A/N;

What's worse : A Ferret to the face, or a Ferret down the pants?

;_; Must stop leaving chapters on angst paragraphs!

Resident Evil owns my soul, split with Shadow Hearts and Silent Hill, not the other way around Dx

'So Sick of Love Songs' lyrics belongs Ne-yo.

So Sick of Love Songs

And I'm so sick of love songs, So tired of tears, So done with wishing you were still here,
Said I'm so sick of love songs so sad and slow, So why can't I turn off the radio?

One week, one more week.

Just seven more days and she could leave, flee from there. Do her job, save people, get her mind off everything running through it. There wasn't much of 'everything' in her head. It was still the same problem. The same men.

She managed to open one eye, tired. It was about seven in the morning. She could get some more sleep, but she could hear Gabriel darting around his cage next to her. She let one of her arms drop off of the side of the couch and opened the cage.

She still hadn't moved back to her usual sleeping arrangements. She was tired of sleeping in a double bed destined for only one person. She could hear Gabriel running around like a mad thing, probably doing some sort of ferret barrel rolls as he went. She smiled to herself, imagining the image. Her eyes were still foggy, and there would be no way she could see anything other than a blur.

She yawned loudly, planning on getting more sleep. But there was the sound of a lock unlocking, a door opening, and footsteps. She quickly sat up, opening her eyes. She nearly stumbled off the couch, just managing to steady herself on the couches side arm.

The front door wasn't too far from the couch – Actually, it basically lead straight into the lounge room, so she could see the door from where she was. Her eyes remained out of focus.

"Chris…?" She asked dully, just managing to make out a male figure.

"'Chris'? Isn't that one of the guys you work with?" A voice asked. It made her jump.

She sat properly on the couch, crossing her legs. She rubbed her eyes vigorously, trying desperately to get them to work. The sides were still fuzzy, but she looked back to the man. Dirt blonde hair but carefully cut, cleanly shaved, black suit with the jacket taken off and over his shoulder, white work shirt. She covered one of her eyes and turned her head to look away.

"… I thought you weren't coming home for another month, Justin." She said, her voice as emotionless as she could make it.

"I came back early for you, babe." He tried to assure her. She seemed unimpressed, and stood up. 'Babe' was a phrase she hadn't head in a long time, and as guilty as she felt for it, she would have preferred hearing it from a certain other man that her affections had moved on to.

"Right." Was all that she managed to come back with. She turned her back to him and took a few steps away. Gabriel had gone quiet, watching the newcomer. He was once again, not amused.

"What's wrong with you lately, Jill?" Justin asked, stepping over the things on the floor. The place was mess – What the hell had she been doing?

"There's nothing wrong with me." She answered simply, not turning to look at him. He shifted feet, feeling uneasy about the treatment he had received. This was the first time they had actually come face to face with each other for a long time. Why was she treating him so coldly? Shouldn't she have run into his embrace or something by now?

"I don't believe that." He said simply, taking a step forward, "Sweetheart, tell me what's wrong. I'm here for you."

She quickly turned around, a glare in her eyes that could turn someone to stone if this were a fantasy world. "Here for me?" She spat, "Yeah, only until your next business call!"

Justin made a grab for her shoulder, but she quickly swatted his hand away and took an extra step back. She didn't say another word, only continued to give him a glare.

This was something that happened in every relationship… That was what Justin was trying to assure himself, at least. "You… Cut your hair." He said, just now noticing it's short length.

"Yeah, about a week ago. If you have been here, you would have noticed." She growled. He flinched, completely caught off guard by her tone. She put her arms around herself and looked at the ground. "… I'm sorry, Justin. I just… I think I need to be alone, for a little bit…" She said quietly.

He took a step closer to her, then another. She took one step back. "Don't." She said sternly. He took another step. "Don't, damn it."

He paused, considering – There was little threat in her voice, she wouldn't follow through with anything she was going to do. He took another step closer, reaching his hand out once more.

"For god's sake, don't make me throw a possum at your face!" She snapped. He raised an eyebrow, completely caught off guard by that statement. Who wouldn't be?

"A possum, at my face? What does that have to do with anything?!" He asked, bewildered. But before he could even see Jill turn her back again, his vision was blinded by a flash of sable fur latched onto his face, and some sort of rabid animal sound drowning out his ears. He fell over from both the force and the surprise of Gabriel launching himself at his face.

"Absolutely nothing, it's his attack phrase. Smart little guy, isn't he?" She asked, unbuttoning her pajama top, "No-one excepts a Ferret when you say Possum. You should see him take on the mail man."

She walked past the couch, heading for one of the doors. She grabbed a squeaky toy off of the ground and gave it a quick squeeze. Gabriel quickly detached from Justin's face and ran after Jill, climbing up her leg and jumping onto his happy perch on her shoulder.

"I'm going to go get changed." She said plainly. Justin sat up, feeling the scratch and bite marks now over his face. He couldn't even figure out what the hell had just happened. He watched her head into one of the rooms, locking the door behind her. He couldn't figure it out for the life of him. What had happened since he had been away?

Rubbing a wound on his forehead, he wandered over to the door, knocking on it slightly. He could hear Jill behind it, stripping off. It had been so long his mind could really only imagine, and he pinched the bridge of his nose just incase – The last thing he needed was a nose bleed.

"… Maybe you could let me in, and we could do something?" He asked, with a quick smirk, "… Unless they changed your work schedule, you have plenty of time before you've got to go to work."

She knew exactly what he was hinting at. She shook her head as she clipped the back of her bra. "Sorry Justin, but my work does start earlier than when you left. That sucks, doesn't it?"

Justin groaned to himself. Maybe this was divine punishment. Yes, he had given into temptation while he was away – more than once. But he had regretted it. But it was the only chances he was given in a long time. Surely Jill had given in once or twice to while he was away. That thought angered him, but if it made it so that he, too, was alright, then he would let it slip. "Then just be late, Jill."

But in reality, Jill had been a fool, and kept loyal – Probably letting her one chance get away from her.

Jill sighed, slipping on her shirt. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe she was just being a bitch. Maybe she was PMSing. If she figured it out, she would apologize, but for now, all she wanted to do was leave. … Leave many things, she wanted out. But maybe there was time to mend things now. She thought to Justin, how much she had originally missed him, and how the loneliness slowly turned to sadness, which turned to resentment, which turned to anger. Love was such a strange thing.

"Maybe when I get home. Keep it in your pants." She said, slipping her belts and straps on.

"Easy for you to say…" Justin said quietly to himself, Jill not hearing. He moved awa, just in time. Jill opened the door, taking Gabriel off of her shoulder and putting him back in his cage. She looked at Justin, serious.

"I can't take him in with me… I'm counting on you to feed him and let him get some exercise for me, okay?" She asked, before throwing him the squeaky toy, "If you lose sight of him, just give that a squeak… And he'll come running."

Justin looked at the creature in the cage, giving it a dirty look. He wanted to strangle the beast.

"Please…" Jill said pleadingly, "He's the only one I have left." With that, she reluctantly walked over to Justin, gave him a kiss on the forehead and left.

Only one she has? Did she mean it was the only ferret she had, or the only person she had…? That Jill, she was so confusing, it fucked with his mind. He growled and sat on the couch. His mind wasn't the thing that he wanted fucked.

Rebecca didn't make much eye contact with the men of STARS that day. She talked, yes, but she looked at the ground. It was puzzling to say the least. Jill was watching her carefully, trying to figure it out.

As Rebecca buried herself at her desk, it dawned on Jill. She got up, nearly racing over to Rebecca just as she had turned around. Before Rebecca knew it, she was practically pinned to her desk.

"Billy made you a woman last night, didn't he?!" Jill gasped. Rebecca squeaked loudly, pushing her body back against the desk and shrinking down a bit, bending her knees, the squeak was only thing able to come out of her mouth at that point. The men hauled arse out of there before Jill could make them, saying they needed to have a girl talk.

Rebecca's cheeks flushed a deep red.

"Y.. Yeah…" She admitted shyly, embarrassed. Jill took a step back, putting her hands together.

"That's awesome! Congrats, Becky!" Jill cheered, giving her surprised workmate an equally surprising hug. "How was it?"

"I… It was… Great." Rebecca squeaked, only used to joking about the situation. Jill had once again taken a step away from Rebecca as the youngster looked away.

"It k… kinda… Really hurt…" Rebecca confined to Jill. Jill just gave her a pat on the head.

"Aw! Becca, the poor, naïve, sweet, recently deflowered little girl! It's generally like that. Hope you didn't freak out about bleeding." Jill teased, causing Rebecca to huff.

"Hey, according to you, I'm a woman now." She stated. She paused. "… So, you do believe me?" Jill raised an eyebrow, and nodded.

"… So, you don't need this…?" Rebecca asked sheepishly, digging a camcorder tape out of one of her pockets.

"… You actually taped it?" Jill asked.

"You said you wouldn't believe me otherwise." Rebecca answered, once again embarrassed. "Do you need it or not…?"

Jill studied her for a moment. She was still blushing like mad, and was moving her hips a bit awkwardly, as if reminded of the 'K.. Kinda… Really hurt…' feeling she'd experienced. Jill quickly took the tape from Rebecca's hands.

"I'm not one to turn down free porn." She smiled, just as the men started coming back into the room. Rebecca stomped her foot.

"That's not fair!" She stated, trying to grab the tape back. Jill put her hand out, against Rebecca's forehead, keeping her at bay. Rebecca whined to herself, cursing her height.

"Well, congratulations Rebecca…" Jill said, shaking her head as Rebecca still tried desperately to snatch the tape back, "You're officially getting more sex than I am."

"Ooooouch…" Most of the men said through their teeth upon hearing that statement as they sat down.

"Oh, shut up." Jill said half-heartedly, slipping the tape in her pocket as Rebecca finally accepted defeat, walking back to her desk.

"So, that means either Rebecca got pretty much no sleep last night, repeatedly, or…" Chris began, walking over to Jill.

"Say it, and I'll punch you in the kidneys the next time you're not looking." Jill warned.

"Or, you haven't been laid in ages." He finished.

"God I hope your kidneys have insurance." She said, putting her hands on her hips. He took a step closer to her, standing right in front of her, not giving her much personal space. "You're lucky Gabriel isn't here, or your nose would need insurance, too."

"You've been training him to attack my nose?" Chris asked. She took a step forward, getting as close to him as the day that she had worn the tube top.

"Not your nose particularly – But he knows a command to attack someone's face." She answered simply.

"You're a worry, Valentine."

"Hey, women like me who have gone a little too long without some lovin' can act like that." She stated with a shrug, looking him in the eye, as well as she could considering he was still a taller than she was.

"You know, if you'd told me that, I could have probably given you a hand." He said, surprisingly straightforward. Jill took a step away and shook her head.

"Tsk tsk, now Mr. Redfield, you should know better than to tease a woman who may as well have been wearing a chastity belt for the past six months." She said to him, one hand on her hip while the other waggled a finger in front of his face, "Naughty naughty. It's very cruel, you know."

"Well Ms. Valentine, you shouldn't act like you would have said yes then." He said, crossing his arms.

"Oh, but I do believe that Mrs. Redfield would give me some good stabs in the back for it if I did." She stated, poking her tongue out at him. He was thankful she still had her humour. He certainly hoped that was her humour, at least.

"I never thought I of all people would say this, but stop talking about sex and get back to work!" Wesker commanded from his desk.

The two gave grunts directed at Wesker, before looking at each other. They locked eyes for a few more seconds, and then headed back to their desks.

Work dragged on. And on. And on. The minutes just seemed to trickle past. Maybe it was because they had heavier work loads than usual – Joseph even had to be assigned to running back and fourth, throwing papers at people left and right. It was like a massacre, paper cuts everywhere! But there was no time to mourn the injured.

In the office, Forest had brought his hair over his shoulder and was inspecting it – Trying to make sure no small creatures had decided to sneak in while he wasn't looking. He had once had a very bad incident where Brad, teamed with Joseph, who let fire ants loose in there while he was dozing. He was determined to make sure he never went through that sort of pain again. Ever.

After going through each individual strand he found himself bored. He stood up, stretched, and looked around. Everyone was working, and Joseph was still running. Well, everyone except for Chris, who had managed to sneak out about half an hour ago. Regardless, Jill seemed to be just as bored as he was – leaning back in her chair, throwing pens at her work, aiming for a bulls-eye she had scribbled on top of some of it. Thankfully, it was a spare piece of paper, and not an important document.

"Yo, Jill," He began. She stopped and looked over, a red pen between her fingers. "Feel like stretching you legs and going down to the vending machines with me?"

She nodded and stood up. She pushed her chair back, and brought up one leg to rest her foot on the top of her desk. She leaned forward, trying to touch her toes – Her legs must have been hurting for her to do stretches like that. As soon as she was done, she headed over to the door, Forest following.

"Ah, god! Charlie Horse, Charlie Horse!" Joseph shouted, and the sound of him hitting the floor, followed by a whole bunch of papers could be heard. "Oh god, the paper cuts!"

"Oh, be a man!" Barry stated simply, doing his best not to laugh and damage Joseph's ego anymore than it had been.

A quick trip down the halls, through a few doors, out to an area near the back car park. It was quite a walk, and they thanked every deity known to man for it.

"Thank God, Thank Buddha, Thank Raptor Jesus, Thank…" Forest had begun about half way through their walk.

"… You don't know any others, do you?" Jill asked, looking at him with a smirk.

"Does Zeus count?" Forest quizzed.

"He might, I'll have to check some sort of handbook." She replied with a laugh, before hearing garbage cans tip over. Both quickly looked to the side as they exited to their destination – There was a group of dogs, the ones Forest had no doubt been complaining about.

Forest was just about to make a snappy comment, when Kevin from the RPD section appeared. He remembered Wesker bringing up the Kevin was the one trying to handle the canine problem. There were a lot of yelps and noise, as both Forest and Jill raised an eyebrow at the scene.

Yes, Kevin had come along – With a leaf blower. Some of the dogs… Were only small, and pretty much went flying right away when he turned it on, while other dogs were caught off guard and fell over, before the group retreated.

"VICTORY!" Kevin cheered triumphantly, turning to a police woman that Jill recognized from not too long ago, "You see? I told you it would work! Thank god, I didn't want to break out the flamethrowers on the mutts!"

"… I still say you could have just called the Dog Catchers." The policewoman said, shaking her head.

"What?! They neuter the poor bastards! As a fellow male, I can't be responsible for that happening to them!" Kevin protested.

Jill put a hand on Forest's shoulder, tugging him off in the other direction, "This… Seems like one of those things we just don't get involved in."

Forest nodded; turning in the direction he was being lead and headed over to a group of vending machines. Ah, yes, the vending machines. A whole division in the station may have gotten a complete arse whooping verbally for using Irons' money to buy them, but it was one of the best things ever brought.

Jill shoved her hands in her pockets, not intending to get anything. She was just interested in the walk. Forest quickly grabbed his wallet out of his vest, opening it up (and being thankful that no moths flew out), and quickly went through the usual ritual one does with a vending machine. However, maybe the vending machine didn't believe Zeus could count… As it refused to function for poor Forest.

Forest cursed and slammed his fist against the vending machine, which he quickly regretted doing.

"Damn machine ate my money, again!" He yelled, nursing his slowly bruising hand. Jill chuckled and shook her head. She was just about to recommend they go find a different machine when from the corner of her eye, she spotted Chris. And Amy.

Jill couldn't stop her head from turning just enough to watch the scene – They may have been there awhile, as it ended with Chris giving Amy a quick kiss goodbye.

Jill had never realised something until now – She was the jealous type, more than one would expect.

"Fuck!" She spat, turning her body and delivering a hard kick to the poor vending machine. Forest jumped back from shock. Maybe as a way of saying 'I'm so sorry!' the vending machine, with it's brand new dent, spat out the can of drink Forest so desired. Jill caught this and tossed it to him before beginning to storm away.

"Jill! What were you thinking?! Don't you know soda vending machines are the leading killers in the vending machine industry?!" He called, waving his arms and going after her.

Coincidently, the machine did fall over from the effort of spitting out the drink, and as things would have it, Wesker came, lifted the machine back up with one hand, and set back to work. Much to the amazement of some young school children watching, one should mention.

Jill only managed to stay up in the office for a few minutes, just as Chris walked in. She quickly packed up, her hands trembling, and before anyone could ask what was wrong, high tailed it out of there.

"… She's not coming back, is she?" Barry asked. Enrico shook his head.

"Sure doesn't look like it…"

Chris watched her leave, puzzled. She looked… Hurt, and he had the strong urge to grab her and hold her again just before she left.

"Jill…"

It was only one o'clock.

At two o'clock the phone rang. Justin was staring at Gabriel in his cage, seeming to be having what looked more like a Mexican stand of with the damned creature. Let him out? Was she kidding? That thing attacked him. Besides, she wouldn't notice if he missed one day of exercise.

The phone clicked over to the answering machine. Justin looked over to it, hearing the voice of a man that he may have heard only once or twice.

'Hey, Jill… You know who it is. Are you alright? You left work early. Call me back'.

Justin grinned. Maybe she was coming home early for a treat. He could be hopeful. But time passed, and Jill still wasn't there. Justin tapped his fingers on the couch arm, watching the clock. It was a bit passed three, now. The phone rung again. He ignored it once more. The answering machine turned on.

'Jill, it's Chris… Come on, where are you? You've got me worried.'

Justin gave a slight growl. He tried to remember what Jill had brought up about Chris, but his memory failed him. He remembered him and the other members of STARS dominating most of her conversations.

Four o'clock rolled around. Justin was getting impatient. The phone rung again. Justin looked at it, and let it ring out.

'… Please, Jill, aren't you home yet? You're not the type to ignore calls, even when you're pissed. Did I do something? I'll try your mobile…'

Persistent, wasn't he? Justin made a few mental notes – The man sounded like he was near pleading for an answer.

Jill sat down on the bench in the park near the station. She took a few deep breathes and looked at the area. What the hell was wrong with her? Why the hell was she acting like this? Why had it hurt her so much? If she could have, she would have just torn her heart out of her chest then and there and have been glad never to deal with it again.

Love? It can't have been. She had to tell herself that, over and over again. Maybe she was just jealous that now both Amy and Chris were able to see people, and she was still stuck at home waiting for Justin to get back from his so called 'business trips'.

She'd put her mobile on silent, and thankfully it wasn't one of those ones that didn't think that 'silent' just meant 'change my ring tone to a telephone instead of a melody.'

She sat there, looking at the sky, and just let her mind go to sleep. She could sit there, for hours on end, if she was not disturbed. The one thing going right that day, she was given permitted to do so.

Someone must have taken pity on her. The sky let her dream.

The calls and text messages on her phone went unnoticed.

It was late when she got home. She wasn't sleepy, or tired, just full of dread. She hoped she had been out long enough for Justin to have gone to bed. Despite what she had said, she was in no mood for what he had probably been looking forward to.

She walked into the apartment slowly, noticing the lights off. She flicked on her lounge room light, seeing Gabriel moving around restlessly in his cage. She had given Justin just two tasks, and he hadn't complied.

It broke her heart.

She walked over to the couch and sat down, opening Gabriel's cage. He basically shot out of it, so happy to be out of the small area.

Jill grabbed her phone, looking over it. Christ.

Eight missed calls, Seventeen text messages.

She opened the messages. Some were from Rebecca, and the rest of STARS, worried about her abrupt disappearance. Most of them were from Chris. That fact made her flinch. She slowly flicked through them.

They seemed to work from worried to pleading for her to tell him she was alright, since the times they had been sent. She felt so bad for it, the guilt nearly unbearable.

She checked the voice messaged left. Chris' tone… It was far worse than just the letters in the text messages.

'Jill, please… Call me when you get this, alright? I know I shouldn't but, I'm worried… Please let me know you're alright."

She tossed the phone down next to her and covered both of her eyes, trying to hide her tears. Why did he have to care…? No matter how many times she manage to convince herself it would pass, no matter how many times she told herself it was just lust, and told herself repeatedly that – he – didn't – love – her, the feeling still came back, and with every kind word he said she felt like she was going to break apart.

She rose from the couch, stuffing the phone back into her pocket, not bothering to reply. She hadn't gotten drunk for a good long while – Time to go visit a pub, after she got changed.

She grabbed the carrier cage she had brought for Gabriel earlier in the week and put him in it – she wasn't going to leave him on his own.