Greetings RE fans!
I wrote this little oneshot a couple days after beating RE 5. I was pretty disappointed that Chris and Jill didn't get any kind of emotional closure after being reunited, but...I guess that's what fanfics are for! lol Also, I wrote this before Lost in Nightmares, so the title is somewhat coincidental. Kinda made me feel special when I found out about the bonus chapters that were later released. Anyways, enjoy! And feedback is greatly appreciated. :)
End of the nightmare
Rain poured gently outside the bar. Nothing like a little booze to help kick off a celebration. And a reunion...
"We've come a very long way, haven't we?" Jill asked, thinking about their journey thus far.
In the very beginning, they had stood in the center of it all. On July 24th, 1998, Wesker had started the nightmare in the arklay mountains outside of Raccoon City, and now, about a decade later, the nightmare had finally come to an end.
Jill looked over at her partner, sitting next to her at the counter, waiting for a response.
"Yeah, we sure have." Chris replied, lifting his glass and positioning it in anticipation of a cheers! "It's finally over." He added.
"Finally," Jill echoed her comrade, clinging their glasses together as a sign of victory. They both nodded and took their respected drinks and set their glasses back down on the counter with a heavy thud.
"The beer here hasn't changed one bit," Jill smiled.
"Yea," Chris glimpsed over at Jill. It was so strange to him, to be sitting next to his partner who had been presumed dead for months. He felt happier than he had in what felt like years, but he felt hesitant to show it. Instead, he picked up his glass and took another drink of the amber, burning liquid.
"So how is your recovery going?" He asked, placing his glass back on the counter. "The wound on your chest from when we removed that P-30 device looked pretty serious."
"Well, the drug itself did both harm and good, I guess," his partner replied. "I'm in top physical form, with no sign of molecular imbalance or degeneration. And the area where it was implanted has almost completely healed."
"That's great," Chris smiled, something he was once again able to do without having to fake it now that Jill was back in his life.
"Yeah," Jill sighed. "Of course, I have this huge scar across my chest to remind me about it. So, I guess it's almost like the device is still there."
Chris frowned at the thought. It was hard enough for them to forget the horrendous atrocities they've come across. A scar would only add more weight to Jill's conscience. "That device wasn't easy to remove." He said after a moment. "You know, you really had me worried back there."
Jill nodded in response. They both gazed at their glasses sitting on the counter, remembering the moment when Jill had regained her free-will in Chris' arms.
"I'm so sorry." Chris said after a moment of silence amongst them. He was almost inaudible.
There was a slight pause before Jill decided to speak, unsure if she had actually heard him right.
"...what?" She asked timidly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"That was the first thing you said to me when you came back," he looked at her, eyes glossed over with a heart-warming gleam as he remembered how relieved he had been to know that she was alive.
Jill looked back at Chris, "I really was sorry." She said. "For putting you through all that."
"It wasn't your fault." Chris smiled. "And besides," He said, putting his hand over hers on his shoulder. "I would gladly do it all over again."
Jill knew he meant it. She leaned over and rested her forehead on his shoulder, closing her eyes and listening to the rain.
They sure had come a long way.
Without warning, lightning lit up the bar, followed by a clash of thunder.
Chris abruptly spun around on his barstool, drawing his handgun and aiming it at a man in his late forties who had just entered the bar.
"Chris!" Jill said, alarmed. She placed a hand on the top of his handgun. "It's okay." She said, trying to sound less startling. She felt the gun shake under her grasp. It wasn't like Chris at all to have an unsteady hand.
Feeling no immediate danger and hearing the concern in Jill's voice, Chris slowly came back to his senses.
He apologized to the man who had come in, who then quickly backed out and left, taking off like a bat out of hell down the street.
Chris sighed heavily as he put his gun away, staring at the floor of the bar.
"Chris," Jill said, concerned. He'd been reacting pretty harshly to any slight reminder of his past lately. She wondered if it would gradually get any better.
As he turned to look at her, his eyes full of regret and sadness, the bar-keeper approached them from the other side of the bar.
"I'm very sorry, I know you two are very loyal customers, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The man told them. "We're closing here in a few minutes anyway."
"What time is it?" Jill replied, facing the man briefly.
"It's almost 2 a.m." The barkeeper replied, grabbing up their glasses without even asking if they were done.
Jill nodded as the barkeeper began clearing off the counter, then she turned back to Chris.
"Are you okay?" She asked him.
"Uh, yeah," he said, rubbing his forehead. "I'm fine. Just...it's been hard to shake off some of these memories and lower my guard nowadays."
"Well, we better get going." Jill answered, picking her hat and keys up off the counter. She helped Chris off the barstool and started heading toward the door, remembering to place her hat onto her head before stepping outside and holding the door for Chris. "I'll drive."
Once they were outside, Chris stopped Jill.
"Wait," He said, the rain trickling gently around the two of them like tiny needles. "I don't want to go home yet. I still feel a little on edge."
Jill turned and stared at Chris for a moment, trying to read his expression. He looked a bit worried.
"Because of what happened in the bar?"
"Yeah, but there's also something else. I just can't stop thinking of what happened in Africa. You've had some repercussions too, right? And flashbacks?" He paused. "I'd just rather not be alone right now."
"I understand." Jill replied. "Everyone's been really worried about you lately, though. Ever since Africa. Guess that's why they decided to give you some time off."
"Why did you get time off from the BSAA, Jill?"
"Needed time to recover, of course. Both physically and mentally...being under Wesker's control was...never something I wanted to be a part of. Not to mention helping with the production of biological weaponry."
Chris sighed in frustration. "We wouldn't be repeating the nightmare if I had just...I'm sorry I didn't get to you soon-"
"-Shhh," Jill cut him off, placing a partially-gloved finger over his lips. "What's done is done. It's over now."
For a moment, neither of them said a word. Instead, Jill lowered her hand silently and they just looked at each other, the past reflecting in their eyes. They had been through a lot. Seen a lot. Experienced the most unimaginable horrors that no human being should ever have to face. Both together and separate.
But they had managed to make it out of each and every obstacle alive and find their way back to each other. And Jill was thankful for that. When she dove out that window to save Chris, she was sure that was the end of the line. But she had no regrets. And now here they were. He had rescued her. Both him and Sheva.
"You came looking for me, even though you weren't even sure that I was still alive."
She wrapped her arms around him and they formed a strong yet gentle embrace. "Thank you, Chris."
They stood for a while, completely silent except for the sound of the lightly sprinkling rain.
"Think he'll come back?" Chris suddenly asked.
The question made Jill's heart jump briefly in her chest.
He? She thought. He could only be referring to...
She broke from their embrace just enough to place her hands on the side of his face, in an attempt to comfort him as she asked, "Where did that come from?"
Chris lowered his eyes, lightly grabbing her wrists as she stroked the sides of his unshaven face with her thumbs. He knew that she would understand his fears better than anyone else.
"You're not still having nightmares, are you?" Jill's voice grew concerned. "Chris, he's gone. You and Sheva both saw to that."
She lifted his face to look him in the eyes.
"Listen to me." She said, seriously. "Wesker is gone. He isn't coming back this time."
"Yeah," Chris said, allowing Jill to take him back into her arms. He believed it when she said it, even though it had been said more than once to him by various people.
This time, he rested his chin on her shoulder. The sight would have been odd to see if someone had been walking down the street at that hour. A man of Chris' stature taking refuge in the arms of someone so petite in comparison. But he didn't care.
"Well, I guess even if he did, he's not taking you away from me again." Chris said, wrapping his arms more securely around Jill.
The two stood there in each other's arms for a while under the light of the tall lamps that lit the street. They listened to the sound of the rain and each other's soft breaths against the cold, night air.
Chris took a deep breath, taking in the moment, and then finally let out a prolonged sigh of happiness and relief. It really was...finally over.
"I'm so glad you're alive, Jill." He said, letting her go just a bit so that he could look into those beautiful, sky-blue eyes of hers.
She smiled back at him, and before he knew it, their lips were pressed together in a soft yet curious kiss.
When they broke away from each other, leaning their foreheads against one another, Jill whispered, "Chris?"
"Hmm?"
"What took you so long?"
The two laughed, without a care in the world as they remembered that the world could be a gentle, loving place once again.