All content pertaining to Resident evil is copywrite to Capcom.

Patching Things Up

-Chapter Two-

"Haven't you ever heard of a doorbell or knocking?" the young woman scowled as she applied alcohol to a large cut surrounded by a bruise on the side of Billy's face.

Guilt and embarrassment filled her chest as she started to tend to the ex-marine's wounds. Nimble fingers continued to dab the red gash with the cotton swab as she shook her head. Billy hadn't been too beat up by her, just the head wound and a lovely bite mark on his arm where she had sunk her teeth in. Her emotions about him were mixed, considering it had been a month. Both overjoyed and angry to see the man who had survived hell with her, Rebecca said nothing more as she tended to his wounds.

"I didn't want you to know I was here," he said simply.

Billy didn't look any different than he had when she had met him last; untidy brown hair, a gray muscle shirt covering his toned chest, plain blue jeans and a brown belt. The black tattoo still danced down his right arm. His dark eyes gazed at her in the same empty way they always had, making him look the same as usual. Only he looked beat up, courtesy of yours truly. Rebecca placed the used cotton swab on the kitchen counter. The lights were back up, thanks to Billy, so she didn't have to grope around for the surgical tape.

"Well I think you lost that deal when you knocked over my pan wrack," she said sarcastically. Billy looked slightly annoyed. Rip, the first piece of tape was in her fingers and ready to be applied to the nasty gash on his forehead.

"I didn't do that," he began, "there was someone else in your apartment. They've been scaling you Rebecca, keeping tabs on what you do and where you go. I saw him the other day when I watched you go to work, he was following you," he began but Rebecca interrupted.

"You've been stalking me?!" she asked, surprised, she stopped what she had been doing, her fingers poised above applying small pieces of surgical tape in case the wound had the idea of reopening. Annoyed, she placed the piece on a little to hard and watched Billy wince, though he didn't say anything, "Sorry…" she mumbled.

Billy seemed torn between what to say. Obviously he was amused with the idea of being accused of stalking anybody, especially a female member of S.T.A.R.S. who had spent various amounts of time with him on a zombie-filled train. Rebecca couldn't believe what he was saying. How long had he been watching her? Where had he gotten all the information on where she worked? Where she lived? She felt like someone had just displayed the contents of her clothes draw to the public.

"I couldn't help it," Billy grinned.

"Oh so you cut my power and- wait, someone was in my apartment aside from you?" she felt a chill crawl up her spine.

Rebecca's brown hair slid into her face but she paid no attention to it and moved to place the last mini strip of surgical tape on the gash to the right left of his right eye. Someone had been following her…in her apartment…they had been the one to knock down the pan wrack and cut her power. Did they want to kill her? Or just snoop around her stuff, looking for something important? It dawned on her then, was Umbrella watching her?

"Yeah. I managed to scare him away but I'm sure they'll be back. Umbrella's keeping tabs on you Rebecca. I can't tell if they want you dead but it's not safe to be in this city anymore," Billy's voice trailed off and he looked into her green eyes, something like worry written on his stoic face.

"But why?" she questioned, still in shock that the company was watching her.

"The remaining members of S.T.A.R.S are the only ones who knew what truly went on there. My guess is that Umbrella tried to kill you guys off with the mansion but you upset their master plan. The five remaining members of the team are a direct threat to the company," he paused, "I think they want to find a way to get rid of you Rebecca."

Even when such a horrific plan came from the comforting voice of Billy, she still felt as though someone had just told her she was going to die. A sad realization came upon her. The Bravo team had been sent in not to investigate the area, well, maybe at first, but rather to gather data for Umbrella's greedy hands. In the end they would have been abandoned and destroyed, marked down as dead. The same thing would happen with the Alpha team.

The head of the company, Albert Wesker had used them as puppets in a greater scheme. Now she understood why Jill had been so intent on those papers. They hadn't been documents for the police office; those papers had been official Umbrella documents. The 'vacations' that Barry and Chris had taken certainly weren't to Hawaii or Florida. Suddenly she felt sick. How could Wesker do something like that to them? His hand-picked team, his friends, companions, was power the only thing he cared for?

Silence for a moment. And then Rebecca spoke.

"So then why were you following me?" she pressed, curiosity the only reason she kept questioning, "and where the heck did you get the location of my work office and apartment?" she raised her eyebrow.

"It was easy," Billy spoke nonchalantly, "all I had to do was read the paper. 'STARS missing something', 'STARS members traumatized', 'Fallen STARS'. People seemed to like making fun of you guys, but they conveniently put the name of the address of the station below," he paused, "I slipped in one day and dug up your records. Originally I just wanted to say thanks to your face but that's when I found they were following you."

Note to self, get better security for the office. She spoke in her mind.

"So you were going to break into my apartment anyways?" she raised her eyebrow, placing the surgical tape back down on the table by the rest of the stuff. Billy looked slightly guilty, an expression that didn't fit him so well.

"I would have used the door bell," he joked, she scowled but was glad to have his sense of humor lighting up the apartment.

"Not funny Billy," she scowled but found herself smiling, her eyes fell to the bite mark on his hand, "You look like horrible with all those cuts and bruises, especially that hand," Rebecca motioned her head towards the still-bleeding bite mark on his arm. The medic in her drained the guilt from her face, momentarily.

"Whose fault is that?" Billy grinned. Rebecca flushed with embarrassment.

"I said I was sorry! Why didn't you fight back?" she sighed and picked up more cotton swabs, swishing them with alcohol to disinfect her bite mark on Billy's hand. The situation couldn't have been more embarrassing for her even if she had been wearing her other set of pajamas.

"I didn't want to hurt you," he confessed, "Hopefully you don't have rabies."

"Just give me your hand," Rebecca flushed crimson once more, grabbing the hand that Billy held out for her. She grabbed the cotton swab and began to dab at the wound upon it. Rebecca marveled at how toned Billy's arm appeared to be, the muscles looking almost graceful. Continuing to dab the blood away, she listened to Billy play more on his joke.

"Thanks doll-face, now I'll have battle scars to brag about to the boys," Billy laughed. She wasn't sure what sort of battle he was talking about but Rebecca chose to ignore his crude commentaries, only dabbing harder.

"You know, you're lucky I didn't shoot you," she pointed out, suddenly aware that Billy was watching as she finished dabbing the blood away from the bite mark. It didn't look like it would scar, though it might take a bit for the mark to heal up.

"Guess so," Billy sighed, watching Rebecca finish her work. Finally she placed the cotton swab down, suddenly aware that she was holding Billy's hand. Before the man could speak a wisecrack or further address her lingering touch, Rebecca dropped his hand and began to put away her medical supplies. They fit neatly into the pack she had hanging around.

Silence ensued for a few moments, as though Billy was thinking about something important. Rebecca pretended she was truly preoccupied with putting stuff back into the rightful places.

Reluctantly Rebecca began to pick up the array of pots and pans, glad that Billy had been repaired from her merciless beating. She was sure that the man would never let that go, so long as he stayed around her. Though it was strange to her that the first thing he would do once he got out of the forest was visit her. Didn't he have something better to do? She let her curiosity get the better of her and spoke before her mind could censor her mouth.

"Why come here? Don't you have a family to go back to? A girlfriend? Maybe a brother or something?" Rebecca questioned, placing the last pan on the wrack so that it swung like a pendulum.

"My girlfriend…she left me, once I came back from the mission, and my mom's been long gone for a while, so I really didn't have anywhere else to go," Billy shot back, though there was no anger in his voice for her asking so, only a remorse for a life that he had lost thanks to matters out of his control. The pan stopped swinging.

"I'm sorry, that was none of my business," she looked forlorn, eyes turning towards the windows.

The shades were shut and the house was quiet but she couldn't help but feel this place wasn't safe anymore. It had been her home for ages; her parents had helped her move in when she had first been accepted into S.T.A.R.S. At the young age of 18 she was brought into the program for her incredible knowledge on medicines. While trained for combat, Rebecca was never really admitted on a mission until her 19th year. That mission had been the Mansion recovery unit. Her first mission and she had lost her entire team...

Her mother and father still loved her regardless of what the papers said about the delusional members of S.T.A.R.S. She hadn't told them much but it was enough to make her worry about them. The older couple lived a ways away from here, middle class people who loved their daughter to pieces. She was glad that they weren't anywhere near the city. Rebecca's affiliation with S.T.A.R.S. had become a dangerous thing and she didn't want to drag her unsuspecting parents into the dark abyss with her.

"Thanks for patching me up," Billy spoke and stood up, tucking the bar stool underneath Rebecca's kitchen counter.

She leaned against the cool black surface, the homey atmosphere of her kitchen had sunken to a hostile environment. The place she knew as home was no longer safe…people were tailing her…there was no way she could get out of this mess alone. Was Jill being tagged as well? Watched in every minute of her life like some sort of criminal? Rebecca wondered if she should send an email but assumed that the mail would be read through too. If they had the ability to follow her every day then they certainly wouldn't have an issue thumbing through someone's personal emails.

"For the first time in my life, I have no idea what to do," Rebecca sighed, slumping over the counter like a rag doll.

The brown-haired male watched Rebecca as though he hadn't expected her to say that. Perhaps the prospect of the team member not knowing what to do, not firmly placing her foot down, was a thing that he had yet to see. After all the first time they had met she tried to arrest him, though Billy was smarter than to just let a S.T.A.R.S. member cuff him again. He hadn't been about to bow down to the lost sense of justice within the country.

"If you want you could stay at my place, I rented out an old motel room. Nothing special but you would be safe there. They wouldn't be able to follow you if they couldn't find you," he proposed. Rebecca sat up, a new light shed upon her seemingly hopeless situation.

"But Billy that would put you in danger too! If they find out who you are…" she trailed off, afraid for her old-time companion.

"They won't." Coming from him, those words almost seemed to convince her.

Rebecca didn't know what to do. She wanted to be safe and Rebecca wanted to keep her friend in her life, just not by jeopardizing his. However Billy's safety came before hers, such was the ways of her personality. The offer had been extended but Rebecca knew that she would decline. The medic shook her head.

"I can't." Simple words and yet they hurt her to say that.

Silence as the two locked gazes, each intent on keeping the other safe while disregarding their own health.

"Rebecca…" Billy began his voice as strong as his will.

Under the weight of his dark gaze, Rebecca stood strong, her own eyes burning with emerald fire. Normally she would have felt ridiculous standing there in panda-bear pajama shorts and an oversized t-shirt, but right now she felt as though she could take on the world. Her gun rested on the counter besides her, right by her medical kit.

"I won't put you in danger." The argument of wills had begun.

"You're coming with me even if I have to drag you through the streets kicking and screaming," he challenged.

"I'd like to see you try," she accepted.

In a movement too quick for her eyes to follow, Billy lunged at her. Maybe she hadn't expected the convict to follow his bluff or perhaps she just hadn't registered what was happening, either way her response was too slow. Wrapping muscled arms around her waist, he lifted her up off the ground and slung her over his shoulder. Despite her kicking, Rebecca didn't scream as she would have normally. That would only wake the neighbors up…and what a show that would be.

"Billy!" she protested, beating his back with her fists, "put me DOWN!"

He seemed to be amused with her reaction. Billy tightened his grips on her as she attempted to struggle. In a battle of strength there was no doubt that Billy would win, his training far outweighed her own. Still, she found herself protesting as his shoulder dug into her gut. Billy was grinning.

"I will if you come with me," he offered.

"No! I told you I won't put you in danger, I-" he moved closer to the door, "for god SAKE Billy, I'm in my pajamas!" she flushed red as his left hand reached for her front door knob, "FINE. I'll go. Put me down and let me get my stuff."

"As you wish, hun," he lowered her to the ground, a grin stretched across her face. Rebecca scowled at him as she regained her footing, tugging the edges of her T-shirt back so that it covered her abdomen.

In a swift motion she descended into her bedroom to gather her items.

Author's Note
Yes, I am aware that this story is very cutesy for a RE fic, don't worry, the action is coming.
I'm having a hard time formulating plot ideas though, i've had to redue several chapters.
So suggestions are very welcome, in fact i'll give you a cookie if you've got one.
Thank you for your comments guys! They keep me going!
Much Love,
Jill Loituma