Jill does apologize to Forest exactly a week later, and he takes it in stride, at first.

"No, I shouldn't have been an asshole. I deserved it." He says.

"You're right." She says, getting a laugh out of the surrounding STARS members.

"Hey Forest, tell her the best part." Edward says from his desk.

"The best part?" She asks, confused.

"It's nothing." Forest says quickly.

"You tore his groin!" Richard proclaims from the other half of the office. Jill audibly gasps and slaps a hand over her mouth, everyone else bursts into laughter.

"It's not totally torn! Just strained! I'll be fine in a few weeks!" Forest quickly clarifies upon seeing her horrified face.

"Oh my god, Forest, I'm so sorry!" Jill says much more sincerely this time.

"No, it's fine, Jill, I'm fine." The two of them are flustered despite the bellowing laughter in the office.

"No, it's not fine! I'm so sorry. Oh my god!"

"No, I made it worse by doing conditioning after. Really what you did was not so bad!"

"Forest, are you kidding me?"

"Just don't ever mention this again and we're even." Forest says assuredly.

"She may never mention it again, but you bet your sweet little torn groin we are never letting you live this down." Chris says placing a hand on Jill's shoulder. "Don't feel so bad, it's not permanent and he had it coming."

"Dude!" Forest throws up his hands at Chris's statement.

"I am so sorry…" Not knowing what else to say and doing everything in her power not to look at the um… affected area, Jill swiftly returns to her desk.

The office doesn't let either of them live that one down and Jill finds herself desperate for the weekend.

That Saturday, Barry invites the STARS team to his daughter's 5th birthday party; it's at the local park and there's a promise of beer. Jill says yes because it's about damn time she get out of her apartment for more than the grocery store. She even got a pool together with the guys to buy Moira a gift. She allows herself to get a bit excited at the idea of going out, even if it is for a kid's birthday party.

So of course, that Saturday happens to be the first hot day Raccoon City sees this year, and she can't justify jeans in this weather. Deciding that she can't bring herself to give a shit, she pulls on jean shorts and a tank top. Electing to ignore the voice of her mother in the back of her head screaming, "I raised you better than that Jill Valentine," she heads out the door.

The longer she drives, the shorter her shorts feel, and starting to regret the amount of thigh she's revealing so deeply she nearly turns around.

"Get your shit together, Valentine. It is an outfit." She scolds herself, pulling into a sport right beside the park filled to the brim with children and jumping balloons. Still, it takes a second for her to gather the courage to climb out of the car. After a deep breath and an internal pep talk, she grabs the present and makes an appearance.

The guys are at one of the picnic tables farther from the kids running wild. The party theme seems to be a cross of dinosaurs and princesses. Jill would have had a party like this, had she been the type of kid to have birthday parties.

"Shut up asshole!" She hears Chris shout as she approaches the table.

"Hey guys." She says fighting to keep her tone even and noticing Barry's raised brow at the gift in her hand she presents it to him. "We all pitched in."

"You didn't have to." He says with a smile standing to take the gift from her, "But thank you, really."

"Of course."

"Can I get you a drink?"

"Uh sure, thanks." She says, trying her best to swallow her nerves.

"Beer good?"

"Yeah." She affirms before he walks towards a gift stacked high with gifts. "How are you guys?"

"Some better than others." Richard teases, slapping Chris's shoulder.

"What's that mean?" She takes the empty seat beside Chris who seems to be glaring at Richard.

"My brain gave up for a second, but we're back to our regularly scheduled programing." Chris lets out a stale laugh.

"It's the heat getting to him. Happens in animals with low intellect." Forest scoffs.

"Aw, don't be mean to Chris." She chuckles as Barry hands her the beer.

"Good freaking luck, I've been trying to get them to settle down for the past hour." Barry snorts.

"Well, you wouldn't let us play in the bouncy castle and now we're grumpy." Edward claims innocently.

"Do you also want a sugar rush with that?" Brad asks.

"Oh, any day of the week." Joseph chuckles before taking a drink from his beer.

A woman strolls up to the table with a young girl perched on her hip and a smile plain on her face. "Hi everyone, we've got pizza and salad if you're hungry."

"Awesome!" Brad hops up and starts heading over to the table crowded with parents. After a bout of awkward laughter Edward, Joseph, Kenneth, and Frost follow suit. Richard stops to thank her before taking up the rear of the group.

Barry walks up to the woman and takes the baby out of her arms, "I haven't introduced you to Jill, newest member of STARS. Jill this is my wife, Kathy." Jill stands up slowly, pulling at the hem of her shorts before shaking the woman's hand.

"Pleasure to finally meet you." Kathy says sweetly.

"Nice to meet you too." Jill says with a smile. Chris hangs back behind her as if he's trying to be casual.

"You must really be something to be recruited for STARS." Kathy folds her arms, "I heard there was some stiff competition."

"I guess that means all of us are something really, just don't tell Vickers, it'll go to his head." Jill smirks.

"I'll keep that in mind." Kathy chuckles, "How are you Chris?"

"I'm great. You really know how to throw a good ol' fashion princess-dinosaur party, Mrs. Burton." Chris tells her confidently.

"You're not one of the kids you know." She shakes her head.

"He knows." Barry smirks before kissing his daughter's cheek. "You guys should get some food before it's gone."

"The question is who takes it all, the kids or the guys?" Jill crosses her arms playfully.

"The bears at this rate, get a move on Valentine." Chris jeers at her.

"I'd say make me, but I know better than to get in your way when food is involved." She laughs walking with him towards the pile of pizza boxes.

"Think you know me so well already?" Chris chuckles. She swears she hears a catch in his throat as he speaks but brushes it off to save him the embarrassment.

"I do actually."

"Uhuh, you think you know me."

"You believe what you want." She teases, picking up a paper plate. She turns in enough time to see him roll his eyes. "Where's Claire?"

"Oh, she's with some friends. Didn't seem to think this was the happening place for a group of teens."

"How wrong she was." Jill says holding up a napkin, "Unless you're telling me teen girls don't like dino-napkins."

"It's an unfortunate truth."

"Mankind truly has fallen, no wonder god has abandoned us." She laughs waiting for him to finish dishing up.

"Oh, there's still hope." He says it lowly, barely glancing at her, as if embarrassed.

"Pray tell." She eggs him on, but his face flushes bright red as if the sun zapped him right where he stands.

"Well, I mean, Moira's a cool kid, clearly." He says, voice just a note higher than she's used to.

"Okay, but she's five." Jill tries again. Chris is cute when he's squirming under scrutiny.

"More time to grow up and save the world." He claims, quickening his pace to sit at the table.

"Uhuh." She says to no one in particular. Chris is also cute from the back…

"I'm just saying, you look like the kind of kid I would have beat up in high school." Edward is laughing when she reaches the table. "I mean, service straightened me out, but damn Brad, get it together."

"Guaranteed, if we knew each other in high school, you would have beat me up. I was a huge loser." Brad agrees with a chuckle.

"Oh god don't make me think about high school." Forest has his face in his hands, "I was that asshole who annoyed teachers for the hell of it and made everyone else go down with me."

"That makes sense Forest." Chris chuckles.

"Oh yeah? Who were you in high school hot shot?" Forest asks laughing.

"I spent my senior year trying to disappear because my parents had died." Chris is laughing, but Jill feels the weight of what he's said. She didn't know his parents were dead not that she's one to talk, it's the principle of the thing, really.

"Teachers didn't make me do any work that last semester and it was awesome." He claims, sparing a glance in her direction. "Barry, who were you in high school?"

"An asshole, but an asshole who somehow managed to start dating Kathy." He says, knocking back the rest of his beer.

"Wow, how long ago was that? The stone age?" Kenneth asks.

"Shut up, smart ass." Barry shakes his head with a smile.

"Yeah, I bet you were a chemistry nerd even back then." Brad chuckles.

"You're right, I uh… accidentally caused a fire in my tenth grade bio class because I wanted to see what happened if I heated up this weird plant specimen we were working with… turns out plants burn, what a concept." Kenneth is a good sport as always, laughing gently at himself.

"I was a pretty cool guy if I do say so myself." Joseph laughs.

"Oh really?" Richard chuckles.

"Yeah, I was a basketball/track star."

"Try member, instead of star." Edward chuckles.

"Fuck you man I would have gone pro if I didn't love this country." Joseph laughs, "What about you Richard?"

"I was um… what's the word for it… a moron – yeah that it – I was a moron in high school." Richard laughs. "Although apparently my girlfriend and I went to the same high school, crazy huh?"

"I've heard crazier." Jill snorts, "But for you, Richard, I think that's crazy enough."

"And who were you in high school Miss. High-and-Mighty?" Chris asks, she looks at him with a hesitant tight mouthed smile… she can't tell him this.

"You wouldn't believe me." She claims, shoving a forkful of salad into her mouth.

"Now we have to know." Barry teases.

She shakes her head self-consciously, "No."

"Come on." Chris drawls, the look in his eye sends a twinge to her heart that she does not acknowledge.

"I will never live this down." She mutters, shaking her head.

"Tell us! Tell us!" Brad, Edward, Chris, Joseph, and Kenneth start chanting.

"Alright fine! God, you sure you're not turning five?" She asks, shoving Chris's shoulder. "I was a cheerleader in high school."

"No fucking way!" Brad cackles.

"I don't believe you." Chris shakes his head.

"See? I told you, you wouldn't believe me." Jill rolls her eyes.

"Didn't see that coming." Barry shakes his head.

"Are you serious? Like you're not pulling my chain?" Edward asks.

"No, I'm not." She folds her arms.

"Is it bad that I believe it?" Forest asks, "You've got strong legs."

Another round of cackling filters through the group before Chris notices. "Why are you blushing."

"I'm not blushing!" Jill claims.

"Yes you are! You're embarrassed."

"Should I go?" She asks.

"Don't be such a poor sport." Chris says, "Tell us, about being a cheerleader."

"What is there to say? Everyone hates you, including yourself, but apparently you get strong legs out of it." She shrugs.

"Come on, were you queen bee of your school?"

"I… ugh." She shakes her head, mulling over the story in her head before deciding to tell it. "So one time I got our coach arrested."

"Excuse me?" Barry nearly spits out his beer.

"One time?" Joseph cackles.

"Alright, have you ever seen those calendars with the cheer teams on them?" She asks, and they respond with eager nods. "Well, my coach had each of us do individual portraits for it, but when the calendar came out it was just the team. So, I got suspicious and broke into his office-"

"Just like that?" Forest asks.

"I'm a B&E specialist for a reason." She shrugs him off, "I find the photos in his desk and um… let's just say there was some other damning evidence."

"Oh my god." Edward leans back with a laugh.

"That's it, my girls aren't allowed to be cheerleaders." Barry shakes his head.

"Who gets off to that? Like the cheer uniforms at our school weren't cute even to us gross boys." Chris says. His voice is tense but Jill passes this off easily.

"Ours were… a lot." She laughs, "That picture was done by the yearbook class so it's actually in our goddamn year book. But we were basically in bras and itty-bitty mini-skirts… I looked like a porn star, but I was in fact fifteen so… yeah."

"That's… ew." Kenneth shivers violently.

"High school was certainly a time." Jill says, finishing her pizza.

"I'm sorry that happened to you." Chris says earnestly, "If I found out one of Claire's track coaches had pictures of her, I'd probably lose my mind."

"My parents were not happy to say the least." Jill chuckles, remembering the looks on her parents faces when they picked her up from school the day after the investigation went public.

"I'd be fucking furious and he wouldn't be in jail, he'd be dead." Barry swears. "Fucking scumbag."

Everyone is quiet for a bit, merely listening to the kids running wild on the playground behind them. Jill glances back towards Chris and catches him staring at her, but he doesn't look away. Intimidated by the eye contact she turns her attention back to the kids.

"Anyway, you think Moira's having a good time?" She asks Barry. Successfully changing the topic, Jill sits back and allows the conversation to follow naturally. By the end of the party, half of the kids are asleep on their parent's shoulders and the STARS members are effectively buzzed.

Still, Jill resolves that her apartment isn't too far away and she'll drive herself.

"You sure?" Chris asks before she leaves.

"Oh yeah, I'll be fine." She assures him.

"We can only have one injured STARS member at a time." Chris laughs as Forest bellows out a, "Fuck you man!"

"I'm sure." She smiles, holding his gaze for a heartbeat too long.

"Take care of yourself, alright?"

"You sure you're not a dad?" She chuckles. He doesn't answer, just stares at her a little longer smile like a lazy Sunday sunrise. "I'll see you Monday."

"Yeah." He nods.

She walks away, pretending the burning of her skin came from the sun.