, feeling bad that he had to clean up the mess from the party that was thrown for her. She didn't want to admit it, but she was hoping to buy more time in the office with her new friend. When she was working earlier, she found Chris crossing her mind quite a number of times. He seemed very friendly, and she wanted to get to know him more.
"Ah, that' okay. You probably have somewhere to go anyway. I can take care of everything here. You go on ahead."
"No," Jill replied firmly, which surprised herself and Chris. "I insist. Please, let me help you. The party was for me anyway and you look as if you're ready to pass out from your work."
"But you look like you're dressed to go out for the night," Chris argued playfully. "I mean, I would feel bad if you have to keep your boyfriend waiting because you're cleaning up here." A moment of silence followed after his last statement, and he immediately felt the urge to revise his words. "Guys don't like it when they have to wait for food when they're hungry."
Jill laughed at his apparent poor save. She shook her head and dropped her purse on her desk and went into the corner to retrieve a dustpan and a broomstick. "Well, we don't have to worry about that now because I don't have a boyfriend," she stated simply as she began sweeping up the colorful confetti and crumbs from the massive load of junk food.
"Oh…I see." Chris pretended that something on the screen was of particular interest to him. Inwardly, he felt a great wave of relief wash over him hearing that she didn't have a boyfriend. Stop getting ideas! He chided himself for not considering Barry's warnings again. A low rumble emerged from his stomach and he had to suck his abdomen in to suppress the noise that stated he was hungry.
"Looks like someone could use some food here." Jill looked up from sweeping and grinned when she heard Chris's stomach growl again.
"Yeah, I didn't exactly have a filling lunch." Suddenly, a daring thought crossed his mind. It would again break Barry's warnings, but he wanted to get to know the newcomer more. Unsure of whether or not he should ask Jill if she wanted to have dinner with him, he decided to remain quiet and pretended he still had more sentences to type. His mind was giving him a difficult time on concentrating at the task at hand and it was soon going to be very obvious that he was just fumbling around on his computer.
"Me neither. I was actually going to explore around and find a nice place to eat at, but I have no idea which restaurants are good. I don't eat out too often." She threw the last batch of trash into the garbage bin. The sight of small food crumbs only reminded her that her stomach needed to be filled soon.
"Hey! I know this great diner called Emmy's!" Chris couldn't contain his enthusiasm as he stood up from his chair, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
Jill was a bit taken back by his exhilaration. "You seem so excited just talking about it. It must be good."
"Yeah, they have the best burger and fries there. I was thinking about heading there after work." He paused for a moment and drew in a deep breath. He walked toward Barry's desk and neatly placed his work on his desk. With his back turned to her, he slowly asked, "Maybe you would like to join me tonight?" He waited nervously for her response as the seconds slowly ticked away.
"For dinner?" Jill replied hesitantly. It had been a long time since a guy had asked her out to dinner. But, maybe she was thinking too much into it. It could just be that Chris wanted to get to know the person he would be working with a bit more.
"Yeah. I figure since we'll be working together a lot, I'd get to know you more," he said casually and waited anxiously for her response. "If you don't want to, it's cool," he added just to make sure she wouldn't feel forced into having dinner with him.
"You know, that's not a bad idea. I'll take your invitation."
"Really?" He turned to face her just to make sure she was absolutely fine with the idea.
"Sure, why not? It's lonely eating alone anyway." She rubbed her hands together to get rid of the dust staining her palms before putting the dustpan and broom back into the storage closet in the corner of the office.
"You live alone?" Chris asked curiously as he waited by door, preparing to turn off the lights once Jill was ready.
Jill nodded. "I have a few friends here and there, but I don't really keep in close contact with them. What about you?" She picked up her handbag and slung it across her shoulder.
Chris opened the door and allowed her to walk out first before turning off the lights in the office and locking the door on his way out. "Well, I just live with my sister, Claire at the moment. Surprisingly, we don't really fight anymore," he chuckled at the thought of his childhood. He had tormented his baby sister so much when they were kids, but deep down he loved and cared for her very much and would do anything to protect her and make her happy.
"Aw, that's cute. You two around the same age?" It made Jill wonder for a moment what it felt like to have a sibling for she was an only child.
"Nah, she's six years younger than me and I always refer to her as a 'baby.' She really hates it when I call her that, but I can't help it."
Chris and Jill laughed contently as they made their way down the stairs of the police station.
"Thanks for helping me clean up the mess, even though that was supposed to be my job." Chris opened another door and politely allowed the woman to pass first.
"It's no big deal. Like you said, the last one out of the office holds the responsibility of cleaning up the room. And…looks look like I was one of the last ones out today."
"Well, technically I was because I have to be a gentlemen and allow ladies to go first," Chris laughed, his cheerful voice echoing down the empty halls.
Jill punched his arm lightly in a playful manner. "You know what I mean!" She was about to join in the laughter with Chris when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. She gasped in surprise when she heard a deep voice speak.
"Good evening, Redfield….Valentine."
"W-Wesker!" Jill exclaimed as she quickly saluted her superior as a sign of respect. She looked at Chris and was shocked to find that he simply stood firmly in his place without a hint of acknowledging Wesker as his leader.
Chris could feel Wesker's eyes piercing vehemently into him behind his black shades. However, he simply gave a small nod in hopes of alleviating some of the mysterious anger Wesker had towards him. Chris had been putting up with Wesker's harsh attitudes for quite some time now, and his own anger was starting to elevate.
Wesker ignored Chris's forced gesture and turn to Jill. "How's your first day as a S.T.A.R.S member?" he asked coldly, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Good…" Jill answered slowly with her head slightly bowed, pretending that she had not heard the mockery in his tone. Wesker appeared to have a different aura around him. Just a few weeks ago, he had personally trained her so she would pass her S.T.A.R.S. exam because he saw potential in her that far surpassed being a regular cop, and thought she would be capable of handling a greater responsibility. She let out a sharp breath when he suddenly placed a firm finger beneath her chin and tilted her face upward so he could have a better look at her face.
"You know, when talking to your leader…you should look up to him," he snickered before breaking into a chain of light chuckles. "My dear…you have much to learn, but I have faith in you."
Chris immediately felt a surge of anger riling within him when Wesker laid a finger on Jill, eyeing and controlling her as if she was some toy he could mess with. It took nearly all his will power to stop his instinctive punch from colliding with Wesker's jaw.
The leader could sense Chris's anger and decided to take his actions further. He released his finger from her chin and placed a hand on her shoulder with his eyes cast downward at Jill's bosom. "Well well, looks like someone is in good shape from all the training. Keep up the good work." He pulled his hand back and chuckled cynically before walking past a confused Jill and a livid Chris.
Wesker turned at a corner and entered one of the rooms. The sound of the door closing behind him reverberated through the bare hallway, breaking the tense silence that hung heavily in the air.
"That bastard!" Chris gritted through clenched teeth. "He had no right to touch you like that, Jill." He looked at the woman next to her and found her looking dazed at the door Wesker had just stepped through.
Jill touched her shoulder where his hand had just been and closed her eyes, trying to make sense of what had just occurred. That was not the same man she had worked with just a few weeks ago.
"Hey, you all right?" Chris asked softly and placed a hand on her back.
"I'm fine, Chris." Jill's eyes opened and she snapped out of her musings. Her heart felt light at his concern. She was practically a stranger to him, but he treated her as if she were someone he had known for a long time. "Thanks…"
Chris cast one last look at the door before leading Jill out of the station. Assuming that she was fine, he pulled back his hand and asked, "Thank me for what?" He was a bit dumbfounded by what she meant.
"For having my back. It really seemed like you were going to punch Wesker for what he had done."
Chris shook his head, dismissing the need for Jill to be so formal to show her gratitude. "Well, like I said, he had no right to touch you like that. Besides, you're going to be my partner from now on. We're supposed to have each other's back, right?"
Jill playfully nudged his shoulder and smiled, almost forgetting about her awkward encounter with Wesker. "Yeah, you're right about that. But…"
"Hmm?" Chris opened the front doors and walked out of the station with Jill following right behind him. It was already rather dark outside even though it was only a bit past six. He was grateful that at least it wasn't too chilly. Coldness was never a problem for him, but he was worried about the woman next to him clad in a miniskirt and a tube top. He didn't mind her revealing attire at all, but he didn't want her catching a cold at the same time.
"I'm glad that you didn't do anything to him," Jill spoke firmly. "Who knows what he could have done to you? He would have probably suspended you, or worse…kicked you off the team."
"Doubt it," Chris replied with sheer confidence. "If he wanted me gone, he would have booted me a long time ago. I don't know what he's trying to do." He slowed down enough for Jill to be walking right beside him. It was refreshing to take a stroll with someone else other than his sister.
"I hope I'm not causing you any trouble, Redfield." Jill had to glance up to read his expression. He was nearly a head taller than her even with her heels on. She was relieved to see him laugh at her statement.
"You worry too much, Jill. It's not a problem, I promise." He looked down at her and smiled while squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. "Let's just forget about what happened back there and enjoy the evening." He was already starting to feel comfortable around this woman even though he had been shy around her for almost the entire day at work. She's modest and down to earth. Easy person to talk to as well.
"I can't believe it's so dark already," Jill observed as she walked down the quiet street, passing by a couple of small grocery stores she often visited for fresh food. She had expected more people to be out during this time, but apparently the denizens of Raccoon City had other plans.
"Don't worry. I'll walk you home after dinner if you're scared," Chris teased.
Jill placed a hand on her hip and waved a reprimanding finger in his face. "I think I'm more than capable of walking myself home, Redfield! Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not your typical damsel in distress." She put on a tough exterior, but her heartbeats quickened at his offer. It was incredibly playful, but sweet at the same time. The sweetest part was that she knew he was serious about his offer. Jill gave him a sly smile and walked ahead of him. He had to get the message that she was quite independent, always had and always will be.
Chris couldn't help but watch her hips sway as she seductively took the lead. "Yes…Ma'am…" was all he could mutter as he followed her even though she had no idea where the restaurant was located.
---
Jill took another sip of her iced tea and dunked a fry into her bowl of ketchup before devouring it. "So this is the famous Emmy's…"
"Not bad, huh?" Chris took another bite out of his burger and wiped his mouth before speaking. "The guys and I head down here a lot whenever we're in the mood to get something to eat."
"I can see why. The food here is delicious." Jill had never been a fan of fast food; she had always preferred to eat healthy to stay fit, and Emmy's was going to be the death of her with their sodium and grease laden dishes.
Chris admired the way she would carefully wipe the corner of her full plump lips in a delicate manner. It was so much better to dine with her than his colleagues, who were nothing but pigs when it came to food. Even his sister, Claire could be quite messy, often forgetting her table manners at times due to her tomboy nature. "We can come down here more often if you like. It's nice to finally be here with someone else besides the guys and my sister."
Jill tried to compose herself from showing too much excitement from his suggestion. Chris was the first man to make her feel lighthearted and even slightly giddy in a long time. Just slightly. "That would be nice, but I really should order a salad next time or else I'm going to have to work extra hard at the gym to burn off all the calories."
"Hey, you look like you're in great shape to me!" Chris glanced at his super-sized burger that was nearly finished and felt slightly guilty. "Heh, maybe I should start ordering salads too."
"With all those muscles, I'm sure you can burn that burger a lot faster than me." Jill pointed to his toned biceps that were tightly confined within the sleeves of his shirt beneath his S.T.A.R.S. vest. She wiped the greasy residue from her mouth again and smiled behind her napkin when she saw Chris's face tinting red. "Sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spotlight here. Just happened to notice them," Jill said in an effort to relax him.
"I notice…" He took a tiny glance at her alluring chest before realizing what he was doing, and immediately looked down at this plate. "Um…"
Jill, who had been closely watching him, obviously caught his slip. "Perv!" she cried and laughed aloud at the same time, surprised that she wasn't the slightest angry at his stare. Usually, she would throw a menacing glance at anyone who gawked at her the wrong way, but she was a lot more forgiving towards Chris.
"I-I'm sorry! I couldn't help it! They're right there…" Chris admitted truthfully and cast his eyes in another direction, feeling shameful that he had been caught, but even more shameful that he had been staring at her chest again. "You're not going to report me for harassment now, are you?" The question came out as a joke, but he was curious to know at the same time if it bothered her. He had tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, but Jill was just too keen.
"Nah, don't worry about it. All the men at my old office used to do that, and they even made it obvious!" Jill shook her head, her silky thin hair swayed side to side as she tried to push the embarrassing thoughts back into the recess of her mind.
"I'll keep that in mind then," Chris said, his face still slightly red from the previous incident. "You done?" he asked quickly to change the topic.
Jill nodded and smoothed all her trash to the edge of the table to make the waiter's job easier. "Yeah, just let me know how much I owe you."
Chris waved to the waiter to call for the check and dug his hand into his vest pocket. "Don't worry, it's on me."
"No it's-"
"Don't worry about," Chris repeated again. "Just think of it as me making up for missing out on your party earlier."
The waiter came by and placed the bill on the table before retrieving the empty plates. Jill was about to grab the check, but Chris was quicker.
"You didn't miss out on anything," Jill laughed as she stubbornly pulled out her wallet. "Please, let me get this since you were nice enough to invite me here."
"It's fine," Chris muttered as he frowned when he patted all his pockets. He double-checked his vest pockets and pants pocket but couldn't find his wallet. "Shit."
Jill grabbed the check from his fingertips when he was distracted from locating his wallet. Pulling out two fresh bills, she placed the check and the money in the checkbook and handed it to the waiter when he walked by again. "Please, keep the change as tip."
"I must have left my wallet in the office," Chris groaned as he helplessly watched Jill take care of the mess. "I'll pay you back tomorrow, I promise."
Jill shook her head and grabbed her handbag, preparing to leave the restaurant. She gave the waiter a smile after he mouthed, "Thank you" from the counter. "No need, Redfield."
"I will," Chris replied firmly, feeling uneasy for having a woman pay for his meal. The only two exceptions to his rule were Claire and his mom. "But, thanks for covering me for tonight."
"Hey we're partners now, right? We're supposed to have each other's back." The woman winked, reminding him of his own little rule of thumb.
"I guess I can't argue with you," Chris sighed in exasperation as he held the door for her on her way out.
The night was even darker than before and the wind was starting to pick up as well. The duo could hear low rustlings from the leaves being swept from the concrete ground and the thin branches wilting sideways from the trees with each passing gust. Jill rubbed her arms up and down slowly as she walked down the dimly lit street with a quiet Chris behind her until they reached a traffic sign.
"I guess I should head home now. Gotta wake up early for tomorrow," Jill said, preparing to depart in her own direction.
"Hey, you know I was serious about that offer before of taking you home," Chris said softly as he watched her pursed lips curve into a small shy smile.
She gently touched his forearm and became slightly mesmerized by the iridescent specks from his eyes, a result of standing beneath the lamppost. "You sure you're not going to get home too late?"
"Hey, it's not like I have a curfew." He unbuttoned the vest and slipped it on to Jill's body when he found her slightly shivering from the cold.
"Chris…" she whispered softly, touched at his caring gesture.
"Take it, you need it more than I do. Besides, I can't see your chest now," he joked, receiving a playful punch on the arm from the flushed woman before him. "Heh, I guess it's your turn to blush now."
"Oh, shut up!" Jill turned around from the lamppost and walked slightly faster than her usual speed after the traffic lights turned. She could hear Chris snickering behind her as he jogged to catch up with her pace. Satisfied that the next block had no lampposts, she turned to face her partner with a sincere smile. "I guess I take it you're going to walk me home, huh?"
"I guess so," he breathed, and the two shared a mutual grin as they continued down the dark path. He tried to imagine Jill making arrests, and that thought made him inwardly laugh. Truthfully, he had to admit that he would be very surprised to see her take down full-grown man like himself given her small and delicate stature. But, he knew she was certainly capable of doing that and a lot more if she made it to S.T.A.R.S.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked when a few brief moments of silence passed.
"Just picturing you taking down guys."
"Oh?" Jill raised a questioning brow. "You don't think I can do that?" she dared.
Chris shook his head quickly. "No, it's not that. Don't get the wrong idea by misinterpreting what I'm trying to say. It's just that…I guess I can't wait to see you in action." Chris bit his lip hard, unsure of what he had just said could have given off a double meaning.
"Oh I certainly can," Jill assured confidently with a smirk that led Chris to wonder if she was referring to her work or something else that had a dirty innuendo. "But, I'm actually an expert at unlocking," she continued. "What about you? What's your specialty?"
"Firearms. I used to be in the Air Force so I'm a pretty good pilot as well," he stated proudly.
"That's impressive, Redfield. All that at such a young age."
"Oh, speaking of young age…did you know we're supposed to be getting another recruit soon?" Chris exclaimed. He knew he was risking a lot by disclosing confidential information to Jill, but he had pretty strong intuition that she was trustable. "Her name is Rebecca Chambers. Apparently, she's only eighteen and a genius!"
Jill's shocked eyes widened in surprise. "Eighteen…is she even out of school?"
Chris nodded. "Yes, apparently she graduated a couple of months ago and will be recruited into the Bravo team as a medical assistant."
"Have you…met her yet?" Jill started slowly, feeling a bit nervous as she asked.
"Hmm…I've seen her a few times. She's a pretty nice girl, cute too. She's still in the process of being trained though, but Barry said Wesker is almost certain she will be recruited," Chris testified from what he could remember. "But, please don't tell anyone else. I probably shouldn't be telling you this…but I feel like I could really trust you." You're breaking regulations again, Chris!
"I won't. You have my word." Jill turned at another corner. She could almost see her house in the distance and felt slightly disappointed that her small stroll with her partner was going to end soon.
"Thank you."
"So, you're going to take her out to dinner too?" Jill suddenly felt the need to ask her new friend this question. Just as he trusted her, she wanted to trust that he was not another jerk who was just trying to get close to her because of her physical looks. She hoped that her initial impression of Chris as an honest and decent man wasn't going to be marred by his next words.
Chris paused for a moment to consider what Jill was trying to get out of her seemingly innocent question. She's probably wondering if I'm interested in Rebecca… Grinning, he couldn't let this perfect opportunity for a tease pass. "Oh, do I sense jealousy?"
"Keep dreaming," Jill blurted. There was no way she was going to let him have the final satisfaction.
Chris caught her rolling her eyes quickly and couldn't tell if she was seriously frustrated or just mocking anger. He didn't want to risk upsetting her so he decided to cut his tease short. "No, I'm not. But I'll be happy if WE could catch lunch or dinner again. I had a fun time tonight."
Jill could feel her tense muscles relax as she let out a small exhale of relief that she had not been wrong with her initial judgment of Chris. When she reached the steps of her apartment, she turned to face him and looked him straight in the eye before softly replying, "Sure…I'd like that."
"Great, oh…and it's on me next time." Chris patted his chest to emphasize that he was serious about getting the next check.
Jill couldn't help but laugh at his silly motion as she started unbuttoning the vest he was kind enough to lend her. "Thanks," she said, and returned it to its owner. "It really did help keep me warm."
Chris nodded and put his vest on again. "No problem. So this is where you live?" He looked up at her apartment building. It looked relatively new compared to the other apartments he had seen.
"Yeah, it's a cozy little place. Maybe I'll give you a tour sometime if you're interested," she added before heading up the steps. She would invite him inside right now, but she didn't want to make it seem like she was suggesting something by extending her invitation.
"That'd be nice…" Chris was about to follow, but then quickly recalled that she said she would give him a tour of her place later, not now. He retracted his foot from the step and watched her until she entered the front door.
Poking her head out, Jill waved and playfully saluted her companion. "Thanks again for tonight, Chris. I'll see you tomorrow at work."
"Have a good night," Chris called and waited until her figure disappeared from view. The door behind her shut, but he waited in his position for a few more brief moments, already missing her presence. "See you at work tomorrow…" he repeated to himself as he finally turned away from her apartment and strolled up the block he had just walked down with Jill.
Work suddenly became more interesting to him, a lot more interesting.
-Fin
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A/N: If you guys are still with me here after reading all that, I truly thank you for sticking with this story. I didn't think it was going to end up this long, but ideas just started popping into my head and I didn't think it would make sense to split this story into multiple chapters, so basically this is a really long one-shot. Just some notes I want to make:
-I tried to make this story take place take place sometime before July 1998, which is when the Mansion Incident occurs. As you guys saw, Wesker is already acting suspicious and has a particular dislike for Chris. Jill Valentine is recruited, and Rebecca will be shortly recruited after her, which gives these two time in between their recruitment and the Mansion Incident to gain experience as S.T.A.R.S members before dealing with the Mansion Incident.
-Jill Valentine was originally a regular RPD cop before joining S.T.A.R.S in this story. I'm not sure if this happens in the real Resident Evil storyline. I couldn't find information on that.
-Emmy's is the name of the diner in the intro of Resident Evil 2, the one Claire walks into before being attacked by a zombie.
-I made Chris a bit more lighthearted here since this story takes place before the outbreak in Raccoon City. It would make sense that he became broody after the Mansion Incident and the zombie outbreak.
Anything else, please let me know. It was really fun writing this and I've always wondered what Chris and Jill's relationship was like before the start of the first Resident Evil. Thanks for reading, and please leave me a review with your thoughts, comments, anything. Thanks again!