It had to be done, even if it wasn't her place to do it. Jill loved Chris, in a strictly platonic manner, and she wanted what was best for him, which in this case was undeniably Robin. Of course, she wasn't the only one who felt that way - nearly everyone had seen their inevitable romance a mile away and they had completely supported them - yet there was one person who disagreed with the rest; Barry, Robin's father and Chris's best friend. Jill understood that he was upset and felt betrayed by two of the closest people in his life, but he should have realized that they would never intentionally hurt him.
So she had taken it upon herself to pay the Burton residence a little visit.
At The Spencer Estate...
Standing outside of the long-lived European manor, the crimson sun bleeding beyond the royal purple, mountainous horizon, a battle-ready Robin and a combat-adjusted Leon cocked their handguns before entering the building. Reaching out to open the burdensome gateway, Robin found that it was locked from the inside, and most likely boarded up to keep intruders like them out. But who in the world could have done that, and more importantly, why did they do it? Following Leon along the left-hand side of the building, they found a backdoor hidden behind a wall of ivy. The door was rusting itself shut from disuse, but Leon managed to get it open. If Robin had tried, nothing probably would have happened.
"Good job," Robin clapped his shoulder supportively, tailing him inside the pitch black room.
Glad that she had kept her lighter after giving up her precious cigarettes, Robin produced the freshly refilled lighter from her tight back pocket. Flicking it open, a small orange flame burst into existence, illuminating Leon's back. Holding it out, she took the lead, "Cover me."
"Yeah." He agreed almost at once, switching her places. If he could say anything good about being Ashley Graham's bodyguard, it was that he had become an expert at protecting people's backs. And unlike Ashley, Robin wasn't completely useless in a tense situation.
Holding the flame overhead, a faint bubble of yellow light revealing some kind of carpentry workshop with blood encrusted implements, Robin felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck begin to rise. Saws lined the walls on pegs and there were dark stains on the floor that they strongly suspected was blood, and perhaps worst of all, there was a musty odor that was seeping from the walls - a stench that told of torture, suffering, and bloodshed. Doing to her best to keep from doubling up and vomiting where she stood, Robin chanced a look behind her to see how Leon was holding up.
He was completely unaffected, the lucky bastard!
Unable to miss the fact that she wasn't faring so well, he walked up behind her, momentarily touching his hand to her elbow, "Robin, are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine!" She said one thing, but her body was saying another. Tauter than an elven bow, she appeared almost possessed, the way she was rolling her shoulders and trying to stay erect. Over all, it seemed as if gravity were pressing down upon her and she was fighting it with all of her might.
Firmly grabbing her shoulder, careful not to grab it too hard though, he refused to budge until she told him the truth, or a certain degree of it, "I never should have let you get this far in your condition."
Perceiving that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, nor would he allow her to, she sighed in defeat, "It's this room... It reeks!"
Sniffing the air, he could detect an undertone of rot, but it was so faint, he could barely identify it. So why was she so adamant that it smelled bad? Better yet, why was it almost bringing her to her knees? Wait a minute... nausea, increased sensitivity to smell, and he was pretty sure that she seemed less alert than she was in Finland... why didn't he see it before? Why didn't she see it, when it was so obvious? Unless...
Cutting off that train of thought for the time being, there was a loud crashing sound that came from just outside the door. It was reminiscent of a suit of armor, but Leon had fought armor before, and that was no armor. Running through the remainder of the room and throwing the door open, Robin was immediately grabbed by a Guardian of Insanity. Wrapping hands bigger than trash bin lids around her neck, it lifted her into the air before she could blink. Struggling against the gruesome experiment, she kicked the air and dug her nails into its hand, trying to pry it off of her. Firing at the beast, acid blood rained out, but it remained unaffected. Reloading his gun, Robin's time rapidly running out, he ran around the monster, seeing a yellow eye in its muscly hump, not unlike the eye of g-virus infected monstrosities. Shooting the eye on its back, Leon caught Robin when the monster dropped her.
"Thanks." She massaged her throat where the monster had grabbed her, coughing and hacking as air returned to her lungs. That was the second time he had saved her in a moment of uselessness.
About to respond, the Guardian of Insanity swung it's massive anchor at the pair of them. Gathering that she was going to need a minute to recover, Leon realized that it would be up to him to bring the monster down. Acknowledging the same, she crossed her arms over her chest, giving him her permission. Knowing exactly what she meant for him to do, he kicked her out of the way, aiming at her arms. She slid across the floor, just far enough to roll out of the fray. He flattened himself against the ground just in the nick of time; the Guardian's weapon struck the air. Springing up like a ninja, firing his gun at the exact same time, Robin shot at the creature's back, perfectly hitting the eye with every round. Together, they brought the Guardian to his knees. Walking around it, Leon stabbed it in the back, finishing it off.
"We make a good team." He grabbed her forearm, pulling her up, noticing that her neck was already beginning to bruise where the Guardian had held her. He had the sinking feeling that she wasn't going to return from this encounter.
Neither did she. Robin had been afraid of what she could learn, and she wanted to tell Chris that before she left, but she knew that if she were to have said the words out loud, she would have lost her nerve.
She concurred, "Like Robin Hood and Little John."
"I was thinking more like Batman and Robin," He smirked.
She was about to retort, but a single canister of teargas was thrown into the corridor from the deep shadows. Trying to get out of the spreading cloud, they both collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Yet before they were fully out of commission, they saw a figure with red eyes coming towards them. No, it was someone in a gas mask...
"Target acquired," the figure spoke into its radio, "What do you want to do with the spare?"
Spare? Robin looked over at Leon, and he was looking over at her, each wondering which one was the target and which one was the spare. Waking over to Robin first, the person in the gas mask rolled her over with his foot, none too gently, so that he could get a better look at her. And then, for them, there was nothing but blackness as they slipped away ...
Back At Barry's...
Staring the bearded giant down, the former S.T.A.R.S. member took stock of Barry's location, his proximity to the knife drawer, and the time it would take for him to grab a knife, dividing that by the time it would take to dodge. It would be a close call, but the specially trained individual was confident in their abilities. Taking a daring step forward, the proponent of Robin's decision stopped short of arm's length. They were brave, but they weren't suicidal.
"I know that you're mad," waiting for an interruption that did not come, the beardless one continued, "and no one blames you for that - "
"Isn't that white of them!" Barry growled, sounding almost like a demon, "We were supposed to be friends, Chris, how could you do this to me? How could you steal my little girl from me?"
Not backing down, the younger man remained calm, speaking from the heart, "I love her."
Those three little words... Dammit. If he had just been trying to live out some twisted fantasy, he could easily hate him for this, but saying that... Barry knew the type of man that Chris was: honest, straight-forward, and genuine; he would never say something like that without meaning it. As for Robin, she wouldn't have entered a relationship with these kinds of circumstances lightly. As unhappy as he was with this romance, he couldn't stay mad at them forever - besides, Chris had a lot of balls for showing up like he did. But just because he saw this now, didn't mean that he was going to forgive them that easily. He couldn't if he wanted to.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at his old friend, "If you do anything to make her sad, you'll be sorry."
"About that... There's something that I wanted to ask you." He watched the older man, gauging his reaction.
Not surprised - Chris always had been a risk-taker - Barry chose to at least hear him out. What could he possibly have to ask for this early in the relationship?
AN: Before any Ashley fans rip my head off (pft, that's a laugh! Ashley, having a fan?), I just want to say that despite any negative comments, I actually don't mind her, nor do I find her an utter waste of space. True, she could have been infinitely better, but the only bad thing I really have to say about her is that she was annoying, and that's more an issue with her voice than anything. And ba-ba-buum! (I suck at sound fx lol) Robin is subject (finally) to a batman joke! Oh, and she gets knocked out. And what in the halibut does Chris want to ask Barry? And now of all times! Can anyone say death wish? I'm really hyper right now, sorry...
To Recap This Chapter: Concerned for Chris, and Robin by extension, Jill decides to pay her old partner a visit. At the Spencer Estate, Leon grows suspicious of Robin, but his doubts are put on hold when they fight a Guardian of Insanity. But things get better! A mysterious individual in a gas mask comes for the duo, claiming that one is a target and the other is nothing more than a spare. Meanwhile, back in Barry's kitchen, Chris confronts him, telling him that he loves Robin.
Song: "A Matter Of Trust", by Billy Joel.
Disclaimer: Capcom owns Resident Evil, not me. All respective properties, like, but not limited to, songs, belong to their respective brands. All I can lay claim to is the Varis family... and this work of fiction. Any game-related information used in this story comes from the Resident Evil Wikia, actual game play, and videos (official ones of the games) come from YouTube.