A/N: Written for the A Picture is Worth 1000 Words: A Multifandom Comment Fic Meme, hosted by igrockspock on livejournal.
Prac-Work
It's off the grid. The cabin's a run-down, a little, but it's off the grid. That's the main thing. Umbrella can't find them here (at least not straight away), if the monsters come (because Angie doesn't have any faith in Umbrella's competence, just in its pure evil) then they'll be able to see them, and when she wakes up screaming, the only grown-ups she disturbs already know all about it.
After Raccoon City was destroyed (and her daddy shot in front of her, and her entire school, her entire city Infected with monsters, and her classmates turning into things that wanted only flesh, flesh, flesh, and the dogs, and crashing in the helicopter, and-) Angie woke up screaming for a week.
After that, she only wakes up screaming sometimes, when Jill is too deeply asleep herself to wake her up. She has to sleep like that, clinging to Jill. Jill who is brave and fast and knows how to survive. So does Carlos, and L.J. in his own strange way, but it's Jill who walked into Angie's school, and killed the monsters, and who took Angie's hand and led her out.
"What you reading there, honey?" Jill asks, crouching down next to her.
"The US Army Survival Handbook," Angie says.
Jill pauses, looks at her intently. "Okay," she says after a moment. "Kinda messed up homework, but it fits." Angie gives her a little smile, and Jill smiles back. "How do you feel like some prac-work instead?"
"Like an experiment?"
"I was thinking more like practice. Show me your hand." Angie offers her right one and Jill takes it, holds it against her own. "Not narrow, that's good, but shorter than mine...Wait here."
Mostly because Jill is officially Cool, Angie doesn't point out that she's not a little girl who is going to wander away. Besides, when Jill comes back, she's got one of her guns. It's a new one, a little one that's easy to hide.
"Come on," Jill says. "It's time to teach you how to use this."
"Me? But the Infected ignore me."
"But they don't ignore the people who you are with, do they?"
"...no," Angie admits.
"Besides, a girl's gotta know how to defend yourself. Given you're still pretty short," and Angie kind of loves Jill for saying 'short' instead of 'still a little girl', "you want to make sure you drop your targets before they reach you."
"You'll still teach me how to, um."
"Kick serious butt?" Jill supplies with a little smirk.
"Yes. How to kick serious butt."
"Absolutely, Angie. But today, I'm going to teach you how to use this," and Jill holds up the gun.