Still True
Disclaimer: I do not own Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, Claire Redfield, or any of the characters in the Resident Evil universe. This story is dedicated to one of my best friends and Resident Evil buddy again. Thanks honey for your kind words, feedback, and constant help. It's also dedicated to a fellow writing friend and my dad, who took time to edit this for me. And finally thanks to another friend who told me what they should have for dinner.
The humid air stung Chris's eye, and made him a little disorientated. From the looks on everyone else's faces, it seemed they equally felt the same. In the late afternoon a call reached the Raccoon City Police Station. There was a hostage situation a couple of hours east of the city. Captain Wesker didn't wait around, and within minutes Alpha team was in the helicopter flying out there. The team geared up, and most of them were excited about the mission. Most of the boys, especially Brad and Joseph couldn't sit still, and Brad was flying. The two bounced about, Brad causing the copter to sway. Gear fell out of shelves and onto the floor. Some ropes, and shoulder pads slid out the door and into the forest below. There was a jolt, and everyone jumped out of their seats.
"Fucking hell!" said Barry.
Wesker lost his sunglasses, but picked them up quickly, not allowing anyone to see his blue eyes. Chris and Jill smacked heads.
"Chris you're head is like a fucking rock!" she said, rubbing her left temple.
"What can I say?" Chris laughed to himself, "got to have something to protect my brains"
Jill snickered. "Brains huh…?"
Wesker stood up and walked up front to where Brad Vickers sat flying. "If you crash us Vickers, I'll personally kick your ass," threatened Wesker.
Brad swallowed. "Certainly Captain, it won't happen again Captain."
When they all reached the mission coordinates, and Alpha Team piled out of the chopper; leaving Brad to watch over their gear and to be called later if needed. Alpha Team marched through a garden park, and to a large building about sixteen stories high. Police officers surrounded the building, all hiding behind concrete barricades. Wesker whispered something and Jill was sent in to pick the lock. The thin glass door could've easily been kicked down by anyone in the team, but Jill shrugged and picked the door. I'd been five months since Chris had joined S.T.A.R.S. and Jill still surprised him every time with her amazing skills.
"All done Captain Wesker," said Jill, stepping back. The door picked in under 20 seconds, and not a worry at all on her face.
Wesker nodded to Jill, then to Barry, Chris, and Joseph. The men approached the door, and then Barry kicked it in. The glass wobbled back and forth before shattering across the floor.
Jill's walky-talky buzzed, and then everyone else's did the same.
"Alpha Team, do you read, over?" said a voice, probably one of the cops who had gone into the building earlier. S.T.A.R.S. had suggested they didn't, but there was no way to tell small town cops what to do.
"Alpha Team Captain Wesker here, what's the situation, over?" he asked.
"Halt on operation, lost target, over."
"Lost target?" whispered Jill. "How do they loose the target?" Chris shrugged and looked over at Wesker.
"Incompetence," replied Barry.
"We'll wait, over," said Wesker. He sighed and put his walky-talky away.
The team all looked at Wesker, who just stood still, and glanced at his watch every now and then. There was a hostage situation. They should be storming the building right now. They'd all been taught not to be too trigger happy, and compared to everyone else, even some of their own police officers, they weren't. But sometimes you just had to let off steam and fire some rounds.
The team waited and waited for something, anything to happen. The humid air got to them all, making them drowsy. The night passed and it turned into early morning before the target was found. Wesker got the call, and Alpha finally stormed the building. There were yells, shots, and some blood, but it all seemed over and done with before it even started. The hostage was saved, the target shot, and the accomplices taken into custody. It was really sort of a let down. Not that everything went perfectly, but the fact this whole mission which lasted about ten minutes really took hours. It had been hours of waiting and doing nothing. This was the first mission that really bored Chris. All of the missions he'd been on in the last five months were exciting. But there always had to be a lull somewhere.
"Good job everyone, let's pack up and go home." Alpha collected themselves and they headed for the chopper. Wesker and Barry took the stairs, while everyone else took the elevator. It was still humid when they got outside. Chris's back and neck was sticky, he was not enjoying the five in the morning humidity; or any of this mountain weather. He looked behind himself at Jill who was lagging behind.
"Hey you," said Chris, slowing down to her pace. "Tired?" He laid an arm over her shoulder which she shrugged off.
Ever since Jill gave Chris the tour of the city, she had seemed awkward if Chris ever touched her in public. If they hung out outside of work, and he accidently touched her, or even touched her on purpose she didn't care. But at work, or just out she got awkward. Was she embarrassed by him?
"No, I'm not tired." Jill held up her hand. It shook a little.
"After mission jitters?" asked Joseph. "We all get them occasionally."
"I'm not scared," she replied. "I don't know why I'm shaking."
Wesker and Barry were already in the helicopter. Wesker swung his finger around in a circle in the air as Jill, Joseph, and Chris got it. Chris, Joseph, and Wesker sat on the right side; Barry and Jill the left. Brad caught Wesker's signal, started up the bird, and flew off towards the city. Jill held up her hand and watched it shake.
"Jill, are you shaking?" asked Wesker.
"Oh I'm fine Captain," she said, "probably just cold or hungry."
How could Jill be cold? It was humid, certainly not cold. Because of the early call, they had all missed dinner. They all carried snacks, but when you're in the middle of a mission, even just waiting for something to happen it's hard to eat anything. Wesker moved and sat next to her. He pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket and handed it to her. He then grabbed a blanket from one of the shelves and put it around her.
"Eat the chocolate and warm up, I suspect your sugar level has dropped." Wesker rubbed her back, and she ripped open the chocolate.
"I'm sorry I'm doing this-" began Jill.
"Don't worry. You can relax for a while back at the station, and get some food. Then I expect that report."
Jill nodded. "Of course Captain."
Chris looked at the floor, his face burned. He often blushed a little round Jill if she said something funny or even cute. His blushes weren't very recognizable though. They'd appear and then disappear within seconds. This blush was bright red, it burned, and it didn't go away. Why was he blushing like this? His eyes flickered upwards to Jill and Wesker. His face blushed more, and he had this sudden desire to push Captain Wesker out of the helicopter, and into the Raccoon forest below. He wanted to push Captain Wesker out of a helicopter? What the fuck was wrong with him? Captain Wesker, the man who had turned his life around, inspired him? But the thought of him touching Jill…Wait a second, Jill wasn't his. She was merely a co-worker. Chris scoffed at this thought. She wasn't merely just a co-worker, but unfortunately she had to be.
The police station was quiet when Alpha returned. Gear was put away, reports were ready to be written, and Jill was sent to relax in the sleeping quarters. She wasn't tired though, and felt somewhat belittled that she'd been sent there. She lay down on a bottom bunk and sighed. Every now and then everyone got after mission jitters. Jill got them occasionally, but why were these so bad. It's true if she missed a meal, she ended up getting shaky. It was very embarrassing, especially around all of the guys. The door opened and Chris walked in. Jill sat up quickly, and swung her leg over the side of the bunk.
"How you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm fine, I really am." Jill stood up. "I should go upstairs and start working." Jill went to push past Chris but he stopped her, putting his hands on her shoulders. He was a good head taller than she was.
"You sit," he said.
"Are you serious?" she asked. She sat down and folded her arms. Chris snickered and stared at her. She caught his eye, and look down. She waited a couple of seconds and looked up again. He winked at her. "What?" she asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"Please go to dinner with me," he said.
Jill rolled her eyes. "Chris."
"Come on, please, it's just dinner."
"Chris we're work colleagues. I don't think that'd be appropriate."
"Come on," he said, fake punching her arm. "Where's your sense of adventure?"
"I don't think we should."
Chris sighed, "Why not? We hang out a lot."
"Sometimes," whispered Jill.
"We've already been to dinner together."
"It was a tour," she said.
"Please, just dinner?" he asked.
"We know it won't just be dinner!" said Jill.
"Who says?" asked Chris. "Why don't you like me?"
Jill put her hands on her face and yelled a little. She was bright red and wished anything to be far, far away, safe at home right now. Far away from Chris…
"I do like you," she said, mumbling through her hands.
"Then go to dinner with me," said Chris.
"Fucking hell Chris, if you keep going on at me, and making it awkward I'll switch partners. And stop being your goddamn friend!"
Chris went silent and looked at the floor.
"I don't want everyone around here to think I'm a skank just cause I start having a relationship with my partner, whether physical or not. What if Barry knew? What if Wesker knew? God I'd, no, we'd both be fired."
Chris kept looking at the floor. He looked up slowly and smiled at Jill. "So lunch then?"
Jill jumped off the bunk and slapped him. "What did I just say?"
"So is that a maybe?" he asked, rubbing his cheek.
"Will you stop flirting with me if I say yes?" she asked.
"Of course," he said.
"Fine then, I'll fucking go!"
"I'm glad," he said. "Well I better get back to work. Don't want everyone to think we're doing stuff." He laughed and left the room, still rubbing his cheek.
Jill yelled and punched the mattress. She sat down on it again and let her head drop. Why did he have to tease her so much, and be so cocky? The more they got to know each other, the cockier Chris got. He was a sweet guy and she knew he would never hurt her, but he was getting outrageous. His flirting was annoying, and before it just happened outside of work. Now he was flirting with her at work. What if someone caught them? A small voice inside challenged the question who cares. Who cares? Jill cared, but she wished often she didn't. She wished she was care-free, and didn't have to worry what others thought. She wished she was able to like who she wanted, and act on those likes. For the first time in her life she cursed Wesker's name. It's true he had never said anything about inner-work relations, but she could imagine his response. Jill did not want to risk that. She'd called her parents hundreds of times, and asked for their advice. All they told her was to be professional and follow her gut. How could she follow her gut when so many things stopped her? She sighed and lay back down again. Not being able to tell anyone in Raccoon City killed her. She couldn't even tell her friends who lived there. That was the problem with living in a town with only 100,000 people. Jill relaxed for only ten minutes more before Barry came and got her.
"You doing ok Jilly?" asked Barry.
"I'm fine," she said, hoping that everyone wasn't already talking about her. Sometimes it was horrible being the only girl. She had to prove herself to all the guys and not lag behind at all. She never usually did, but every now and then something happened, like the shakes. She knew by now that the guys all respected her, Chris more than any of them, but she still felt inadequate. It was stupid, and she never ever told anyone how she really felt.
"Well you better got onto that report before you're kept late by Wesker." He smiled at her. "Are you sure you're ok? If you need some time off I'm sure Wesker would understand." No he wouldn't, none of them would understand.
"I'm fine," she said again.
Barry continued his concern all the way to and inside the S.T.A.R.S. room.
"Kathy would be more than happy to make you something," Barry suggested.
"Jill you ok?" Chris asked.
"I'm fine," she said, for what seemed like the millionth time.
"You need some rest and time for yourself," said Barry.
"I have an idea," said Chris.
"What?" asked Barry and Jill.
"How about I take you to get lunch so you don't have to cook?"
Jill froze and looked at Chris. She felt suddenly all exposed, like she'd gone to work in nothing but her underwear and a towel.
"Good idea man," said Barry. "But if you want to come over for dinner, we'd love to have you. The girls are always talking and asking about you."
"Thanks…" Was all Jill managed to say. She sat down at her desk and looked over to Chris. He'd sat down too and was typing. He looked up and winked at her, then went back to his work.
Jill thought of every excuse to get out of going to lunch, but why should she avoid the guy? Well for one, he was her colleague, her partner, and getting involved in office romances never worked. But he liked her, and as much as she scolded herself and said no, she liked him too. Its crazy but she had even gotten a little jealous of him. Jill was certainly still popular, but Chris was even more popular. Everyone around the station liked him, Bravo team loved him, and random people on the street always said hello to him. Why should she punish herself though, when Chris was having a perfectly fun time of the whole situation? Just because they couldn't date each other, didn't mean they couldn't spend time together, or go out to dinner or lunch. Jill and Chris's relationship had been getting very close, and she was sure she could call him a best friend. Then Chris broke out of his quiet, new guy shell and started flirting with Jill, this switched the positions. Chris became open and confident, Jill becoming shy and quiet. It was stupid, and she hated feeling shy. She thought all the shyness was over after high school.
"Do you mind if we get lunch in out uniforms?" Chris asked.
"No," replied Jill.
"I'm exhausted and can't imagine getting changed anytime soon," he said.
The two packed up, said goodbye and walked to their cars in silence.
"So how is this going to work?" asked Chris.
"How is what going to work?"
"Lunch, we have separate cars?"
"And?" asked Jill.
"You might disappear on me," said Chris.
Jill snickered, having already considered doing just that. "I won't."
"Promise?" he asked.
"I promise," she said. "Now let's go, I'm hungry."
"I can't drive you home either," said Chris. He sounded kind of sad.
"But this isn't a date," said Jill, getting into her car. "See you there." And she started up her car, and drove off.
The restaurant that they were having lunch at was only a block away from the station. Jill quickly found a park, but Chris wasn't as lucky and had to circle the block a few times. He grabbed his wallet and quickly ran across the road and into the restaurant. It was busy because of the lunch rush and no tables were free. Jill had a table though, probably got the last one. She waved and Chris made his way over. As he got closer he noticed Richard Aiken, the Bravo team communications expert sitting with Jill. She was smiling and laughing with Richard. Chris clenched his fist a little, and went over.
"Hey," said Jill. "Look who it is."
"Well hey Chris," said Richard. "Lucky you got here when you did, otherwise I would've had to give my table to someone else."
"Yeah, that is lucky," he said. "Shouldn't you be at work?"
"Oh its fine, they don't care," said Richard.
"I really think they do mind," said Chris.
Richard and Jill glanced at each other, and then Jill looked at Chris. She gave him a 'chill out' look, and then looked back at Richard and smiled.
"It's true, we don't want to make you late," said Jill.
"Good point, Enrico can get pretty bitchy sometimes. Well I better run." Richard stood up and Chris took his seat. Why was it when Jill said he'd be late he listened to her and not Chris?
"It was so nice to see you again Richard," Jill said. She smiled, and Chris swore he hadn't seen her smile like that in ages, certainly not around himself. Did she have a crush on Richard now?
"It was nice to see you too. We need to hang out more. You look beautiful. See you tonight Chris."
"See ya," said Chris.
Richard smiled and then walked off.
"So what would you like to eat?" asked Chris, trying to distract Jill from Richard and that fact he was leaving.
"What's happening tonight?" she asked.
"We're going to J's, all of Alpha and Bravo," said Chris. "You know that."
Jill looked at her menu, embarrassed. "No I didn't. Guess I'm not invited."
"You must have been invited," said Chris.
Jill shook her head, "Nope."
"Oh shit…" said Chris, remembering that when the idea was thought up, everyone called it 'the guy's night out'. Jill wasn't a guy he guessed.
Jill sighed, already feeling a little down. This was the tipping point, now officially she felt left out. She sighed, not wanting to make the situation more awkward. "So a sandwich sounds good."
"Jill I am so sorry. I won't go, we'll hang out. I'll prove a goddamn point! You're a guy, I mean you're a girl, but you're a guy. You know what I mean," said Chris. God what an idiot he sounded like.
"It's fine, really," she said. "I want you to go. I know the Bravo guys much better than you do. You should have fun."
"But you also should have fun," he said. "It's not fair you being left out."
"I'll get a movie and relax. Don't worry about me."
"Ok I won't," he said. "But I'm paying for lunch."
"You weren't doing that already?" she asked. She winked and went back to her menu. Chris smiled, Jill was back.
At nine o'clock Chris drove to J's bar. It was already full, and in the back was most of Alpha and Bravo team. Some of the police officers from various departments were there, minus the woman. Whose fucking idea was it to not invite the women? Even Wesker was there, though he looked like he'd had enough and wanted to leave.
"CHRIS!" yelled some of the guys from S.T.A.R.S. They high fived, fist pumped, and yelled a little. As much as Chris wanted to enjoy himself, he kept thinking about Jill sitting at home.
"Hey Chris," said Enrico Marini, the Bravo team leader. "Seems like forever since I saw you properly."
"I know, I'm glad we're having this tonight," he said.
Within half an hour everyone from Alpha was there, except Jill sadly, and Barry who preferred his kids over a night out. Everyone from Bravo turned up too: Richard Aiken communications, Edward Dewey the pilot, Enrio Marini their leader, Forest Speyer the maintenance expert and sharpshooter, and Kenneth J. Sullivan S.T.A.R.S. only chemist. The number of cops after a while outnumbered S.T.A.R.S. Chris had gotten the feeling that the night was just for S.T.A.R.S, but he was obviously wrong. Most of the cops were nice, but some were douche bags. Mixing alcohol and douche bags is never good.
"So where's Jill?" asked Richard Aiken. Chris was getting a little sick of Richard. Ever since he'd gotten to J's, Richard had been on his tail about her.
"She wasn't invited," said Chris. His words were bitter, and he followed them with a sip of beer.
"She wasn't invited?" he asked.
"Who wasn't invited?" asked Brad.
"Huh?" asked Edward Dewey.
"Jill wasn't invited," said Richard.
"That's lame," said Brad.
"Yeah but she's not a guy," said Edward.
"Who's not a guy?" asked Kenneth Sullivan.
"Jill's not a guy," said Edward.
"Obviously," said Kenneth. "She's got tits hasn't she?"
Chris's blood pressure rose a little when the mention of Jill's 'tits' were brought into it. Yes, he was in a bar full of horny guys, but no one talked about Jill's tits just haphazardly. No one did, and he would make sure of that.
"Good tits," said one of the cops at the bar.
What did he just say? No one talked about Jill's. Chris went as far to think that no one would ever talk about Jill or any girl of Chris's ever.
"Hey man, that's one of our members," said Kenneth.
Some cops wandered over and joined the lone cop that had said the 'words'. They were all drunk and started to talk about Jill more.
"I would slam her," said the cop. His friends cheered, sloshing their beer over the floor. "And I would do nasty things to her…"
Chris's fists were clenched and his blood pressure was rising. He breathed slowly in and out, in and out.
"Don't talk about her like that!" said Joseph.
"Make me," said the cop.
"Screw you!" yelled Forest.
"Hey everyone calm down," said Enrico. "Look guys please don't slag off Jill. We know you like her, a lot of us do too. She's sweet, beautiful, and hell that girl can bake. What would she do if she heard you talking about her like that?"
The cops looked down to the floor, and even some of S.T.A.R.S. did too. Chris unclenched his fists and shook out his hands.
"But she's hot," said the cop.
"Then ask her out, no ones stopping you," said Kenneth.
"I won't do that," said the cop. "I'll just bang her!"
Chris lunged at the guy, his fists waving, and curses spewing from his lips. Joseph, Forest and Richard grabbed Chris's arms and tried to pull him back. It was a struggle, but they kept him from hitting anyone.
"FUCK YOU!" yelled Chris. "How fucking dare you talk about her like that? No one fucking talks about Jill Valentine like that, no one does!"
The cops all laughed, as Chris flailed about trying desperately to hit them.
"What is she, like your girlfriend or something huh?" asked the cop.
"She's my fucking partner, and we're fucking professional together. Don't you fucking give me any of that shit."
The cops laughed, and most of them clanked glasses. Chris struggled as much as he could, but Joseph, Forest and Richard wouldn't let him go. In reality the cops probably only teased him for a couple of seconds, but it felt like hours. The words they said, the things they rein acted, and it made Chris so angry. He hadn't been this angry since he'd been kicked out of the Air Force. The things that he had done because of his anger…He hoped no one would ever know.
The cops finished their taunting and walked away. Joseph, Forest and Richard waited till they were out of sight before letting Chris go. He'd been held back for so long, he still felt like he was restrained. He was shaking and his face was bright red. Everyone from S.T.A.R.S. was kind of scared of him. No one said anything, no one did anything. They just all stood there and watch him shake.
"Good thing you didn't hit anyone," said Richard.
"FUCK YOU ALL!" yelled Chris. He pushed past everyone and ran outside. He didn't stop running until he was in his car. He slammed his hands repeatedly on each side of steering wheel, curses still spewing from his lips. What the fuck was wrong with him? He made a complete fool of himself in front of all of S.T.A.R.S. and probably a lot of cops. Worse than that, had Captain Wesker seen? Oh god, and what if someone told Jill. He didn't want her to think he was some sort of psycho that couldn't control his anger. Jesus, what he gotten himself into again.
Chris parked his car and ran all the way up to his apartment. He burst open the door and picked up the phone. Chris knew about drunk dialling, but he wasn't drunk. Was this rage dialling? That didn't sound right, but he'd picked up the phone and it was ringing. It rang and rang, and the answer phone picked up.
"Hey this is Jill. Sorry I'm not here right now. Please leave me a message, and I'll call you back as soon as I can. See you."
There was BEEP, and it was Chris's cue to talk.
"Jill, hey, um call me back, or I'll see you at work, or, I don't know. Look, I have to ask you something. See ya."
Jill liked to get to work early. One because she liked it, and two because she often had baking to hand out. Today was no exception, except that she also needed to find Chris. Waking up to a blinking light on her answering machine always annoyed her. It meant she had slept through an important call that someone had left for her over the night. It was Chris and he sounded, off. She called all morning and there was no answer. He could've been anywhere, but the station seemed like the most logical place. She planned to go in, find him, talk to him, and then hand out her baking. Unfortunately she was surrounded on entering the building, and had to hand out the baking first. Half an hour went by in a flash and it was already midday. Everyone was in the S.T.A.R.S. room working except Chris and Wesker.
"Hey Joseph," said Jill, putting her tin down on his desk. He reached for it, but she slapped his hand. "Where's Redfield at?" She suddenly felt the urge to call him Redfield and not Chris. She had no idea why she wanted to.
"He's cleaning out and restocking the van," said Joseph. "Can I have a cookie now? They smell so good."
"Why's he cleaning out the van?" asked Jill.
Joseph looked confused, and then a light blub obviously turned on inside his head. "Oh yeah, you weren't there last night were you?"
"No I wasn't, being not invited and all," she said.
The low hum of the room went silent. No one said anything, and all you could hear was a couple of coughs and the sound of tapping keys.
"You should've seen it!" said Joseph. "Chris went ape shit!"
"Joseph that's enough," said Barry.
"He could've killed this guy last night if we didn't hold him back. It was kind of scary, but also awesome."
"Why the hell did he do that?" she asked.
"Some asshole cop said things about you, and he got pissed off and defended you," replied Joseph. "Jill you've got yourself one hell of a partner there."
He could've killed someone? Defending her? Oh Chris…Jill had to go and see for herself, but she had her own work to do. She sighed, knowing she'd probably have to stay late, but she left the room and went down to parking lot.
The parking lot was out the back of the station. It had all the cop cars, as well as the specialty vehicles that the different departments required. S.T.A.R.S. had a military style van that they used when going to missions around the city. If the mission was anywhere out of the city, they'd use the chopper. It wasn't as big as the chopper was, and so everyone had to squish into it, making it hard to carry people and gear together. Because of this, the van got messed up, and gear would be thrown all around it. Chris had to take everything out, clean the van, and then put all the gear back in. Knowing full well that next time the van would be used, it'd become messed up again, just like it was now.
Jill got down to the parking lot and saw Wesker walking towards her, and away from the van.
"Morning Ms. Valentine," he said, slipping past her.
"Good morning Captain."
She couldn't see Chris as she walked down to the van, but she could hear him rustling around inside. She peeked in and saw his back turned to her.
"Hey," she said. Chris jumped at her voice and smacked his head on the roof. He rubbed it, and then jumped out.
"Oh, hey," he said.
"Cleaning out the van I see."
"Oh yeah, I just, you know, thought it needed it," he said.
"Wesker busted you didn't he?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. "I suppose you heard huh?"
"Well I heard something about you almost killing a cop because he said some bad things about me."
Chris laughed a little. "He didn't say bad things about you. He said he'd do bad things to you."
"Oh," said Jill. "Like what?"
"I'd prefer not to say. It wasn't pretty, but I defended you!"
Jill groaned and rubbed her face. "Chris you can't do that! I mean, you can defend me, but you can't almost kill people because they say stuff about me. I can take care of myself."
Chris sighed. "Well I didn't actually touch the guy and I know you can look after yourself. I just got so mad."
"And you can't get pissed at every person who flirts with me. You're my partner, not my boyfriend. I can take care of myself."
"I'm sorry, it just makes me angry."
"Well stop it!" She punched his arm and laughed. "So what's up with the phone call? I've been looking all over for you to ask about it."
"Oh right," he said, remembering the awkward message he'd left her. "I need a favour if that's ok?"
"Depends what it is."
"My sister is coming to visit and stay for a couple of days," said Chris.
"Cool!" said Jill.
"Yeah I can't wait. I haven't actually 'seen' her in, wow, probably five years. I hadn't realised it was that long."
"So the favour?" asked Jill.
"Well," he began. "I love my sister to bits, don't get me wrong. And we're so alike and share so many things in common. BUT, I'll tell her about work and my life, she'll tell me about school and her life, and we'll be done in half an hour. Then we'll be bored of each other, and probably get into a fight. So, I was thinking that maybe you could join us? Maybe come over tomorrow and meet her, and stop us from bickering. What do you say?"
"You're just trying to get me to have dinner with you!"
"I swear I'm not! I never said anything about dinner! Although," said Chris. "I can't make anything but microwave meals, and Claire can't boil water, so you could bring over something to eat, perhaps, maybe, if you felt like it."
Jill sighed, she couldn't believe what she was about to say. "Ok, I'll come."
"Yes!" said Chris, shaking his fist in joy, "How about seven tomorrow night?"
"Fine," she said. "What exactly do you want me to bring?"
"Anything," said Chris. "Claire and I really will eat anything, well, she doesn't eat anything green, but we'll make her."
"Ok, I'll think of something."
"Don't worry about drinks and desert, I've got that covered," he said.
Jill smiled to herself. "If I come to you're apartment and there's no sister I might have to strangle you." The two laughed.
"I promise she exists, all the photos on my desk are of her."
Jill smiled. "I thought they were your sister. I remember you saying something about her. Claire's her name right?"
"Claire Redfield, baby sister. And she's driving her, from Illinois on her motorbike. It's only a few hours away but…" Chris shuddered a little, this causing Jill to burst out laughing.
"Oh what a big brother you are!" She laughed to herself. "Well I better get back to work. I'll see you later." Chris nodded, and then climbed back into the van.
The night was uneventful, but because of what Wesker called 'lewd behaviour' in reference to the night beforehand, he made all of Alpha team run laps around the gym in the police station. The gym was used often by the police officers and S.T.A.R.S. to make sure their cadets were in tip top shape. Jill found it a little unfair she had to run laps because she wasn't even invited to the stupid night out. At the same time she didn't really care, she was fit and enjoyed to run. Everyone was fit, and the laps weren't hard, they were just annoying.
Chris avoided all questions about Claire, and had begun to wish he'd never put her photos up. If he got so angry about guys looking and talking about Jill, what would happen if they did it to his baby sister? He shuddered at the thought, and tried his best to remain cool. Joseph and Brad wouldn't stop questioning him, and even Barry asked him a few. Jill could tell it was bothering Chris, and also thought it was pointless as she was going to meet her the next day. Wesker couldn't have cared less, and was far too busy working to really notice about the mysterious Redfield sister.
When twelve midday hit, Chris was out the door and in his car before anyone else had packed up. He didn't say goodbye to anyone, he just ran out. He told Claire to meet him at his apartment rather than the station. Raccoon City was predominantly safe, but this was his baby sister. While she travelled it was ok, but when she stopped was when she could get into trouble. What if she had gotten into trouble? What if she crashed? She couldn't call him while she was on the road. He shuddered again, and drove home as fast as he could. He turned onto his street and drove up to the apartment. Just as she said, Claire was waiting out front for him. He parked and headed across the road to her.
"CHRIS!" she yelled. She ran at him and jumped into a hug.
"Hey baby sis," he said, hugging her back. "Someone's got taller."
Claire let go and looked at her brother. He looked pretty much the same as when she last saw him. He had this weird look of wisdom in eyes, and his hair was longer. He looked very well. Claire had been eleven when Chris ran away and joined the Air Force. Despite not seeing her, or his dad, Chris wrote, called, and did whatever he could to stay in touch with his little sister. He may not have been 'there' for his sister, but she always could get in touch with him no matter what. Before he joined the Air Force, they had been best friends. Chris taught her everything she knew, and inspired her to like similar things. Seeing her now in the flesh as a sixteen year old was strange, but he'd seen photos. Claire always sent photos of what was happening, and Chris now had boxes full of them.
"Gosh it's so nice to see you," said Claire. "I can't believe its been five years."
"I'm sorry I haven't been to visit," said Chris. "I know I'm close, but work has been crazy these last five months."
"I can't wait to hear about it," she said. "But look Chris I'm hungry, I've been driving for hours, I just want to go inside and relax."
"You don't have to tell me twice." Chris took Claire's things and led her up to his apartment.
Chris felt proud to have an apartment, and he felt even more proud that his baby sister was coming to stay in it. He unlocked the door and let her in. Claire stepped inside and laughed for a good couple of seconds.
"Oh Chris really?" she asked. He'd been living in his apartment for five months. Five months, and he still hadn't unpacked. There were boxes everywhere, some full, and some not. "I see you've unpacked the important things." Claire pointed to his TV and Playstation.
"Look Claire," he said. "I've been working-"
"What for five months straight?"
"Let me finish," he said. "I've been working for 24 hours and at seven Jill's coming over to meet you."
"Oh Jill," said Claire, "Your girlfriend."
"Not my girlfriend, my work colleague. So anyway I'm going to sleep for a couple of hours and then we can catch up and all that crap. But while I sleep, you can clean for me!"
"Hell no!" said Claire. "Clean up your own crap. I'm not your slave!"
"You are now. See ya." And Chris went to his room and shut the door.
At around quarter to five in the evening, Chris wandered out of his room. He had this great dream that Claire had cleaned his whole apartment. Unfortunately, it seemed messier than when he went to bed. Claire had made herself at home, and thrown her belongings all around the room. In front of her there were two cups, one of them still had a lot of milk in it, and about four plates with various bits of food on them. Chris didn't even remember having food in his apartment.
"What the hell?" he said, walking into the lounge. "How is my place worse than it was before?"
Claire shrugged. "I don't know." And she went back to playing Playstation. Sometimes Chris really thought Claire was a dude. She wasn't clean, she didn't care about mess, and she'd rather be out in the wilderness than near anything girly at all.
Chris looked at his watch and jumped when he saw how late it was.
"Oh my god I have to clean up. What if she thinks I'm a slob?"
"But you are a slob," said Claire, not looking up from her game. "What's so wrong with that?"
"She doesn't need to know that," he said.
"Jeeze man, you need to get laid."
Chris blushed at his sisters words, and also blushed at the thought of Jill.
"You," he said. "…Shut up!"
Claire laughed and paused her game, "I'm just saying, it helps relax you."
"How the hell would you know?" asked Chris.
Claire shrugged and went back to the Playstation. "TV?" It sounded like a question, but Chris had bigger things to worry about.
"We have to get this place clean!" he said. "And I need to have a shower."
Claire rolled her eye. "Chill out old lady. Look go have your shower, and I'll start to clean up in here."
"Thanks," he said, and he walked off to the bathroom.
Claire proceeded to 'clean' the lounge by collecting up boxes and throwing them into the spare room in the apartment. She took out her dishes, shoved them into the dishwasher, then found more plates and put them out. The rest of the kitchenware she threw into the spare room.
"Why are you putting everything in there?" asked Chris, when he walked back into the lounge.
"Are you planning to have sex in there tonight?" she asked.
"No," he said.
"Good, now its storage and she'll never know."
The siblings dusted, vacuumed, and mopped, as well as find out everything they'd missed out on since the last time they'd talked. The place looked pretty good, and with half an hour to spare.
"So what you going to wear?" asked Claire. The only thing she ever asked that made her seem like a girl.
"No idea, does it matter?" Chris already knew the answer.
"Has she been here before?" asked Claire.
"To my apartment?" he asked. "No."
"OF COURSE IT MATTERS!"
Chris sighed, "So what you going to wear?"
Claire scoffed, and looked down at her own jeans and t-shirt. "Hey I'm not the one who wants to sleep with her." Chris rolled his eyes and Claire laughed to herself. "Come on, let's go pick something."
In ten minutes Claire picked out over twenty outfits, and still Chris went with the simplest thing he could think of: jeans and a t-shirt. He insisted that he didn't want to look 'too good' as this wasn't exactly a date.
With fifteen minutes to spare Chris and Claire sat down on the couch to relax.
"Oh shit!" said Chris, smacking his hand on his forehead.
"What?" asked Claire.
"I didn't get anything to drink, oh fuck, and I forgot to get desert."
Claire sighed. "God you're useless. But don't worry, I slipped out and got stuff while you were asleep."
"You slipped out?" asked Chris.
"Don't say thanks will you!" she said, turning on the Playstation.
"Thanks," said Chris. "Hey don't turn that on! Jill will be here in a few minutes, and she won't want to watch you kill shit."
"God lay off me!" said Claire, flicking her brother's arm. "And how do you know she won't want to watch me kill shit?"
Chris watched Claire, as well as watched the clock, as well as watched the door. He felt kind of dizzy, and had to sit back and rub his temples. Claire loved the whole situation. She'd never seen her brother this nervous ever. It made her laugh a little. She tried not to, but a few giggles escaped from her lips.
At seven exactly there was a knock at the door. Both Chris and Claire leapt up from the couch. The siblings squabbled, pushed each other and ran to the door.
"What are you doing?" Chris whispered.
"Answering the door!" she whispered back.
There was more knocking.
"COMING!" yelled Chris. "Claire, sit down! I got this," he whispered. Claire rolled her eyes, and went back to the couch. Chris straightened out his top, fixed his hair, and opened the door.
"Hey you!" said Jill.
"Hey!" replied Chris. "Let me take that." Chris took the two plastic bags from Jill and led her into the apartment.
Jill really didn't know what to expect about Chris's apartment. In fact, she'd been to very few guys apartments. In fact, she'd never actually been to one. Chris's apartment would be her first. He was a guy, so she expected some mess. But Claire was there, so she probably helped him to clean up. She followed him into a small living room. There was a brown couch against the wall on her right, and a coffee table in front of the couch. A small TV sat on some boxes against the back wall. It was turned a little so it faced the couch. Chris placed the food on the coffee table, and looked over at Claire who sat on the couch.
"Jill, this is my little sister Claire. Claire, this is Jill."
Claire got up off the couch and walked over to Jill. Chris was petrified she would do something crazy. She was a sixteen year old after all. Claire smiled and held out her hand.
"Claire Redfield," she said, shaking Jill's hand. "It's so nice to finally meet you. My brother has told me so much about you."
"It's so nice to meet you too Claire." Jill smiled and looked at Chris. "I hope everything he told you was good."
"Don't worry, it was." The girls laughed and already seemed like they could be friends. Chris sighed in relief.
"So what'd you make us?" asked Chris.
"Well," said Jill, taking a plastic container out of a bag. "I made us spaghetti."
"Oooh," said Claire and Chris.
"Not just spaghetti," she said, taking out more containers. "I also made homemade sauce, meatballs, and bread."
Chris and Claire pushed past Jill to see the food. It looked amazing, and smelt even more so. Neither sibling could remember when they had had spaghetti for dinner last. Chris could barely cook, so mostly ate out. Claire also couldn't cook at all, and all her dad could make was steak, sausages and mashed potatoes.
"You made this from scratch?" asked Claire.
Jill nodded and laughed a little. To Jill, cooking was a breeze. Both her parents could cook amazingly well, as well as most of her extended family. All of this knowledge was past to her, and Jill was more than happy to share it around.
"Wow Jill," said Chris. "You have completely outshined yourself."
"It's just spaghetti, nothing that special."
"Believe me," said Claire. "This is special."
Jill organized the food, Chris the drinks, and Claire the plates and cutlery. Jill made a lot, and she was glad she did. Chris ate like he'd been starving for days, and Claire wasn't far behind. The siblings almost made it into a competition, egging each other on as they ate more and more.
"So Claire you're sixteen right?" asked Jill.
Claire nodded. "I am, and I'm so ready to get out of high school and go to college. I hope I can go somewhere half way between here and home, so I can visit everyone equally."
"Sounds like a good idea. So you want to go to college and not the Air Force like your brother here?"
"I'd love to save the world like you two do, I really would, but I'd prefer to do it behind a desk, or a computer. I'm really interested in English and Criminology, so I'll probably combine the two."
"I'm getting another drink, who wants something?" asked Chris, standing up.
"Sure," said the girls, handing him their cups.
As soon as Chris left the room, Jill leaned in towards Claire.
"So, tell me as much dirt as you can on your brother." The two laughed.
"What do you want to know?" asked Claire.
"Anything," said Jill.
"He used to be in boy scouts." Claire and Jill laughed. Jill wasn't really surprised though, thinking how he was now.
"Let's think," said Claire. "He used to be a little goodie good. He got good grades in elementary school, and junior high."
"Who had good grades?" asked Chris, putting the drinks down.
"You did," said Claire.
"I swear if you're telling Jill private stuff…"
"What's wrong Chris?" asked Jill. "Scared I'll tell?"
He mumbled something and sat down.
"So anyway," said Claire. "He was all sweet and good until he was about fourteen, then he went evil."
"Evil?" asked Jill, looking over at Chris.
"I wasn't evil," said Chris.
"Sure you weren't. So anyway, he went evil and did all this evil stuff. He drank, smoked, and got into a million fights. Luckily he never got arrested, seems like big brother here is very good at talking his way out of situations."
It was crazy to think that the seemingly perfect and always working late Chris had been such a rebellious teenager. Where did it all come from? And more importantly, where did it all disappear to? Jill watched Chris keep sipping his can of coke uncomfortably.
"Dad made him go to a shrink, and the shrink said he was crazy."
"No he didn't," interrupted Chris. "He said I had been holding back issues and the only way I could get them out was by rebelling. It was because of Mom's death."
Jill bowed her head a little. Not that Jill ever wished that her mother would die, but she wished at that moment to understand what Chris and Claire had gone through. It seemed unfair to be so happy, when they had so much sadness.
"So there you go," said Claire. "Mr. Rebel himself. He went crazy, ran away, joined the Air Force, and now here we are." Chris punched Claire's arm. She retaliated by smacking the back of his head. The two laughed.
"Are you done now?" asked Chris.
Claire thought for a moment. "Did he tell you he was whore in the Air Force?"
"CLAIRE!" yelled Chris. "I WASN'T A WHORE!"
"Sorry, man whore," she corrected. Claire and Jill laughed, causing Chris to blush. He covered his face with a pillow and kicked Claire, who just kept laughing.
"A man whore huh?" asked Jill.
"Well he slept around a lot, BUT, Chris is all done with that now, aren't you big brother? He promised me."
"Of course I'm done with it," said Chris. "And I can't believe that you know all of that Jill. I swear if you tell…"
"Cross my heart I won't," she said. "Let's shake on it." The two partners shook hands, and Claire applauded.
"But what about what happened last night?" asked Jill.
"What happened last night?" asked Claire.
"The guys were at a bar and some cops said things about me, and apparently Chris went crazy and wanted to beat the hell out of one of them."
Claire's face went white, and her jaw dropped. "What?" she asked and she looked at her brother whose face was as white.
"Nothing happened," he said. "I never even touched the guy."
"You better not have," said Claire. The siblings glanced at each other in an odd way. Jill felt like she was missing something, something important. But at the same time, she felt scared to ask. If it was important Jill was sure it'd come out.
"Now, who wants to play Playstation?" asked Claire.
"I'd love to!" said Jill. "As long as you don't mind that I'm terrible."
"I'll help you," said Chris.
The three played Playstation, talked, and just had a great night. Claire had bought her camera and took hundreds of photos. She took some of Jill, some of Chris, some of all three of them, and some of just Jill and Chris together. It seemed like Jill had only been in their presence for a few minutes, but when she looked at the clock on the wall it said 10:30 P.M. She didn't want to admit to herself or anyone, but she started to feel sleepy.
"Jesus, its 10:30 already?" asked Chris. "Claire, go to bed."
"What the hell! No, I don't want to go. I want to stay here and hang out with you and Jill. This is too much fun," said Claire.
"Unfortunately I better head off myself," said Jill. "I didn't get much sleep this afternoon and I'm starting to feel it. Claire, it was so nice to meet you." Jill stood up and was about to collect up her stuff when Claire pulled her into a hug. She hugged Jill so tightly, she could barely breathe.
"I had so much fun tonight," said Claire, letting Jill go. "I'm glad we got to meet and hang out."
"I did too. Promise me while you're here if you get bored, or your brother neglects to feed you to come over to my place," said Jill.
"I will," said Claire.
"I'll walk you out," said Chris, picking up her bags. "Claire go to bed."
"Asshole," she whispered, and she walked out of the room.
Jill opened the door, and Chris followed her into the hallway. They walked about halfway to the elevator and stopped.
"Thanks for tonight, it was fun," said Jill. "And I'm sorry if you got embarrassed. I promise, free pass whenever you want."
"Don't worry about it," said Chris. "I had fun too." He put her bags down and pulled Jill into a hug. He put his arms around her neck, and she put them around his back. She sighed and laid her head on his chest.
"How come you only let me touch you in private huh?" asked Chris.
Jill's head looked up from his chest, "Because we're colleagues Chris, professionals."
"Then why are you letting me touch you now?" he asked.
"We're in private," she whispered.
Chris looked around himself. "We're in a hallway, in my building, surrounded by several apartments. Last time I checked, that's public."
Jill shook her head, and gave him a playful push. He released her, and she looked at her watch.
"I really should go, and Claire's waiting for you."
Chris nodded and smiled to her. The two waved, Jill picked up her bags and turned to leave. God if he didn't do it now he would explode. Or better yet punch himself in the face. Chris marched in front of Jill who had about made it to the elevator, and stopped. Before she said anything Chris hugged her again. He tilted his head down and kissed her cheek. Their noses touched, and then he kissed her on the lips. Jill didn't fight, she didn't struggle, and she didn't shrug him off. She kissed back. Chris pulled back, stopping the kiss. Jill's eyes were closed, and when they opened he once more kissed her on the cheek. He then turned and walked back to his apartment. He opened and closed the door without looking back.
"So?" asked Claire.
Chris looked at her, his arms folded. Claire for a moment thought he'd scold her for being out of bed, just like her dad still did, but a warm smile wrapped across his face. He unfolded his arms, and scratched his back.
"We kissed," he said.
Claire paused for a moment, and then jumped off the couch and ran at her brother. "High five!" she said, putting her hand up. Chris slapped it, and then messed up her hair.
"Now will you please go to bed? Dad will kill me if he knew you were up this late," he said.
"What is up with you people?" Claire turned and headed to the spare room.
Chris sat down on the couch and picked up Claire's camera. He looked at it, turning it over and over in his hands. He sighed and wished he had a photo of Jill to put on his wall.