That week Jill and Chris are the most productive they've ever been, a fact which is not lost on anyone in the STARS unit. Most of them assume it's because they're still on sour terms from the weekend; Chris and Jill do nothing to convince them otherwise. Still, they go to Jill's apartment everyday after work, cooking and talking as if they'll always have something to say to one another.
That Saturday, Chris convinces Claire to join them for their post hike coffee run. She was absolutely not under any circumstances waking up at 5 am on one of her last Saturday's of the break. By the time Chris and Jill get back to the apartment, Claire is still in her pjs, sipping on one of three coffees still in the drink carrier. She bounces out of her seat the second the door opens.
"Hey!" She jumps in front of her brother and his girlfriend, eager for a hug despite Jill's hesitance. "It's so good to meet you for real!"
"Sorry, I'm really gross right now." Jill chuckles.
"No worries, I'm in my shitty pjs so I'm not about to judge." Claire assures her, excitement plain and anxious.
"And you left the house like that?" Chris chuckles.
"Yeah, I did drive thru." She says it as if that explains everything. "And I got muffins, so you're welcome."
"Better be blueberry or you're kicked out." Chris walks passed her towards the food.
"Yeah, because you're capable of that." She snorts.
"Don't call him out on his bluff, you'll hurt his pride." Jill chuckles joining him at the table.
He hands her the iced coffee with a smirk.
"You're supposed to be on my side." He pouts playfully.
"Am I?" She asks.
"Don't be mean." He chuckles.
"So now's the part where I tell you all the reasons you should get out of this relationship, right?" Claire smirks over her coffee.
"Oh, do tell." Jill snorts.
"Women." He groans shoving muffin in his mouth.
"First things first, he's a fucking boy scout."
"Oh. My. God." Jill cackles, "Really?"
"What's wrong with being a boy scout?" He asks.
"It's for nerds." Claire smirks.
"All of my old cheer friends will never let me live it down." Jill teases, grabbing his hand when he rolls his eyes.
"Anyway, boy scout, and it like… became a part of his personality."
"What does that even mean?" He asks incredulously.
"I know exactly what you mean." Jill tells Claire, who in turn gives Chris a pointed look.
"I'm getting burned, in my own home."
"You're free to leave." Jill reminds him, to which he grabs her chin with his thumb.
"So are you." He reminds her, giving her head a little shake.
"This is girl time. If you can't hang, we understand." She chuckles taking her face back.
He leans forward to plant a kiss to her cheek.
"I can hang." He chuckles back.
"Then be cool." Claire looks like she's trying to suppress her excitement at seeing them interact. "He's also a mess. I'm not totally convinced he knows how to do dishes or laundry on his own."
"I do too." He claims despite Claire's raised hand.
"Also, he genuinely believes he's the sole protector of the women in his life; so be prepared to be scolded for outfits and the like."
"Okay that's just you, baby sister." He clarifies, "I would never tell Jill what to wear."
"Uhuh, sure thing prince charming." Claire rolls her eyes, "Other than that he's a decent guy, you could probably do better, but he's decent."
"Oh my god." Jill chortles at her closing statement.
"You're so rude, even after all I've done for you." Chris covers his face with his hands, clearly embarrassed but trying to pass it off as laughter.
"It's going to take a little more than some dirty dishes to run me off." Jill laughs, hand resting on his upper back.
Claire has a glint in her eye as Jill says this, it reminds her so much of Chris that, for a second, she almost forgets they aren't the same person.
"You know what, on second thought, I'm going to take a shower. You guys have fun." Chris kisses Jill's hairline before walking off towards the bathroom.
"So, I have to know." Jill chuckles, "How did the conversation go where you convinced him to come after me?"
"I'm so glad you asked." Claire laughs, "He came home so down he practically had a raincloud over his head. It took me twenty freaking minutes to get him to tell me what was wrong; and I was like, boy you're so stupid she clearly wanted to have a human conversation with you and you BLEW IT."
"Oh my god you're so right, I went home furious!" Jill laughs.
"Exactly! I looked at him like, you realize she's a person right!? He's just so dumb sometimes."
"Yeah, but he's got a big heart." Jill says without thinking about her words until they're said.
"Do you really love him? He said you told him you did, but like I said, he's stupid."
"No, that's what I said… I think being as blunt as possible is going to be our main mode of communication from now on."
"I have never seen him that happy in our whole lives." Claire says, smile almost faraway, as if she's reliving the moment. "Take care of him okay? He needs that kind of joy in his life."
"I'm going to do my best. We'll see if he lets me." Jill chuckles.
"Welcome to the family." Claire lifts her drink to her, Jill indulges her by returning the gesture.
Somehow the days have morphed into months, as if without Jill's consent time starts slipping out of her hands. She's afraid how little she minds though, mostly because of Chris.
Before she knows it, five months have come and gone. Claire is away at college and Chris all but lives at Jill's apartment. Work is so simple now, it's like the world is finally where is should be. Jill wonders when that will all end.
"You're such a doom and gloom downer." Chris chuckles one day, sitting on her bed as she expresses her concern. "What we've got here is good Jill, it's just going to get better."
She believes him despite her better judgement.
"How exactly is it going to get better?" She teases straddling his lap as she does so.
"Hmm, getting a bit desperate are we?" He chuckles, her fingers tied up in the hem of his shirt.
"Is that what you want to hear?" She asks, face close to his.
"Maybe, try it out." He rests his hands on her hips.
"I'm desperate for you." She puts a little vigor into her voice, and all at once he's gone; lips and skin so desperate and wanting it is impossible to separate them. Despite the fear and anxiety in her gut, she gives it all over to him without an ounce of hesitation.
The truth of the matter is, Jill's growing increasingly worried about Wesker's intentions. It's starting to feel like he's going out of his way to make her uncomfortable. The asshole has a wandering hand when no one's looking, including herself, sometimes she questions if he's really touching her or merely a figment of her imagination.
Her and Chris have remained quiet about their relationship, barely even going out on dates except for when he pays for drinks after work. If anyone in STARS knows about them, they haven't said anything, Wesker most of all.
It's nearing the end of November when things start to get stranger still. Wesker comes to her desk in front of everyone and demands to know what her plans for the holidays are. Everyone narrows their gaze and tries to decipher his meaning behind it, before she finally answers with a vague yet typical, "Going to see old friends since it's a long weekend".
Once he's back in his office, seemingly satisfied with her answer, everyone lets that shit settle before diving into how fucking weird their boss is. She's glad to have the validation, to know her coworkers back her, but they don't intervene. None of them have ever given advice or suggestions beyond, Wesker's a fucking creep. Newsflash, she fucking knowsthat.
By January, and Jill's one-year STARS anniversary, Edward is in the thick of wedding planning. Jill and Chris get a joint invitation, which startles and alarms them both.
"What the fuck, Edward?" Chris asks once he's realized the implication.
"Look the fiancée says we don't have the space for you to each bring a plus one, so you're each other's plus one."
"Yeah that's it." Forest snorts.
"Don't let Wesker see you passing out invites, he'll be butthurt about not getting invited." Jill says with a laugh.
"Bold of you to assume he has feelings." Edward jokes.
"Even bolder to assume he's not invited." Joseph quips.
"You caught me. Just to see if we can't get some love into that cold dead heart of his." Edward jokes handing Barry his invitation.
"Just make sure to cut him off so he doesn't end up locking one of the bridesmaids in his basement." Jill says it and feels regret boiling inside of her, but doesn't take the comment back.
"That's assuming he has a house." Chris teases.
"I bet you he has a secret murder castle in the middle of nowhere." Jill snorts, "All the works – booby traps, sex dungeons, a morgue. Total Dracula style."
"Or maybe he's really boring and doesn't know how to exist. I wouldn't be surprised if you told me he was built instead of born." Forest laughs at Edwards antics just before Wesker calls a meeting.
Hesitantly, Jill follows after Chris. Part of her wants to grab his hand for security, but reason wins out. Instead she reluctantly takes up a spot over the laid out map beside Wesker. She tries not to think about it, about him and his presence, tries to rationalize that he's her boss and if he had a problem with her, he'd have expressed it by now.
Enrico is going through a list of previous sightings, mysterious deaths in the Arklay Mountains that STARS has been tasked with investigating. Just as Jill gets comfortable, finds herself paying proper attention to the task at hand and starting to decipher what Enrico is hoping to accomplish; she feels the tough skin of fingers brushing a lose strand of hair behind her ear.
Snapping her gaze up she furrows her brow at Wesker, his hand slowly trailing the line of her jaw before he turns back to the map. Just like that, as if nothing happened, as if he didn't just touch her. The skin of her jaw prickles with distaste as she glances to see if anyone saw the contact.
Brad and Richard are passing glances between themselves, but other than them nobody seems to have moved an inch. Jill feels violated in a way and she feels childish for it, like a tattletale on the playground. But fucking fuck, Wesker leaves her unsettled.
The meeting ends with most of STARS leaving on assignments, it's her, Chris, and Barry left to attend the phones. Enrico and Wesker head off to a meeting, but before anyone else can head out she grabs Brad's shoulder.
"Did you see that?" She asks bluntly as he's gathering his things.
"What the whole?" Brad pantomimes moving hair from his face.
"Yes. Creepy, right?"
"Would have been less creepy if the hand lingering didn't happen." Richard chuckles, joining in on the conversation. "Guy hasn't got any clue how to interact."
"Touching someone's hair is freaky." Jill says, folding her arms over her chest.
"Maybe he's OCD and your hair was bothering him?" Brad tries lamely.
"So, since your face is bothering me I can punch it in?" She asks, frustrated and unsettled.
"Calm down Jill, we can't be breaking Brad's pretty face… again." Kenneth teases, clearly not understanding the conversation.
Frustrated, Jill sits back at her desk, Chris looks concerned but says nothing until the office is empty. He, too, discounts the situation, says it's really not that big a deal.
"But Wesker should keep his hands to himself." Chris assures her, "Especially when dealing with another man's woman."
Jill rolls her eyes, annoyed at his reaction, "You don't care how I feel about it, just that I'm not 'his'?"
"Never said that." Chris shakes his head, "I'm not going to be able to get myself out of this one, so just let me take you to dinner?"
"What?" She asks.
"It's your one-year anniversary in Raccoon City, we were going to take you out on a team dinner, but Edward is busy wedding planning, Barry's got kids, Enrico's got a wife, Richard claims Masie's sick but if you ask me I think he just doesn't want it to be the three of us."
Jill gives him a smirk, "What time?"
"Six?" She nods despite the irritation in her gut that he won't agree with her about Wesker. She's known men like that before, and if things keep going this way…
Chris gives her a quick kiss just in time to get back to his desk before Barry walks into the office. And really, she does her best to ignore the sinking in her chest, tries to burry the worst thoughts that come to mind. Startled by the door to the office opening prematurely, the fear that starts in earnest quickly washes away.
"Excuse me, this is the STARS office correct?" He asks, voice so familiar and warm Jill could cry at the relief filling her up.
"Mr. Carsevelli? Is that you?" She stands up from her desk, smile plain as day.
"Well I'll be damned, is that Jill Valentine?" He chuckles, "What on earth are you doing here?"
"I work here, welcome to my office." She laughs hugging the man like it hasn't been years since their last encounter. He's got more wrinkles than she remembers, but his eternal warmth is still there, just as it ever was.
"I had no idea you left the military." He laughs, "But look at you, all grown up, when did that happen?"
"I have no idea." She chuckles, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm considering Raccoon City for a new development, Chief of Police told me to come speak to Albert Wesker about STARS."
"Oh, he's out right now, but should be back soon." Jill chuckles, "How are your girls?"
"Old. You kids and your aging, I can't take it." He laughs with her.
Jill turns her head, noticing that Barry and Chris have stopped their work to stare. "Let me introduce you to some of the STARS Alpha team."
"Please do." He turns his attention towards the two men who stand at the mention.
"This is Barry and Chris, my partner."
"Is that what you kids are calling it these days?"
Chris looks like he's about to choke, so Jill laughs. "You know what I mean."
"Of course, I do." Mr. Carsevelli puts his hands in his pockets after shaking their hands.
"This is Mr. Carsevelli, he was my dad's best friend, and is practically my second father." Jill introduces them, and if Chris wasn't panicked before, he is now; Jill swallow her chuckling as he shifts nervously.
"I am your second father." He laughs. "You take care of her don't you?"
"She takes care of us, more like." Barry chuckles, "I have two girls myself, they're shaping up to be just like Jill."
"She certainly has that effect on people." Mr. Carsevelli chuckles. Chris says nothing, despite looking like he wants to.
"So you're considering bringing the business here? I'm starting to think you're following me." Jill teases.
"You caught me, got to keep tabs on Jack's little Jilly bean."
"Don't you dare." She laughs, wide eyed at her father's nickname for her. How many years has it been since she heard that one…
"Sorry, forgot for a second that you're all grown up and aren't allowed to be cute anymore."
"You're damn right." She chuckles as Wesker and Enrico enter the office, stacks of paper work between them.
"There's your man." She points towards the man that makes her feel weak in all the worst ways.
"Albert Wesker?" He leaves to have whatever discussion he was sent to have, and Jill turns to face the other two STARS members.
"What are those smirks about?" She asks.
"Jilly bean?" Chris chortles.
"Call me that if you want your nose inverted." She grabs a file from her desk to add a few signatures.
"So… When were you going to tell us that your father figure is a real estate tycoon?" Barry asks.
"He's a what?" Chris deadpans.
"I wasn't?" Jill shrugs, "What can I say? I'm well connected."
"So, mind if I ask who your dad is… was?"
"Yeah, I do mind." She responds quickly, watching him accept her answer with grace.
"Why are you always pulling the kids card, huh, Barry? Might as well just shake peoples' hands with a picture of them already in your hand." Chris teases tensely.
"You'll get it when you're a father someday." Barry says softly.
Jill feels Chris's gaze pass over her and the thought hits her too; them having kids together isn't a crazy thought. A far, far away thought, but not crazy by any stretch of the imagination. Chris would make a good dad, maybe he'd compensate for her being a bad mother.
At the end of the day, Jill and Chris walk out with Mr. Carsevelli, he kisses her head as he climbs into a taxi waiting at the front of the RPD.
"So… That's the guy I have to ask for you hand?" Chris asks with a laugh.
"No, you're not asking anyone if you can marry me, but me." She chuckles.
"Yes ma'am." He shakes his head, "It's nice to see you have someone like that in your life though."
"Someone like that?" She asks.
"Yeah, he clearly means a lot to you."
"You mean a lot to me too."
"Thank god." He chuckles, "I'll pick you up in an hour?"
"Absolutely."