Checkup
--And that was just the problem.
A tall man pinched the bridge of his nose in high disapproval as he side glanced the young woman--a girl really—sitting to his right. She was informally dressed in standard teenage get up that brought out her age more than any work uniform she ever wore. Each article had clung to her body with little effort, giving her a clear and feminine profile; something very flattering as well dangerous to a males eye but to new captain, Chris Redfield, it was like a flash warning of danger.
He sized her up from head to toe and back again before stating his obvious opinion, which, wasn't so much of a surprise since it had been written all over his face the minute he saw her walk in and sit down beside him.
"I don't like it." He said it at last.
Clad under a low zipped grey hoodie, an odd red spaghetti strap shirt and tight jeans that ran to her ankles, a young girl in short red hair rolled her head down in a pouting silence, following in sync with her sagging shoulders.
Rebecca Chambers stared at or more like into the depths of her grey fleece jacket, far too irritant to feel the welcoming and fluffy warmth spreading across her lap. It was ten twenty-four; she woke up at seven-fifteen--barely managed to catch her ride at eight thirty, and then got here, about two hours following an extremely uncomfortable nap on an old railway train bench.
Her eyes looked drowsy and she was slumped into her seat as far as her back could push. She was exhausted and in no mood to speak more than little peeps to suggest her mood, but, slowly, she pursed her lips to speak anyway. Because, unfortunately, words were mandatory when it came to Chris Redfield.
"It's my day off too…" She set herself away from his eyes and hopped to god the alpha male would let it go. For extra effort she crossed both hands and then her fingers from underneath her coat.
There was silence for a while.
"Ahem."
A short haired brunette had just cleared her throat from the third seat and she earned a full glance from the two on her right. Chris wore his usual mask of plain eyes when he was otherwise perplexed while Rebecca managed an apprehensive look over his large shoulders. Looking at them, Jill Valentine had an atypical thought of laughing at them both but she dismissed it.
She had to lean out of her chair to get a better look at Rebecca, the small girl in hiding. She tutted lightly before laying out any words.
"He's just being protective, Rebecca." Upon the unconvinced stare she received from the young medic, Jill crossed her arms with a slight chuckle and corrected herself with clear amusement. "Okay," she said "over protective, how's that?" Rebecca grudgingly nodded.
Chris watched them converse and relaxed slightly in his chair, the slight stiff in his shoulder that was once there melting away. He wasn't so much paying attention to the girls' words as he was distracted from the looks on their unusually bright faces, mostly Jills, because Jill Valentine had not smiled in three whole weeks.
He was watching her so intently that a memory popped up. One that took place…not too long ago.
Jill Valentine… Surviving the air force could have blown the wind out of his carefree attitude but he managed to savor it amongst the reality of a broken dream. He had broken his back and his rear for the police job and no more than two weeks later she had walked in, Jill Valentine, the living breathing competition he only read about in the very few college prepatory books he skimmed through…and was thankful he never had to meet one.
The word thankful soon became a double-edged sword.
What a day that was when they first met. On first glance, it was pure rivalry despite no boundaries nor threats being present.
It didn't matter. It just sucked so much for him that day when she appeared; all high, quaint and mighty with her head high and her smile so daring. She was harsh yet beautiful living proof of his fear and to make matters worse, she'd take his failures and mold them towards her benefit.
Day, night, break-time, over-time, she'd shove his mistakes in his face first, then down his throat--burn his ego to ashes ever so subtly and once in a while (although she'd never admit it) steal his coffee and feed it to the drain in the bathroom sink.
Chris had to fight back but could only do so in terms of how young boys settled their predicaments, and it was because of two very ridiculous reasons. The first, was that he was still as immature as a young boy and the second, he had never dealt with a woman like this before. Perhaps a little like that but never once like this. In truth, his experience with women was pretty small. His last girlfriend…he couldn't even remember her name or face…just that he would never commit to a blind date ever again. What a thought.
So he stooped to Jill Valentines level, albeit a little lower since he would steal her coffee and pour it down the drain but other things such as hiding her papers and belongings around the office were considered sensible for his revenge.
The others around the office cubicles weren't idiots nor immature teens but they didn't discourage the kindergarten behavior between them either. They admittedly had their own manner of hazing their fellow coworkers but the quirks they had seen between the new girl and boy officers had sparked a theory no one would have guessed unless they'd seen it. Tension leading to friendship, friendship leading to partnership and lastly; a duo, a very impractical duo.
----One of the two girls suddenly laughed and by the high squeal of it, Chris guessed it was Rebecca. Jill was casually pointing her thumb his way and Rebecca giggled again after a few whispers were exchanged between them.
He tried snorting gruffly at the two of them but the girls simply laughed at the weird sound his stuffy nose produced and then later sent him fumbling into a small sneeze. He glanced at them in mock anger before reaching for the tissue box on the table in front.
"…I wouldn't say that. You remind him of his sister so he's bound to smother you." Jill said
"Do I really?" Rebecca asked, sounding doubtful.
His response was anything but collected.
"What!?"
Ten feet away, behind the office counter, there was a heavy thump which neither of them heard except for Jill. As the least unaffected member of the team when it came to their mannerisms, her cat sensing ears perked up and she turned her stolid attention to around the office corner entrance. She immediately spotted halfway on the rug, the same buxom klutz that flirted with their team leader while she and Rebecca signed in.
A coy smile rounded Jills' face as she turned back to her teammates.
---And then deadpanned an unfeminine growl. Chris was shouting if not demanding for her to elaborate on what she meant and Rebecca was begging him to calm down and then whining to her to shut him up.
Valentines' jaw tightened fast, harming her attractive features in a snap. She was about to tell them both to can it, gritted teeth and all when the door to the waiting room opened and out stepped a nurse confidently holding a slim clipboard. She was blonde and by the way her eyes had faulted to look straight ahead, she obviously didn't want to be here. Jill watched her give a low sigh before looking up from her clipboard and reading aloud, her words a little slurred from what Jill guessed was boredom and lack of days off.
"...Chambers? ...Redfield? .......Valentine?" Jill frowned. If the woman had opened her eyes completely she would have noticed there were only three people in the waiting room anyhow.
"Here." she responded anyway while sitting up from her chair. She sent Rebecca a glance and the young girl quickly joined her side. Together they stopped in front of the nurse, gave their names, and then in simultaneous motion, tuned to their brown haired male companion who looked a little reluctant to leave his spot. Chris Redfields' fingers tapped along the arm chair for a few seconds before he propped himself onto his feet with a strewn yawn.
"...Here."
To say Rebecca was nervous was a vast understatement, to say she was embarrassed however, was an absolute mouthful. As a trained medic she could fully take care of herself and proved that notion right by surviving from both the Training facility and the illicit Spencer Mansion.
Again, she looked down while walking, trying to convince herself there was something particularly fascinating about the floor…when all she saw was white, a pearly off white shade of marble, which someone like her would have only noticed after staring so much.
The hallway stretched for what seemed like hours on ends but in truth, Rebecca knew that her exaggeration was just a symptom of a new found phobia to her. Her insecurity level depleted and she suppressed an oncoming shudder from down her back. Claustrophobic was what they called it. She'd known about it on a common level, where it was regularly mentioned on the late night crime shows but now that it was all so real to her, just once, she'd like to shove all those arrogant detectives into a ventilation shaft and close off all the exits.
Her green eyes now lit with a combination of fear and tension suddenly frozen. Jill's hand had absently reached out for Chris's arm' and he grasped back. Slowly, as if pushing herself to, Rebecca smiled before an odd sense of comfort began welling up in her chest. It was the comfort that she was not alone and had a "family" to share this new fear with, and that somehow, someway, together, they would ruin the evil that had tried to ruin them.
Billy... Wherever you are...I hope you're safe.