A/N: Sorry it took so long and that it's so short. Fanfiction was not letting me access the story. Next few chapters written
Jill headed to her small house in the Cider District, her dark green hatchback rattling to a stop in her driveway. The two neighbor girls, Becky and Priscilla McGee, ran to greet her. Jill bent down to give the nine- and seven- year old hugs. They were smiling from ear to ear.
Becky, the older, curly haired sister, spoke quickly. "Jill, we're going on a picnic and wanted you to come. Can you? Please?"
Jill smiled back, calculating everything that she had to do. Bills that had been due a week ago, needed to get a birthday card in the mail for a friend back in Indiana, pick up laundry at the dry cleaner's, the list went on. "I'm sorry, I wish I could, but I have a lot of errands to run right now. Tell ya what, I promise to go with next time, just let me know a day before. Sound like a deal?"
They nodded, Priscilla's pig tails bobbing, happy that their grown-up friend would go with them soon. They ran back to their waiting parents, who waved at Jill. She waved back, thinking how lucky she was to have such friendly neighbors.
By the time Jill was done running back and forth across town, it was time for dinner. Chris' car was already sitting against the sidewalk in front of the Burton house.
The instant Jill made it through the door, Claire practically tackled her with a happy shriek.
"Someone's sure excited to see me," commented Jill. Claire responded with a mischievous grin.
She slipped off her shoes and headed for the living room where Chris and the Burtons chatted, exchanging stories from their Air Force days. Chris patted the cushion next to him, indicating it was free as he continued retelling how he had gotten back at a certain Lieutenant. Barry's laughter boomed , his face red as he slapped his knee. "I was wondering where that footlocker went!"
"Or there was that one time we sent Snyder for the one-D-ten-T forms"
"And the chem. light batteries." He burst out laughing again.
Kathy, Barry's wife, looked at Jill with warm, auburn eyes. "Good to see you, Jill. How have things been going?"
"They've been great, actually. Work has been fairly calm, my partner isn't too much of a nutcase," she said, punching Chris playfully in the arm, "and Wesker seems to be going soft in his old age."
"So Barry's told me," Kathy added.
"How have things been around here?"
"Well, Barry's probably told you all there is to know about the girls. It's been… quiet I guess. But that's been nice."
"I bet. I wish that I could get some peace and quiet." Valentine glared at Chris, getting a "what, me?" look in return.
Kathy laughed, then something in the kitchen beeped. "Be right back, don't want the potatoes to get to dried out."
After they ate, they talked more and there was a somewhat violent game of rummy before Chris and Jill decided it was time to head home. It was late, and Wesker wanted them in the office early.
"I'll see you in the morning Chris. Have a good night." He gave her a long bear hug before they left.
When Jill got home, she kicked off her shoes and turned on the TV before heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth. But what was on the news stopped her cold.
Chris, hungry again even after the mass amount of food he had downed and much to his sister's amazement, grabbed a slice of cold pizza from his nearly empty fridge and gobbled it down before Claire could fit in a snide remark. He knew it was coming, but just as she opened her mouth the phone rang. Chris snatched it from its cradle. "Hello?"
"Um, Chris… it's Jill."
Was she crying? "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just… I mean, I need to talk to you, now. Something happened. Can you make it over here? I know it's late, but-"
"Jill, don't worry about it. I'll be over in a sec. Do you want Claire too?"
"Uh… no, I don't think so."
"Okay, give me about five minutes."
"Thanks."
He set the phone down and grabbed his jacket and keys, getting a worried look from Claire. "I'll be back, don't worry about it. You know where everything is, make yourself at home." The door slammed behind him.
Chris showed up at Jill's exactly five minutes later with a bucket of chocolate ice cream, finding Jill sitting sullenly on her bed. Looking up with bloodshot eyes, she saw him and flew from the mattress and into his arms. The ice cream hit the floor with a thud, but luckily stayed upright as Chris held her tight. She began to sob into his shoulder, and he rocked her back and forth gently.
"Shh… it's gonna be okay." This only made her cry more. He guided her back to the bed and sat next to her as she sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes. He could barely stand to see the usually calm and confident Jill Valentine in this state. He squeezed her shoulder, and she looked down at her feet.
"I just… I can't believe this happened, I was just talking to them an hour before. God, I just can't believe it." She shook her head, sniffling again. Chris pulled her closer.
"Brought you ice cream," he tried hopefully.
She managed a weak smile. "Thanks."
"What happened?"
Jill explained about how the two neighbor girls had invited her to a picnic and she hadn't been able to go, then while they were on the picnic the two girls had wandered off into the wooded part of the park and disappeared. When their parents found them, there wasn't much left that was recognizable. The police report confirmed human bite marks.
"I'm so sorry." Jill had begun to cry again. "I promise you, we're gonna find these guys and put them away for a long time."
"You don't know that," she croaked.
"I do. I don't know how, I just know. Call it Redfield intuition."
That produced another attempt at a smile from her. "Chris, you're the best. I love you, like a brother."
Chris was surprised that the last thing she said stung a little. Like a brother. That should make it happy, and the fact that it didn't worried him. But he couldn't let her know that, and covered it up with a smile. "Thanks. I love you too."
