"Disgusting."
It looked like an office.
A normal, boring, messy office which had been closed and locked for so long that the layer of dust had grown so thick and dense it didn't even fly around when Chris and Jill started moving into the room. Or maybe they were just walking too slowly to make the dust rise.
It smelled like an office, too.
Stacks of paper, manuscripts and folders containing different pictures of something like butcheries and meat processing plants in deplorable conditions covered everything. Some of the photographs showed very detailed scenarios of rotting meat and a gag seemed to rise into Jill's throat when she as much as imagined the stench, although it couldn't smell much worse than a zombie.
On the wall, they found the drawing of a chicken and different pieces of paper on them attached to it, the elements united with strings: names, dates and places that made no sense to Jill, obviously nothing she was meant to ever identify.
"Well, shit," she hissed as she lowered her gun, disappointed and relieved at once. "I don't think we're going to find Boris here. This is really the office of a law firm."
Her eyes hurt when everything was flooded with light, needing a moment to get used to the sudden brightness. Jill turned to Chris, who stood next to the light switch with a confused look plastered on his face.
"What about his phone?" he asked and walked to the printer in the corner, pulling out a sheet of paper from the tray. "Didn't our team track it?"
Jill sighed, leaning against the wall as though all her strength and energy had been sucked from her limbs.
"Well," she muttered as her eyes hovered over the pictures on the wall. "We only have an approximate location. Actually, it could be in a nearby building, too."
The warehouse that belonged to the law firm was the exact center of triangulation and suspicious enough to become their best guess in the search for Boris. Suckling her bottom lip between her teeth, Jill gave Chris an apologetic glance. "You be mad if I made you break into the wrong warehouse?"
Chris snickered, his eyes still reading the paper he'd just taken from the printer.
"Technically, I'm the one who made you break into it," he commented with another laugh and turned the paper to face her. "Also, I don't think this is the wrong place. Look at the name."
With an interested expression on her face, Jill walked through the room and glanced at the paper he was holding up. It was the last page of an online booking. Apparently someone had recently bought a flight to Washington DC for Dani von Roobs.
"Yeah, I told you. Daniel von Roobs is the guy who rented this place," she mentioned with a frown before something clicked and she immediately understood what Chris was telling her. Shaking her head in denial, she shouted, "Oh my god, this is an anagram."
Dani von Roobs had exactly the same letters as Boris Donovan. This and the fact that his phone had been somewhere nearby couldn't be a coincidence. Jill's look jumped back to the wall, where the drawing of the chicken and the different names and places was still determined to make very little sense to her. One thing was clear, though. If Boris had been working in that office, the notes and intel spread all over the desk had to be related to the secret investigation he was carrying out. Now there was still that single remaining question.
Where the fuck was Boris?
"I'm sure he left the hints for you to find him, Jill." She had sunk so deep into her musings again that Chris' voice startled her. "Because he wanted to make sure this would reach you in case anything happened to him."
Jill snorted in response.
"He could have sent me a card." She closed her eyes in defeat, and breathed in, letting the tension escape her exhausted limbs. After a moment, she opened her eyes again, her look adopting a deep note of resolution. "We're taking this all with us. These notes must contain the clue to Donovan's current location."
Chris smiled triumphantly at her, chest filled with pride.
"Let's find him."
They took pictures of everything before packing the items, to make sure no important detail would go missing. Boris' phone was found in the lower drawer of the desk, under a stack of colorful post-its someone had recklessly scribbled names onto, and a raincoat that looked suspiciously like the one he usually wore hung on a coat rack in the corner. The more they foraged, opened and unveiled, the more convinced Jill grew that Boris' disappearance and the general silence from his side had been part of the whole plan from the very beginning.
Once everything was packed, the pair got into the car and left the bay, headed towards Chris' apartment, where Jill believed to find more room for all the evidence and notes. Her own place had already been invaded by the general Redfield untidiness, while Chris' apartment, currently not inhabited by anyone, remained in the same state as Claire had left it after removing everything that would cause her amnesic brother to ask uncomfortable questions. It was the best choice for a makeshift office, despite the smell of closed space and multiple layers of dust.
"Maybe we could place the chicken drawing and map onto this wall here." Chris pointed at the blank wall next to the dining table. "What do you think?"
Jill agreed. They had enough room on that wall to place all the elements onto it, especially the huge drawing of a chicken, which they believed to be just a distraction mechanism so everybody would think it was the investigation of a food processing plant or similar. However, they couldn't discard the idea that the elements would somehow interact with the drawing itself, so they hadn't wanted to leave it in the warehouse.
"So, tell me more about that Simmons guy," Chris asked as he began to place the names and places onto the chicken drawing as the pictures indicated. "If you allow me the observation, this whole issue doesn't seem to surprise you. It's like you expected the National Security Advisor to turn against us."
Jill could simply laugh at how right he was without even knowing it. Had she expected that Derek Simmons would be involved in bioterrorism and bioweapons deals? Yes, she had, but she expected anyone in the world to be on the wrong side, betray their own values, and turn against the world. Yes, sometimes she even believed she herself could be secretly working for the enemy without knowing it. Maybe Wesker's control over her had grown deeper than she had believed and it didn't need any devices or mind-control drugs for her to continue to be his puppet.
All that wasn't easy to explain to Chris. He had only heard stories about all the people that had betrayed them, instead of living the experience, the disappointment and deception himself.
"People are prone to succumb to easy money and power," she said and opened a folder, eyeing the notes inside. "I want to believe in the good in humanity, but all that I've seen… Wesker, Irons, even O'Brian just played with us. That makes it harder to believe. Do I think Derek Simmons is a traitor?" She paused, letting her stare pierce into Chris' eyes. "Not until it's confirmed. Do I believe he's capable of such things? Yes. But I think everyone is capable of selling their soul." A deep sigh was released when she turned her look back to the clues they had found. "I think even Boris is capable of working for the enemy and I'm afraid to find out the truth behind all this." She forced a faint smile and looked back at Chris. "It's like I can't trust anyone anymore."
Chris had listened patiently for her to finish her speech before he laid down the papers he was currently holding and walked up to her. With a gentle grip on her shoulders, he turned her to face him, looking directly into her eyes.
"I know this is probably what a traitor would say, but you can always trust me."
The pout of innocence that followed his words made her laugh. Yes, she could always trust him. Even when she wasn't convinced of her own innocence, Chris Redfield was personified justice, the body and soul of the good, the defender of the hopeless, and he would always fight for peace and security.
Just like he would fight for her.
Jill held his gaze with warmth and love as her mind spun back to the time after Africa, when Johnson and his ass-licking council had decided that it was best to keep her away from the field, office and people, locked away in the darkest of BSAA underground labs until she would confess that all her sins hadn't ended in Kijuju nor with the removal of the P-30, but that she was still working for the bad guy, even after his death. Chris had come to see her every day, checking on her to see how she was doing, always bringing the news that they would let her out someday.
Until, one day, he had come to tell her something different.
Getting you out is easy, Jill. The question is what kind of out do you need? Out of the labs and back to work? Or out of the labs and out of the BSAA? Because they take a different kind of effort.
Jill shook the thought off. Those memories always came with a bitter taste of bile and failure, along with the question of what efforts Chris had taken exactly to keep her inside the BSAA. She had wanted to stay, fight against the forces that had ruined her life, but it hadn't been completely selfless of her, as she had known that Chris had needed to convince more than just Johnson. She wasn't sure what they had asked for in exchange, but the fact that he had been promoted to Alpha Captain not long afterwards couldn't have been a coincidence. After everything he had endured, all the odds he had faced for her, he had been forced to become the leader of a team of soldiers, and from one day to the other, he had stopped being a lone SOA who was only responsible for himself, to someone who had not only to take down the threat and secure the zone, but who had also to watch out for a complete unit.
There was no such thing as ignoring orders when you were the leader of Alpha Team.
He had given up on his freedom for her.
"I know that, Chris."
They finished completing the chicken drawing with Boris' mind map, just as the pictures they had taken detailed. Once everything was in place, Jill stood a few feet away to contemplate the entirety of the information, and she felt disappointed. Hope that they would magically find an answer to all their questions once they saw it from a different angle, in a different light, had kept her attitude positive, but now that the complete image still refused to offer her answers, that hope was crumbling.
"This makes no sense," she mumbled and stepped closer to the wall, letting her finger draw a line from one tag to another, following an arrow traced by Boris. "I can't make any sense of these names. This must be some sort of code."
Chris grunted behind her.
"Another anagram maybe?"
Jill's eyes flew over the data, scanning the wall for anything that could look like something that could point at Derek Simmons, but nothing seemed to fit. "No."
"You said the girl genius was working on this case with Boris," Chris mentioned and made her look up. "Maybe she knows something more."
Well, that was a good idea. Jill pensively arched an eyebrow and reached for her phone. It was a little late to call coworkers, but knowing that Jordan had Red Bull instead of blood running through her veins, she highly doubted that she could disturb the girl's sleep. Maybe a gaming session, but not her sleep.
It beeped twice only before Jordan picked up the phone.
"Agent Valentine! Any news?" The sound of virtual gunfire didn't cease when Jordan took her call, and Jill couldn't hold back a chuckle.
"I think Boris was working secretly from that place, Jordan," she explained and blinked at the wall. "Found a bunch of notes, but nothing that looks familiar to me. Mind lending me a hand deciphering all this?"
And Jordan seemed to pause her game.
"Sure thing! Where are you?"
"Oh, no!" Jill replied. "No need for you to come. Let me send you a picture of the whole thing and you tell me what you see, okay?"
"Yes, do that!"
Jill took a couple of pictures of the overall drawing and detailed shots of the intriguing codenames as soon as she'd hung up. Chris had taken a seat at the table and waited for her to complete the task. Not long after the last picture had left Jill's phone, the device started buzzing in her hand.
"Jordan?" Jill answered, surprised by the sound of laughter that came sweeping through the line. "Anything interesting?"
The laughter ceased unwillingly, and Jill could almost picture Jordan wiping off a tear as the girl responded, "You bet!"
A pair of livid eyes swung back to focus on the drawing again, waiting for Jordan to unveil her secrets. "Okay, so, can you tell me what KFD stands for? It's quite a centric item in this drawing."
A chuckle rattled through the line.
"KFD is the investigated subject, Agent Valentine."
Jill's eyes narrowed instantly at the revelation.
"You mean…?" She trailed off, aware that any mention of the National Security advisor through phone could be compromising at best. "Are you sure?"
Another laugh.
"Yes, you'll see," Jordan started explaining. "KFD stands for… Oh god I can't believe he actually used that! That sucker stole that from me," Jordan mumbled in poorly-feigned anger and made Jill curious.
When the blonde's eyes and mouth ripped open so wide that she resembled the Scream, but with a less scared face, Chris knew that Jordan had given her a very important— and obviously hilarious— clue. He cocked his head to the side and waited patiently for his girlfriend to end the conversation, showering the girl on the other end of the line with her gratitude and more laughs. Jill looked exhausted when she eventually hung up and sank to the chair.
"So?" he asked after waiting for the blonde to catch her breath and wipe her eyes.
"KFD-" she said and pointed at the chicken drawing, "-stands for Kentucky Fried Dick."
Now it was Chris' turn to let his jaw drop open and roll his tongue over his teeth as his features adopted the overreacting expression of the bewildered.
"And that is…?"
Jill snickered and pushed herself up from the chair.
"Simmons himself," she replied with a heartfelt laugh as she walked to the drawing, following the perfect circle Boris had drawn around the acronym. "Jordan says she chose that nickname for him because he looks like Colonel Sanders from KFC."
Chris blinked, still incredulous to the information he was being given, and huffed.
"Does he?"
Jill shrugged, the pout on her face completing the image of someone who had never given a thought to it, but who strangely agreed.
"I get it she doesn't like him either."
A very expressive roll of her eyes anticipated Jill's response. So did the way she slammed her hand onto her hipbone in a challenging pose.
"I never said I don't like him, Chris." She fidgeted. "But Claire always says he's evil."
That statement intensified the questioning in Chris' gaze.
"Claire? What does she know?"
Jill crossed her arms in front of her chest without turning back to the man, eyes too busy leaping from one mysterious name on the drawing to the other.
"Simmons is the legal tutor of the girl she rescued from Raccoon City," she informed coldly before facing him again.
"Shelly, right?"
Almost.
"Sherry," she corrected. "Sherry Birkin. She was implanted with a G-Virus Embryo by her mutant father. Claire could save her, but the strain wasn't completely removed and only lay dormant in her. The government kept her for security reasons. It was stated that they wanted to keep her safe from Albert Wesker, who they believed likely to kidnap her at some point to get his hands on the strain. When you killed Wesker, they granted the girl some freedom, but she needed to work for the government in exchange." Jill sighed, lowering her head, which suddenly felt like weighing a ton. "She was on an assignment in Edonia in December. But she went missing."
Chris nodded, aware how upset his sister was about the whereabouts of the young girl he didn't remember.
"And you think Simmons had something to do with that, too?"
Jill's eyebrow jumped up upon being confronted with Chris' suspicion, surprised by how sharp-minded someone could grow when they weren't biased by former knowledge nor social or political pressure. She caught her lower lip between her teeth and considered how imprudent it was to tell Chris about the rest of Boris' intuition.
"Well, the man Sherry was escorting is believed to have antibodies that would allow for the creation of a vaccine against the new virus we've found in Europe and Asia." Her lip twitched sadly. "Boris' thought was that Simmons might have been in contact with Neo-Umbrella, the terror group behind that virus."
That was something Chris had to digest before answering. With a grimace of bafflement plastered on his face, he watched as Jill pulled a blank paper close to herself and started taking notes.
"Jordan could give me a couple more clues, but it'll still take some time to decipher the whole picture." She sighed deeply, the pen making annoying scratching sounds on the paper. "I think this will take me all night, probably longer. I won't go to headquarters tomorrow. This is important."
And Chris smiled at her.
"Then I'll be staying with you."
People's behavior on Fridays was something worth researching, Piers thought after the third office worker in a row had tried to run him over in the hallway. The last day of the working week was usually a good reason to take things easier, but it seemed that secretaries, accountants and other roles that included paperwork remembered every Friday morning that the week had five days and that said paperwork wanted to be finished before the weekend. TGIF? People had no idea.
Maybe that was the reason why they served that fantastic roast beef in the BSAA cafeteria only on Fridays.
"I'm so sorry Lieutenant." The young brunette that had just violently bumped into him excused herself with a curtsy before sinking to her knees to collect the recently dropped papers.
Piers knelt down and started helping her take up the documents.
"Oh, don't worry Lisa," he replied with a soothing smirk. "Are you sure you're oka-?"
He wouldn't deny that the young intern of the financial department, a girl with big brown Bambi eyes and shiny locks, was the most enjoyable obstacle he had collided with that morning, but even the close-up view of her cleavage he suddenly had wasn't enough to keep his attention away from the reception as soon as another female had stepped into the room.
"You're very kind, thank you." Lisa's attempt at gratitude didn't get more than a short nod and another smile before Piers handed her the documents and helped her to her feet.
"Watch your step," he advised, holding back his urge to pat the girl's head in goodbye, and decided he'd be of more use at the front desk, where a certain redhead was currently filling out the visitor form. What had she come for? "Good morning, Claire! How come you're here?"
The younger Redfield immediately looked up at the mention of her name, bright blue eyes impacting on him. A kind smile blossomed on her lips when she saw him, and Piers could earnestly affirm that it was the best thing that had happened to him that Friday morning. Claire had chopped her hair off, and the shorter strands that framed her beautiful face somehow added another layer of youthfulness and professionalism to her figure. Not that she hadn't been pretty and badass with a ponytail, but now she was simply gorgeous, and Piers had the feeling that the room shone in another light now that she was in the building.
"Piers, hello!" she greeted sincerely and quickly turned her attention back to the form, signing it and handing it back to the receptionist. "I'm having lunch with Chris. I'm probably a little early but I think he won't mind if I wait for him in his office."
Piers snickered softly, realizing how the retraction of naive hope took all his words. She had come to meet with Chris, of course, what else could she have come for? Too bad that he had to disappoint her.
"Are you sure?" he asked with narrowed eyes and waited for the redhead to move her questioning look back to him. "Chris isn't here today. He and Jill took the day off."
As he spoke, Piers began to wonder when he was getting his next day off. The interim position had come with all kinds of new responsibilities but not a single benefit other than the honor of being Chris Redfield's substitute.
"You kidding?" she hissed as her beautiful features distorted into a mask of disenchantment — or blood-boiling anger, rather. "Fuck, Redfield! Who needs a sister when you have a girlfriend, right?"
She immediately pressed her lips together in shock, checking if the receptionist, who had gone to grab a visitor badge from the cabinet on the opposite wall, had heard the blunt confession about her brother's relationship status. The girl was humming a melody, though, unbothered by any gossip she could catch. Claire's wide eyes turned to Piers, who couldn't hold back a soft chuckle.
"That's supposed to be a secret around here, isn't it?" she whispered shyly, and felt relieved when the soldier shrugged, head shaking.
"Officially, yes," he replied. "Unofficially, there is a party committee for their wedding already."
Despite all of Jill Valentine's attempts to keep their relationship a secret, it hadn't been long until they had gotten caught by a coworker when Chris had stolen a brief and timid kiss from her. That wouldn't have been a problem, if said coworker hadn't been Samantha Gallagher, head of the PR department and self-declared queen of gossip within the walls of the BSAA One day later, everybody had heard how she had nearly caught them doing it on Jill's desk. How many clothes they had been still wearing depended on the person who told the story.
Claire eventually shook her head, declining the visitor badge the girl at the front desk handed her with a hand sign.
"I think I don't need that anymore, thank you," she explained and turned back to Piers, a shrug running through her shoulders. "I can't really complain. I always wanted them to be happy together."
Piers laughed shortly, before he grinned awkwardly.
"I'm sorry you wasted your time."
"Oh, no!" Claire replied with a laugh, gently waving her hand in negation. "This way I got to look up from that report I was writing. I would have had lunch in front of the computer if not." She smirked and pointed to the ceiling. "But thank you for sparing me, at least, the walk upstairs."
"You're welcome," he replied and watched her spin around.
"Take care, Piers," she exclaimed, walking towards the door, and Piers lifted his hand to wave her goodbye.
She was almost out of the door.
Just a few steps more.
"Claire, wait!"
Even though her unfortunate situation was Chris' fault alone, and the captain was certainly old enough to fix his mistakes all by himself, he felt bad for Claire. As friend and second-in-command of her brother, he felt the urge to keep her company when the captain wasn't available.
And he convinced himself that it was the only valid reason.
"Now that you're here," he said once she had turned back and he watched her surprised reaction. "Why don't you stay for lunch?"
The redhead's intense stare indicated confusion, and she began to open and close her mouth like a fish as she was, clearly, thinking what to say.
"I… I'm not sure if I understand," she replied, narrowing her eyes. "Staying?"
Piers blinked but didn't hesitate to nod and laugh.
"In the cafeteria here." He pointed into a random direction, wondering where Chris would have taken her for lunch. "The roast beef they make on Fridays is fairly excellent, and one of the portions has the name C. Redfield on it."
After another brief moment of hesitation, Claire began to smile brightly, closing the half open door again and adjusting the strap of her handbag on her shoulder.
"Alright," she replied as she approached the front desk again to get the visitor badge back. "If you say it's excellent."
"Oh, it is!" Piers exclaimed as he propped against the desk, watching Claire closely as she called out for the receptionist. "I think half of the employees work here because of the roast beef."
"Irish roots, huh?" Claire laughed as she opened the door to the parking garage, which Piers had insisted he'd walk her to. "Is that the reason for your uncommon first name, too?"
The young lieutenant snickered at the comment and rubbed his chin a little embarrassedly.
"Yeah, I wish I could blame that on my family pride," he replied, walking next to Claire towards her car. "One Christmas my uncle blurted out that I was named after my mother's English Yoga teacher."
Claire stopped abruptly, turned to face the man and bit her lips to avoid bursting into loud laughter. The mission failed miserably when she watched the man push both hands into his pockets and sulk like a little child.
"At least you joined the military and not a Yoga club," she exclaimed, the laughter still stuck in her throat.
Piers shrugged comically and kept walking straight towards the dark SUV Claire had parked so perfectly in the spot in the corner. He was happy, too. Hadn't he started his career in the US Army thanks to his military pedigree, he wouldn't have met Chris Redfield, he would have never been recruited into the BSAA by him personally, and he definitely wouldn't have met the Captain's younger sister.
"Yeah, that would have been terrible."
He was still analyzing his own thoughts when they reached the vehicle and Claire pulled out her keys. The blinkers lit up twice, joining the distinctive clicking of a car being unlocked, like a warning signal for the thoughtless.
"I don't know," Claire said, grabbing the handle of the car. "I heard somewhere that yoga clothes are one helluva chick-magnet."
She turned back to him with the wittiest of smirks plastered on her face and nearly froze when she was confronted with his reaction. It had been a good piece of small-talk, just a dumb joke she hadn't thought too much about before, but the genuine expectation that he would laugh wasn't complied. Piers returned her look with an air of confusion, and Claire began to regret her easy-going attitude around the soldier. Yes, they'd had lunch together, including a long, interesting talk about pretty personal details; and, yes, they'd had sex once, so they were technically far beyond the status of general acquaintances, but that didn't make them friends.
"I better get going," she muttered, pointing a thumb at the car behind her. "Thank you for the invitation, Piers. The roast beef was good indeed."
Her words seemed to break the frozen state he had momentarily been caught in, and he managed to chuckle.
"If you ever want to apply for a job here, I'm sure your brother can pull some strings."
Claire huffed out a laugh.
"I wouldn't be that sure. He's the one who didn't let me join in the first place." Shrugging a shoulder, her disappointment materialized on her face in a grimace. "I will have to keep getting my lunch at the restaurant near the Terra Save office, I fear."
"Then we just have to send him off more frequently on Fridays."
They exchanged a laugh, a good one, but it didn't erase the awkwardness of the moment. They stared at each other in silence, neither of them confident about how they wanted to end the conversation and part ways. The parking garage was empty besides themselves and the rest of the parked vehicles, and there was something weirdly comfortable about the situation that kept them from finally saying goodbye.
It was Claire who eventually decided that the endless staring wouldn't take them anywhere.
"Thanks again, and good luck in Colombia next week," she wished and opened the door wide enough for herself to get into the car. Piers held the door open until she was settled into the driver seat. "Take care."
He nodded in response.
"You too."
Claire started the engine and tucked a cigarette between her lips before she let the SUV roll slowly out of the parking spot. She made eye contact with Piers one last time before they lost sight of each other, but even in the protective fortress of her vehicle, she could feel his look on her, and she enjoyed every second of it. What the hell was she even doing?
"He's a baby, Claire," she whispered to herself when she stopped at the gates and watched the figure of the soldier in the rearview mirror. "Stop drooling over him."
He was blinded by the red brake lights that flashed like lightning bolts through the parking garage, splitting the shadows like a hot blade cut through a piece of butter. Piers waited until the SUV disappeared around the corner and until the gate closed again, even until the automatic lights dimmed down, with his mind stuck on the thought of whether or not Claire did yoga.
"She'd probably burn the mat with a cigarette." He snickered to himself and turned around, meeting a person in a BSAA training uniform. When the young man approached, he recognized Ken Elrick, one of the newer recruits of Alpha Team, who greeted him in an excessively excited manner.
"Sir!"
"Elrick," Piers responded, "everything okay?"
"Yes," the man replied, a little breathlessly, and Piers deduced he had come running down the stairs to the parking garage. "We're waiting for you on the outdoor training ground."
Damnit, for how long had he been really standing in the parking garage? Piers cleared his throat and looked at his watch in a theatrically disbelieving expression.
"Oh, shit, my watch died," he excused himself with the lie and started stinging towards the door.
"It's okay, Captain," Elrick soothed and grinned. "I would have lost track of time too had I had lunch with a beautiful redhead, if you allow me the observation." His blurted out sincerity gained him an alarmingly judgemental look from the interim Captain. "Your girlfriend?"
Piers inhaled deeply to ease his nerves and take control over the situation before it would escalate. Elrick was the youngest of the new recruits, socially a little clumsy, and his obvious wish to make friends was almost flattering, so Piers decided to spare him the scoldings.
"Your actual captain's sister," he informed, expecting a somewhat surprised response from the other man.
But Elrick didn't look surprised nor especially enlightened by the revelation that he had been matching him with none other than the famous Chris Redfield's little sister. He just nodded once and tilted his head.
"But... your girlfriend?"
After the first second of bafflement, Piers shook his head and walked away, not willing to even respond to the question.
"Let's go, Elrick. The others are waiting."
"I know, Claire, I'm sorry." Five minutes after the phone had started ringing, Chris still hadn't gotten to calm his sister down. Jill knew he hadn't forgotten the appointment with Claire on purpose. Actually, she herself couldn't recall that he had ever mentioned to her that they were going to have lunch together that day, but if Claire was so convinced that Chris had promised to be there, it was most likely that she was right and her brother was not.
Jill received his desperate stare with certain amusement. Before the amnesia, Chris wouldn't have wasted much time on the scoldings from his sister, no matter if right or wrong, and it reminded her once more how much the siblings' relationship had improved since Edonia. When the struggle seemed to become too much for the caring older brother, Jill decided to jump in and rescue him, snatching the phone from his hands after barely warning him with a short hand sign.
"Claire!" she exclaimed as soon as she had the redhead screaming into her ear. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I am following a very interesting lead. This is a matter of life and death and your brother was so nice to help me with this."
Claire sighed on the other end of the line.
"Don't defend him, Valentine, I know he simply forgot about me."
Jill eyed the big man on the other side of the table, who was already deep submerged in their investigation and the riddles of deciphering the different keywords Boris had used in his schemes. It was undeniable. Chris had the innate talent to ignore and disconnect from everything his sister said with ease.
But the investigation was still playing an important role in the process.
"It's true, Claire," the blonde replied, raking her fingers through her low ponytail. "I can't tell you more, but I promise I will make it up to you. I'll buy you lunch on Monday. Did you know that the BSAA cafeteria makes delicious lasagna on Mondays?"
Claire seemed to find that funny, as she started laughing whole-heartedly.
"Lasagna on Mondays, roast beef on Fridays… I start believing what Nivans said and y'all just work there because of the food."
The moment Chris found something interesting was a very eventful happening. Eyes turned into tight slits and his right arm crossed over his chest, propping up the left in a way his hand could rub his chin in thought.
"Oh," Jill absentmindedly commented as she moved to Chris' side, trying to see what he had discovered. "So you know about the roast beef, already!"
Chris launched her a glance of triumph when he turned around to grab a pen and proceeded to trace lines from one element to the other on the chicken drawing.
"Yeah, I stayed for lunch. Piers was so kind to keep me company. Don't tell Chris. I kind of want him to think I skipped a meal because of him. Maybe this way he won't forget about me again."
There were other reasons to keep the lunch with the second-in-command a secret from her brother, but that was something Jill wouldn't realize until some time later. She was too absorbed by the lines Chris was drawing, and which slowly revealed another key point in Boris' investigations.
I-V-Y
"How nice. Don't worry, I won't. But I gotta go, Claire. We'll talk later, okay?" She ended the call and tossed the phone onto the table where it slid soundlessly over the paper sheets.
"Does Ivy mean anything to you?" Chris asked, softly speaking as though the letters contained the unknown truth about the world's origins.
It needed a moment for her to understand the meaning of them. I-V-Y. Was that an acronym that could hint at Boris' location? Was he anywhere near an Ivy plant or…?
"Hold on!" Jill gasped when the thought dawned on her, and she quickly grabbed the phone again to run through the latest news. "There!"
Tired of staring dumbfounded at his girlfriend, Chris walked after her, standing close in front of her to demand being informed.
"What is it?"
Ice-blue eyes full of verve jumped to his face, scrutinizing his features as she turned the phone screen to him.
"President Benford will be giving a speech at Ivy University this weekend," he read aloud, his lips curving slowly into a wide smirk as he pronounced the words. "That a coincidence?"
"I don't think so," Jill replied, voice heavy with conviction. "Remember that the man we're investigating is close to the president, and so might be the one Boris wants to meet with. A public event like this is an excellent occasion to gather intel without catching people's attention."
Chris smiled.
"So, he's at Ivy University?"
"In Tall Oaks, yes," Jill said and rolled her eyes at her initial concerns. "Damn, I will need to have a serious word with Boris once he comes back. How dare he fuck with me like that? Couldn't he have told me he was going to Tall Oaks?"
Chris chuckled softly and sat down on the closest chair, the debilitation of the previous hours just beginning to kick in.
"That wouldn't have been half as fun!" he exclaimed and laughed when Jill decided to give him the finger. "You're very beautiful when you're angry, you know?"
And she laughed. She genuinely laughed because she had just recently discovered how charming Chris Redfield could be and how much she loved him for it.
"Shut the fuck up and kiss me, you idiot!" she cooed and pressed her hands onto her hips as she waited for Chris to jump back up and curl his arms around her. After just a tiny eskimo kiss and a second of want, she whispered, "You solved the riddle, Mister Redfield. Maybe I should show you my gratitude."
Wow! Where did that come from? Jill didn't recognize her own actions as she pushed herself onto tip toes and slung both arms around Chris' shoulders, pressing her lips onto his. No need to hold anything back. They had known each other for over fifteen years, been a couple for a month now, and they had just solved the fucking case about Boris' whereabouts together. She was still baffled how Chris Brute-force Redfield was capable of such open-minded thoughts and combination skills, and she was a little jealous that the victory wasn't hers.
So she was determined to claim herself a different victory.
Fingers began to rake passionately through the short brown strands on Chris' head, nails scratching over the scalp as though she tried to skin him. He groaned under her touch and dropped back onto the chair, Jill's lips still glued to his. The blonde climbed into his lap and pressed herself against his chest as her mouth kept making love to his.
"Wow," Chris gasped when they broke the kiss in need of air. "Want us to go to the bedroom?"
Jill chuckled in response and let her hands slide down his torso.
"No," she whispered as she reached for his belt, amused about the expectant smirk on Chris' lips. "I want to ride you here."
Excited like a little boy, Chris nearly shivered with enthusiasm when he reached for the back of his shirt to remove it, while Jill kept working on his belt and zipper. Once his chest was exposed to her, he looped his arms around her frame and pulled her into another kiss, hand softly stroking over her upper arms, shoulders and neck before cupping her jaw. God, he loved that woman, and if all the words and acts and kisses in the world couldn't prove that to her, then maybe his immense erection would.
"I love how hard you get," she mewled between kisses and chuckled when Chris moved his lips to her left ear.
"It's all because of you." He yelped in surprise when Jill pushed her cold hand beyond his waistband and took him into her fist, playing the game of pressure and friction like a pro, as though she wanted him to abandon himself to her will, kneel in front of her and call her Master.
His eyes were half shut, most of his senses dazed, but that didn't stop his hands from descending to the collar of her shirt and starting to unbutton it. Jill's mouth dropped back to his, searching for his kiss and caress, and finding it all the way. Button after button, he freed her from the strings of her shirt, sliding his enormous, raspy hands over the graceful frame of the blonde, dancing along the gentle line of her lower ribs right to her column. Jill began to roll her shoulders back until the shirt slipped off her arms, and Chris used his grip around her to undo the clasp of the bra that sat quietly on her back. The two lovers, now with complete skin contact, embraced each other, sharing another soft touch of their noses before angling their heads to the side and giving each other full access to their mouth.
Chris' finger's gently brushed the spot below her left breast before climbing up to cup it, thumb flicking teasingly over her nipple, causing Jill to cry into his mouth. He pinched her and laughed, and Jill increased the pace on his member until he groaned under her. Taking his jaw into a tongue grip and pulling him back, she stared into his eyes, with the spirit of a woman who knew she was in control, the promise that she'd take good care of him if he behaved. And Chris gladly accepted his fate, the shine in his eyes showing his predisposition to anything she was up to.
Jill made sure to choose the most cat-like, slow moves when she climbed off his legs and kicked her boots away, bathing in Chris' attention as she peeled her pants off. Chris dared bend forward, trying to see her closer, inhaling her scent—despite the long overdue shower— and he was rewarded with a slight nudge on the forehead. Jill laughed at how comically he dropped against the backrest, and the naughty smirk all plastered across his face, but the sight of him literally dripping with love for her pushed the arousal to levels that had to be illegal in some spots of the planet.
She blew out a breath, not trying to hide all the sensations that were currently bubbling through her body. She plunged back onto him, face first, causing their mouths to collide in a frontal attack that made them both yelp in pain. Not that they cared. There'd be time to heal bruised and busted lips later on, now there were other things to focus on.
Jill straddled him before grabbing his dick again, fingers smearing his wetness all over his tip as she stroked it. Chris whined his pleasure into her mouth, and his hands began to climb to the spot where he could reward her for her kindness. Disobedient little boy, the blonde thought and laughed as she slapped his hand away before breaking the kiss and giving him one of those flashing looks again. How often did she have to remind him who made the choices here? Placing his eager, nervous palm onto her hip instead, she kept touching him shamelessly, delighted by the feeling of firmness between her fingers. She knew she was torturing him when she hoverd her lips over his, avoiding the touch. She could see it in his eyes: the lust, the want to be closer to her, to be united in every spot where they could possibly plug themselves into each other. Chris jabbed forward and tried to catch her mouth with his once more, but Jill moved backwards, clicking her tongue in a chiding manner before digging her fingers into his hair and pulling him back as she resumed the torturous treatment on his lips.
"Jill, please," he gasped in such helpless utterance that it injected a hint of mercy into her. Only that it wasn't mercy.
It was need.
Teasing him had been fun, no doubt. She loved showing him that she could be the leading part in their games, and that she could push up the tension even if it required playing dirty. But in all honesty, she wasn't doing herself a favor; the huge wet stains she was leaving on Chris' pants were the proof. How long would she withstand the sight of Chris Redfield under her, shirtless and rock-hard?
Jill laughed and kissed him, gladly granting him that little piece of her. Chris immediately cupped her jaw and stroked along it in a caring touch. She let him, because it felt amazing, and when he moved his fingers to the back of her head and began to pull on her hair tie until the blonde mane rained over her shoulders. Chris broke the kiss and turned the tables, leaving Jill unexpectedly hungry for his lips. When her eyes fluttered open, she was greeted by the most desireful look he had ever given her, and she felt her heart pound in her chest.
"I love you," he whispered and flicked his thumb over her cheekbone. "You're simply perfect."
It didn't matter how often he told her, it didn't get easier to believe, but Jill had learned not to complain. Too amazing was the feeling of being worshipped by Chris Redfield, and she selfishly decided to be permissive with his mistake. So, she smiled instead, and ran her fingers along his strong jaw as she slowly lifted herself to the right angle from where she could comfortably impale herself on him.
Their lips melted into another kiss as she stretched around the pleasant invasion, and her two hands searched for support on his shoulders before she began to move, tiny gasps and moans swapping mouths to the rhythm of it. With Chris' palms pressed to her hips as aid, Jill rolled around and along his length, and the sound of it adopted a tone of delicious obscenity. Truth was, the moans weren't particularly making it better, not that any of them would complain. The touch of Chris' abdomen on her skin resulted in pleasing friction in the right spot and angle, making it officially Jill's new favorite position. Despite the pleasure, she leaned back, with her hands still on his shoulder, until her nipples pointed at the ceiling, and Chris' hands began to ascend her waist and rib cage until the tips of his thumbs brushed the swell of her swinging breasts. He leaned forth, brushing the tenderness of her white skin on her abdomen with his lips. As Jill rose back into an upright position, he followed her, the tip of his tongue glued to her creamy skin on its ascending path. It wasn't until he cupped her breast and licked over her nipple that Jill realized how close she was. Her fingers running up to fist his hair again, she pressed his face against her chest, urging him to keep suckling.
"Chris, don't stop."
And he didn't, he continued kissing one breast and squeezing the other, as the right hand looped around her waist and started caressing along the curve of her butt as Jill clung to him like a monkey. She rolled her hips once more, jerked forward twice, and she felt the warmth of her orgasm fill her body and escape it in the shape of a gigantic moan. Chris had kept his reactions restrained, only grunting happily every now and then, but now that he saw Jill so close to the finish line, it seemed he wanted to speed up his pace. With both hands on her hips, he rammed her body into him repeatedly, blowing a deep animal-like growl against her skin. Jill, with her climax already rolling out, grabbed his face and turned it up to hers, kissing him so wetly that all his sounds turned into cushioned, moist bubbling. Pressed hard against him, Jill rode him through his own orgasm, not stopping until she hadn't taken even the last drop of him inside her.
"Wow."
It was the third time Chris said that, and the only reaction she had gotten so far. Not that she complained; she was still searching for her voice herself. It had to be somewhere stuck between her heart, which was still racing, and the mouth that hadn't stopped gasping into his ear. Unsure what to respond, she simply chuckled and kissed his earlobe.
"That was amazing, baby," he praised as he nuzzled her neck, right before turning his face to her. "May I ask what's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
Jill laughed.
"I just felt like it." Fingertips traced along the side of his neck in a teasing manner. "Loosen a couple of strings."
Chris' eyelids were visibly growing heavy. He nodded once before yawning widely.
"I see," he whispered and ran his hands along her thighs. Jill kissed his lips.
"Is that a complaint?" she asked cheerfully, knowing the answer better than he probably did. "Are you regretting things already?"
His eyes ripped open instantly, and he gave her that delicious, bright smile that always left her wanting him.
"Why would I regret being with the most fantastic woman on Earth?" He completed his words with a peck to her lips.
"Well," she murmured. "Maybe the most fantastic woman isn't as fantastic as having your own children."
They'd had the needed talk a couple of days after their first night. Chris had played it down, told her it didn't change anything about them, but she couldn't get rid of the feeling that he was disappointed by the fact that she couldn't conceive children after being experimented on. He cupped her jaw, pulled her closer and pressed her forehead against his.
"Jill, I won't tell you that it doesn't matter. It matters. It's horrible and I wish I could make everything that asshole did to you undone." He flicked his thumb over her cheek. "But, no, it doesn't matter. Because you and I, we always belonged together. If we ever want to have children and adopt, I'll be happy. Claire can steal one for us from one of her camps."
Jill frowned in a ridiculing way.
"I don't think this is how Terra Save works…"
Chris laughed.
"Who knows," he replied. "And if the BSAA is the only baby we'll ever have, then I'll be happy too, because I'll be with you." He shook his head at her. "I missed two chances to be with you, Jill. I won't miss this third one."
Now, that made her laugh.
"Two chances?" she asked, her brows furrowed. "How are you counting them?"
His eyes ripped open in disbelief, as though the truth about their relationship was as well-known as the fact that the Earth was round, only denied by a few imbeciles.
"Well, it's probably a lot more, but the big ones?" He placed the tip of his left index finger onto his right one. "The first? In S.T.A.R.S., when I failed to ask you out before the Mansion Incident." He nodded and lifted the middle finger of the counting hand. "The second big chance was when you returned from Africa and I didn't make you my girlfriend."
Jill had listened with delight to his reasonings. Yes, they sure had had a whole bunch of other occasions to start something, like the day the BSAA had been officially established, or when they had come back from their multiple missions, but the ones Chris listed were indeed two big moments in their story.
"And your amnesia is the third chance, huh?"
Chris nodded, as though he was proud of having hit his head in Edonia.
"Yes. And I'm not going to fuck this up, Jill. You are the woman I want to be with, forever."
She laughed softly before her mouth dropped back to his, rewarding him with another gentle kiss.
"I love you," he whispered and waited for her to pull back before adding, "Can we go to bed now?"
Her smile widened, and she nodded.
A/N:
My dearest readers. I want to thank you all for the continued support, for all the views, favs, follows and reviews this little baby is getting. I know it's been a while since I delivered chapter 14 and I'm very sorry for the delay, but I have a good reason this time. I got some life-changing news at the beginning of May, and instead of getting easier, it all just got more complicated. I'm fine, though, still kicking (and writing) and I may be slow but y'all know that death is the only valid reason for me to abandon this story.
Oh, by the way, next chapter will be full of Claire/Piers. I hope you're looking forward to that as much as I am hahaha
I hope you're all doing well and that you enjoyed this chapter.
Now some special words to those reviewers I couldn't thank in a PM :D
IMAguest: Man, your reviews made me laugh (and extremely happy OMG That's so flattering T_T Thank you!). You can lurk as much as you want, but I'm always happy to know your thoughts on the chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one, and that it had enough Valenfeels for your taste (you see that Boris is doing just fine, so no need to be concerned about him hahaha... for now). Oh, and I totally love your Guestname :) Simple, but clear! Take care!
Guest reviewer (June 28): I'm glad you found the story and that you're enjoying it :) I enjoy writing it. Thank you so much for the review :D