disclaimer: i own nothing Resident Evil related on this fanfic, just my own ideas for somewhat of a story, all characters and possible brands citations are property of their own respective owners.

Settling In

The next morning passed in a blur. She was sure Chris commented something about breakfast and dinner on his way out, but she didn't really pay attention to it. She felt as in a haze, she was there, but not feeling as if she was actually there. Her head was still thinking on everything that had happened. She spent the day unpacking, putting her clothes away, kitchen utensils that she didn't even know she had, moving and re-moving furniture around the house. Sometime during the afternoon, she finally decided to stop moving furniture around, she felt exhausted, her arm muscles burning. She just dropped to the floor, sitting in no particular corner of the room, but close to the window. She spent another hour just staring out of it, until the sun started to come down. That was her cue to get up and get moving again, looking around she saw boxes and went to them. Inside those she found more clothes, and on one of the boxes she found her old STARS outfit, along with papers and files, some old, some new. She stopped for a second, as if hit by an idea. But before she could do anything, someone suddenly entered the apartment. She instinctively jumped behind the couch and cursed under her breath for not having any weapons at hand.

"Jill? I heard you were home, where are you?" came the intruders voice.

Getting up behind the couch with a confused face Jill started.

"Chris? What are you doing here?"

"Dinner, I asked in the morning if you wanted to go out to grab something to eat or order anything tonight, and you said ok. Don't you remember?"

"I…can't say I do, no." "oh so that was what he said before he left." "But more importantly, how did you get in?"

"You never locked the door after I left it seems. But I do have a copy of your keys in case of... anything really." And here, a copy of the keys to my place for you." he said throwing her a key ring with four keys on it to her.

"Oh. Ok then. But, next time, at least ring the doorbell first yeah?"

"Ok. Then, so what'll be? Eat out or order something here? And did you move all the furniture around? And…mostly back to place?"

"Yeah, I wasn't quite satisfied with how things were placed but, well, I can't figure out a better way either, so other than opening more room in the living room and moving the dining table a little further into the corner, it's all mostly back to where it was."

"And she was probably absorbed in doing that the whole day, since she clearly hasn't eaten or taken a shower."

"You didn't have lunch did you? Or breakfast for that matter, since the sandwich I left is still on the fridge."

"And that's what he said about breakfast. Dammit, stop spacing out Jill." she thought biting her lower lip.

"And no shower too, so give me a few minutes then we decide on dinner." Jill said heading to her room and just as she passed the door and saw her old uniform hanging out of a drawer, she stopped. "Actually, let's just order something. I don't really feel like dealing with places with a lot of people right now." and saying that she pushed the uniform back into the drawer and got a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom.

"Ok, pizza or chinese?" screamed Chris from the living room.

"Chinese. Been a while since I ate that." "Or anything other than slightly-better-then-average hospital food."

"Ok." came the answer as she turned on the water.

Chris ordered their dinner, a slightly larger than normal order to make up for her not eating anything the whole day. While pacing around the house, he noticed the occasional scratch on the floor, repeated all across the apartment.

"Rearranging huh? Feels more like she was just moving as many heavy things as she could till she wore herself out."

Few minutes later and Jill was out of the shower, wearing a long sleeved shirt and jeans shorts. Chris just stared at her for a little.

"What? Something wrong with my outfit?"

"No, no. Just nice to see you in something resembling civilian outfits. You've been wearing nothing but either BSAA uniform variants, hospital clothing or something since…well, since Africa pretty much."

"Oh."

"Dinner should be here in a bit, want to watch a movie or something?"

"Sure, just no dumb stuff please."

"Ha, fair enough."

They watched movies, ate dinner when it arrived and had some idle chatter in between, nothing too serious, nothing too lengthy, just day to day stuff. Chris noticed that he did most of the talk, and most of the time he started whatever subject they were talking about. If he quieted down Jill would just sit silently staring at the television and eat. She ate most of the food they ordered, possibly without even noticing. Chris was satisfied that she was eating, but the way she was just shoveling down her food concerned him a little.

"So." for the first time in the night she started talking first.

"So?"

"You spending the night again?"

"That was the plan, yeah. Any problem with it?"

"No, just wish you'd let me know in advance. It's a single-woman's apartment you know, you should, I don't know, feel at least a little reserved about it?" she said with a small grin.

"Single-woman? All I see is a person slouching on the couch, shoving her face with food and watching movies. If anything reminds me more of a teenager."

Jill caught herself from spilling out her food.

"And I don't see you that way, you know that."

"Glad to see certain things don't change." Jill said curling on the sofa and leaning against Chris' shoulder and turning her face back to the tv.

The rest of the night was eventful, they watched more movies and a couple of shows on the tv until early morning, and around 4am Chris realized Jill was sleeping on his shoulder. So, he was stuck on that position unless he wanted to wake her up. She looked so helpless and yet so strong to him. At that moment he didn't feel as much as he needed to protect her, that his old partner was actually way stronger then she seemed, and he felt proud of it.

"Well, guess I'll just have to deal with the muscle pains in the morning." –and he went to sleep like that.

The next weeks passed with nothing important happening. Jill still kept to herself, not noticing or not answering most calls or messages, but she would receive visits every so often. She wouldn't really leave the apartment unless she had to; to buy groceries, food, or get more medicine. Her friends would talk among themselves about her every so often. Nobody actually felt she was being purposefully unsocial, she was just...distant, she would talk, chat idly, and even talk at length, but only when prompted to. She wouldn't initiate any conversation, she wouldn't try to call her friends, she wouldn't do anything, she would just respond to external stimuli. They were worried about her, something was off, but none of them could actually put a finger on it. "It actually feels like she is just really thinking really hard about something all the time." was something Rebecca said at one point, and Barry agreed. Actually, all of them did after thinking about it themselves for a while.

Claire and Chris were coming over more frequently than the others, him because he couldn't stop worrying about his partner and Claire cause she couldn't leave Jill keep eating as she had. All Jill would eat when left alone were instant noodles and other variety of instant food, that when she didn't completely skipped meals, so Claire and Chris were taking turns making sure she ate proper food whenever they could, and Claire would actually make some homemade food for her whenever she had the chance, which wasn't as often as she liked but at least it was better than nothing.

One day when Chris was over again to spend the night, on one of the usual silent moments Jill started.

"I think I'm going to check somethings."

"Hmm?" was all he could think of due to how random the comment felt to him.

"You know, actually check the neighborhood, maybe the surrounding towns. Just to get a grip of where I am. I do realize I haven't been going out much other than the 24 hour stores nearby, so I figure it would be good to get my bearings."

"Jill..."

"Relax Chris; I'm not going to vanish or anything, just really going to go around to familiarize myself with all of it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I thought about it. It should be good to take things off my mind too. I know everybody is worried about me, and just sitting here isn't helping anybody."

"Ok, I'm coming with you."

"No, you are not. You have BSAA work to attend to, and I don't need a babysitter."

He was going to saying something to but was cut off before he had the chance.

"This is not really open for discussion Chris, I was just letting you know. Didn't want to just vanish leaving a note behind, too dramatic for my tastes."

"That it is." he said after sighing in defeat. "Can you at least take your phone with you? And please call or message me or Claire if anything happens?"

"Fine. No promises on answering it though." –the last part said in a whisper.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. So, I'm leaving tomorrow after lunch. Claire should be coming over for lunch yeah? Could you please not tell her anything until tomorrow night?"

"Why?" Was his first thought. "Sure, I'll tell her tomorrow night than. Any idea how long you'll be gone?"

"Couple weeks at most I assume, not that many things to see I don't think. Now we, and by that I mean me, really need to try to get some rest for tomorrow, so goodnight." she said throwing him covers and a pillow and moving to the bedroom.

"Goodnight. And Jill?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care and have a nice trip."

"Heh, thanks."

The next day, as predicted, Claire arrived for lunch.

"Jill, I brought you some food today, tried my hand at making some yakisoba, never done it in my life, no clue if it's actually any good."

"So I'm the guinea pig huh?"

"Wah? You make it sound like I'm a bad cook! I'll let you know that even if the flavor is off I'm pretty sure it's at the very least edible."

"Fair enough. I made some tuna riceballs, not sure if they go along well with it but hey, we have a second option if nothing else."

Claire just froze holding the pot with the food she made inside.

"What?"

"Nothing it's just, you never cook. Ever, don't think I've seen you cook ever since I met you."

"Hey now, I know how to cook, mostly. Thought I don't really like doing it. And I'd hardly call making riceballs cooking."

"I want some."

"And your soba?"

"Oh, I'll heat it up, but give me some of those riceballs in the meantime."

"Sure."

Rest of the lunch passed uneventfully, as usual. Jill was slightly more talkative, and her riceballs also provided a good subject, or so Claire though, because she kept talking about it, to the point of leaving Jill slightly bashful from the undeserved praise, it were just riceballs after all, no way they could be so delicious, and also feeling somewhat guilty. On their goodbyes Jill held Claire's hand a little longer than normal, which prompted a inquiring face from her.

"Jill?"

"Ah, sorry." she said letting go of her hand and practically snapping her own back to her pockets. "Just wanted to say thank you."

"You are welcome?" Claire thought about commenting that Jill felt odd that evening, but refrained from doing so. "I'll see you soon, I have some heavier work load coming on TerraSave so I might not have much time for a couple days."

"It's ok, we'll see each other when we can." Jill said reassuringly.

After Claire left, Jill went straight to her room, getting her things together for her trip.

"No idea how long I'll be gone, so better pack extra outfits." looking at her drawers, she noticed her STARS outfit. "I'll be taking this with me." After packing her bags, that amounted to filling out as much as possible the bags on the motorcycle with necessities and outfit changes, Jill went back to make sure everything was right before she left. She stopped for a second, but went for her bedside and took her handgun. "It might come in handy...or at the very least be something familiar to hold"

The drive around the neighborhood was done fast, memorizing the roads and alleyways only took a couple hours. Her mind still worked well as expected for her line of work, reckon at its best, and the military and police training, checking for all cameras and possible dangerous and safe areas. "Good, still got this at least." And off she went to check the surrounding cities. She had a destination in mind, but she was going to get there eventually, after she was done with everything else she had in mind.

Next couple weeks were spent on the road, learning about the town, investigating some of the most recent BSAA activities that she had been kept in the dark about. She got some files and reports from few contacts she still had, and studied those while traveling about. At first she got one angry message from Claire, about her not telling her anything, and going off on her own, and over few weeks got some messages from other people just checking in and asking for updates. Mostly she'd ignore them, only answering with a "fine" or "sorry" every so often, but answers got sparser as she got closer to her final destination. And the messages also stopped after a while. At first she found it slightly odd, but then she figured people were finally giving her some space after being convinced she was fine, or fine enough. Claire not sending any messages seemed more strange then anything, worried as she seemed all the time. And the weeks turned to month, she got a few more messages from Chris, but she never read it, since most of his last messages had left her with a bad taste on her mouth, a feeling of incompetence and guilty.

And then, she was finally there. Raccoon City, where it all started. She couldn't get inside the city, or get close to site where the mansion or laboratory were previously located, but she could see it in the distance from a mountain top somewhat near the city but outside the perimeter. She went up and the mountain and got ready to set up camp, but gave up. She just put out a sleeping bag and sat on a log, while overlooking the city. She was lost in thought there, for hours, days, she didn't know for sure. The thought of going down into the city crossed her mind, but she decided against doing it, at least at the present. But it was a good place for her to just think. After some uncertain amount of time, she was taken off her reverie by the sound of an engine closing by. She didn't turn, and kept facing the city, she had a pretty good idea who it was. She heard the car's door closing, and the stepping sounds getting closer.

"He's angry, and carrying the weight of the world on his shoulder again."

The footsteps stopped a couple meters away, a loud grunt, followed by a tired sight.

"I'd say pull a chair and sit down, but all I can offer is the ground or the other side of this log."

"What are you doing here? Do you have any idea how dangerous this place could be? Or what has been going on?"

"Hello to you too Chris, long time no see."

"Jill."

"I've been just thinking, replaying everything on my head, what happened in the mansion, the city, my time on BSAA, and finally everything with Wesker."

Chris didn't say anything and just sat on the other side of the log, being back to back with Jill.

"…How long have you been here Jill?"

"A couple days... I guess? I honestly lost track of time."

"A couple days? From the instant noodle pots and how her hair and face looks I'd say it's been about a week."

"And?"

"And, it helped" she finally said getting up. "Sure it didn't suddenly make everything right in the world again, but it helped me put some things back together up here." she said tapping a finger against her head, before lightning a cigarrete.

"Since when do you smoke?"

"Since I got here I guess? I just had a box that had been packed with my things for some reason, and once I got here, I don't know, just decided to try it, and it didn't feel so terrible. Not sure yet if it'll become a habit, but I figured i'd finish this pack if nothing else."

"I…see. The city has really been leveled to the ground huh? First time I see it from up here, it looks different from down there, even though it looks as devastated, but this view really gives you an idea of the scope of things."

"Ah, yeah. You've been here on BSAA assignment to secure an area for the memorial right?"

"Yeah, wait, how did you that? That was after-"

"I read about it, believe it or not I still know some people in there and I got my hands on some papers and reports to get myself up to date with what happened while I was gone... and what was recorded that I did while I was under Wesker." that was met with silence from Chris, that didn't know exactly how to answer that. "But this place was a real hell, you were lucky to not be here for the outbreak."

'Can't say the same about Claire."

"Yeah, poor girl. And that cop that was with her, Leon. They did quite well for a rookie and a non-officially trained civilian. You should be proud."

"Oh I am, but she still worries me, especially after what just happened."

"Just happened? What happened?"

"I sent you messages, I guess you didn't read them as I thought." he said as he grunted. "She was kidnapped along with Barry's daughter and…he went on to explain all the happenings."

"Oh...is she ok? Are they ok? I never personally met Moira, but from what I heard from Barry she was a pretty nice girl."

"Yeah it's all sorted out now, they are back, the virus has been neutralized, and Barry got a new daughter, Natalia."

A relieved sigh was her response.

"Good, that should be good for Barry too, gets him closer to his daughter and hopefully give the guy some deserved rest. But another Wesker huh?"

"Yeah…wait you don't seem surprised at all."

"Yeah, while under Wesker I heard him talking to others. It didn't seem like they got along at all actually. No idea how many there were or if there's more left though, sorry."

Few minutes of silence, and then Jill broke it.

"Want to go down there to the station? I have my old uniform and our old badges." she said with a grin.

"No thanks, I'll pass on that. And we should probably head back, people are worried about you, and probably me right now, I've been gone for a week looking for you, you were hard to track."

"Heh, next time then." she said stretching. "Ow ow, I'm hurting all over, I've probably been out here way longer than I thought."

"No kidding lady."

"So, let's go, just give me a sec to pack up…which is just rolling up my sleeping bag."

"You are going back in that?"

"In what?"

"You are wearing your STARS uniform."

"Oh, I forgot I changed into it. I was sure it was still in the bag. Guess it still fits well huh."

"Yup, looks just like when we were on Raccoon PD." –he said with a faint smile.

"Ok, I'm done packing, officer Redfield, head out!"

"Yes, mam!" he said half-saluting her while getting up. "Jill, your meds?"

"Oh I forgot about those." she leaned down and grabbed the small cylinder flask. And tossed it with all her might towards the city.

"What are you-"

"I'm overcoming it. I'm glad for what help it gave me, but it kept my mind clouded for most of the time, and right now I think I'll be fine without it, I don't think it could help me more anyways, just I can help myself at this point."

"Well you might be right on that, but are you sure?"

"Yeah I am, and if I ever need it again, I know right where to go look for it."

Chris shrugged as if to say "your call", and started moving back to his car.

"Meet back at my place? Or yours?"

"Mine, I guess Claire and Rebecca will want to see you as soon as possible." he answered a little surprised by the question.

"Ok then." she said, throwing down and putting out her cigarete while mounting on her bike and putting her helmet on. "See you there then slowpoke." she said while starting her engine, revving it really loud and rushing down the mountain path. Chris could swear he could see a smile on her face, a kind of smile he hasn't seen in a while.

"You have the advantage now since I'm on a city car, but we'll see once we hit the road!" he boasted while starting down the mountain as fast as he could trying to catch up to her.

They raced the whole way back, from stop to stop, each time they'd race and whoever arrived last would cover the bill, which wind up being Chris on nearly all stops but one. About 18hours of driving later, with the time spent on the stops added, at last they got to Chris' house, or Jill did, considering Chris was stopped by the police on the road for a random check, or so Jill figured out. She was probably a couple hours ahead of him. She rang the doorbell and waited. The door slowly opened, revealing Rebecca behind it with a surprised face, but soon everything was covered by red, as Claire dove in for a hug. And Jill was so exhausted after the whole trip and the drive back that she didn't have the strength to hold them up, and they both went down crashing on the ground.

"Ow! Glad to see you too Claire, but take it easy on me for now please."

"Oh my god are you ok? I didn't-"

"It's ok, I'm fine, I just drove for too many hours in a row and was already tired from my trip so… sorry."

Why the STARS uniform? –Rebecca kept thinking but kept to herself.

"Well, for now, you should move from her and we should help her get her things inside. Bring the bike around and park alongside Claire's on the garage, I'll fill the tub with hot water for you. Claire get her something to eat, then she should get some rest. We'll talk in the morning."

"S-sure." was Claire's delayed answer.

"And Jill?"

"Yeah Rebecca?"

"Happy to finally have you back." Rebecca said with a sincere smile.

"Same here." said Jill turning her back to them and just waving her hand while pushing her bike into the garage.

Claire was staring at Rebecca as if meaning to ask something, but got cut off by her preemptive answer.

"In the morning Claire, for now let's just set things up so she can rest for the night, and also for your brother, he'll probably be getting here soon."

"Right."

AN:

Again, reviews are welcomed. Most of this was written super late, so excuse me if any errors derive from that.

This chapter was more confusing to put on "paper" then i imagined, i had an idea but felt really confusing putting it all down and have it make as much sense as it did in my head. For those that noticed, the kidnap of Claire and Moira are the events of Revelations 2, which won't be talked much into the story, at least not more then it already had. And again, turned longer then expected.

Updates to the story wont always be this often, but i have the general idea for about 5 or so chapters, so those should come out relatively faster, assuming i can write down and actually settle on what i write instead of rewriting it over and over. hehe