Title: After So Long
A Chris and Jill fic
Disclaimer: I don't own them!
Jill Valentine stood starring at the two men for what seemed like ages. She wished she could never forget this moment, and she was trying to burn it into her memory. The older man with the red beard was laughing and putting chalk on his pool stick as the younger man, the younger handsome man that had been in her heart and on her mind since the Spencer estate watched him take his shot. There was a… a calm, a great calm between them, something she hadn't felt since childhood.
The younger man glanced up and froze. He had spotted her. He wasn't wearing his trademark grin that she was so accustomed to. He just stared at her. God, how long had it been? Unable to restrain herself any longer, she let a huge smile play over her lips as she sprinted up to him and circled her arms around his neck.
She heard the older man, Barry chuckle next to her. "Great to see you, Jill."
Jill finally removed herself from the younger man, Chris and gave Barry a hug. Hugging Barry was always like hugging a teddy bear.
"It's over…" she sighed, letting go of Barry.
Barry smiled, and put down his pool stick. "Let's go up to the bar and get a drink."
Jill followed Barry, and Chris followed behind. He still hasn't said one word to her. They found three empty stools and ordered a pitcher of beer.
"How're your daughters?" Jill asked.
"Getting big." Barry replied with a smile.
"It's finally over…" she whispered again.
Umbrella had finally been shut down after the three of them had torched their last known facility, and gotten hold of proof of their research through Carlos. The government had finally shut Umbrella down. After their last mission, they had lost contact with each other for a year. Jill was busy moving into her new apartment, Chris was busy working on his jeep, and Barry had kids to raise. Luckily, Jill had ran into Claire, and now, here they were.
"It'll never be over," Chris finally spoke up. "not until Wesker is dead."
Of course, they couldn't be sure that Wesker was dead. How many times in the past had he survived when everyone thought it was impossible? No doubt he was out there, doing dirty work for other corporations like Umbrella.
Barry clamped a hand on Jill's shoulder. "Nature calls." And he went in search of the bathroom.
"I missed you guys so much," she said.
Chris looked to her. "I missed you too, Jill."
"Hard to believe it's been a year already." She said.
"Yeah, how's Carlos?" he asked.
Jill felt her heart stop. Carlos Oliviera, was with her when Nemesis… "What?" she asked.
"Yeah, I bet you two have been pretty cozy." He answered. Carlos had always wanted to get 'cozy' with her, not that she'd ever let him.
"Chris…" she paused.
She was wondering when he would start to question their relationship. They worked like clockwork when they were on missions, and off missions that had grown pretty close.
"It's you. It's always been you," she finished.
He turned to her, the grin she knew and loved vibrant and alive on his face. "I know."
She was speechless, but had a fear that he was hiding something. Flashes of when she walked in, and he saw her… and just stared at her… did he have someone?
He turned to her. "Jill, you'll always be the only one for me. You're the only one I can stand."
And she grinned too. Chris wasn't always the romantic, it wasn't his style, really, but she knew what he meant. However, he frowned and took a long sip from his beer.
"What's wrong?" she asked, gently putting her hand on his arm.
"Wrong," he muttered. "The whole ordeal was wrong…"
She rubbed his arm and sighed. "I know…"
"When I saw you standing there, it just…" he stopped, and stared at the bar as if it had the meaning of life written all over it.
"What?" she asked softly.
"Brought back all of our old times," he said quietly. "Me, you, Barry…"he took another sip of his beer. "Wesker… all sitting around, celebrating after a mission… after a job well done."
Jill wrapped her arm around his shoulders. The soft side of Chris Redfield was shining through, a side she hadn't seen much unless he was talking about his sister. Chris was always protective of Claire, and it showed. He'd even ask Jill to come shopping with him for a birthday gift for her.
"All of those people dead…" he said. "If I had just figured it out about Wesker!" he pounded his fist on the bar, sending the beer nuts flying.
"It's not your fault," she said. "Don't do this to yourself."
Barry wandered back over to them. "Sorry, bathroom was full, so I had to go piss outside." He refilled his glass. "Probably cleaner, anyway."
Chris got up, and pushed himself away from the bar. "I need some air."
She watched Chris exit the bar.
"I know that look, Jill." He said.
"I'm worried about him, Barry," she said, slumping down onto a stool.
"Chris?" Barry asked. "He'll be fine, he always is."
"Maybe I shouldn't have come tonight."
"Don't be crazy," he said, draining his glass. "Seeing you, being with you is exactly what he needs."
"Maybe you're right," she said, and hopped off of the stool.
"I'll guard your seats from the zombies," Barry said.
Jill gave him a half smile and walked out of the smoky bar into the warm night air. She found him with his back pressed against the wall, hands in his pockets. His head was tilted toward the night sky.
"Hi," she whispered.
He turned to her.
"Look, I know what you're going through, Chris, we're all going through it." She said.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Don't be," she rubbed the back of her neck. "we haven't had the time to deal with what happened, to grieve over what happened in Raccoon City." She paused. "But it happened, and now, God willing, it'll never happen again."
"There will always be other corporations like Umbrella," Chris said, kicking at a patch of grass.
"And there will always be us," she said.
Chris opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it. "You're right."
"Of course I am," she said, giving a small smile. "But you know, sometimes I have nightmares that I'm still there… that we're still there."
"Oh," he muttered.
"But it's okay," she said. "Because we made it, we survived. It'll always be there as a reminder, Chris."
"I know," he shook his head. "A reminder of all those innocent people turned into… well, being worse off than dead."
"And it's made us stronger," she whispered. "Surviving Raccoon, and you on Rockfort Island and me with Nemesis has made us stronger."
He turned to her, a little grin on his face. "Think so?"
She nodded.
He opened his arm toward her, and she walked over to him, and curled up underneath his arm. "Thanks, Jill." He said.
She smiled. "Don't mention it." She loved being here with him, and she wished she could stay like this forever, but she was leaving the next day, and truth be told, she wasn't sure she'd ever see Barry and Chris again.
"You really look hot in that little black dress," he said.
She laughed. "Come on, Mr. Redfield, let's see how strong you are. Tequilla, ya think?"
He made a face. "Bud. And I'll drink you under the table."
She smiled and pulled on his arm. "We'll see."
"Wait," he said and made her face him.
"What?" she asked.
He bent down and kissed her.
When they broke away, she was smiling.
"What?" he asked.
"I forgot how spontaneous you were," she said.
He grinned. "Come on, you're going to have a date with a toilet soon,"
"Yeah, when I'm shoving your head in it," she stuck her tongue out at him.
He grinned and extended his arm to her. "Shall we?"
She took it, and they entered the bar arm-n-arm, bonded by horrific events in their past, and also their love for each other.