Hi all! I've returned again. I didn't mean for this to take so long but the inspiration also had me writing more stories that unfortunately are not near completion either. So I buckled down and did my best to get this out. Problem is, I'm not entirely happy with the end result. I think I forced it a bit too much. I hope you enjoy the results regardless. If there is something you want me to touch on or something you'd like to see fleshed out more, please leave a review. Your words have been so kind and they've really helped me push onwards. I hope you enjoy it

It was her second time entering this building and she just marveled at the grandiose vibe she felt from this building once again. Imposing and gothic. Maze like with its halls that randomly turn into dead ends. She learned that the hard way a few times.

Each interview she has had was in a different room of this police station. The final one appears to be on the second floor of this station. Wherever that place may be. Jill smiles at the two officers manning the desk as she enters the station - her eyes still go to the marvelous statue of the woman behind them. It's so beautiful.

She turns to the left and goes to check in with the receptionist there. There is someone ahead of her and she takes a seat. She wonders what would have prompted whoever was in charge of big decisions to move the police station to a building like this.

Jill peers around the man trying to see who the receptionist is and to her delight it's Bonnie. The sweet woman who helped her out on the first interview, after getting a bit lost. Bonnie is certainly in her mid fifties with a no nonsense attitude that one acquires after years of not putting up with shit. Her greying black hair is styled in a way that never leaves a hair out of place and she's always dressed in something purple complete with a brooch.

Bonnie clears the man in front of Jill and smiles warmly when she notices who is next. She's about to offer Bonnie a good morning when another individual stalks in. Jill tries not to stare for too long and drops her gaze - hastily reaching for a newspaper. This man appears tired, or possibly hungover as his eyes are a bit bloodshot, a little disheveled and a cross look on his face.

His dark hair is messy and he leans on the counter of Bonnie's desk. Bonnie crinkles her nose.

'You're late again.' She states simply and the man sighs, throwing his hands out to the side.

'Yup. I am.'

'I can't keep covering for you.'

'Then don't,' he replies simply and Bonnie eyes him. 'What? Teach me a lesson. Anyway, on to more important things - did you grab those files out of the records room for me?'

Bonnie is silent for a second, trying to find the right words but decides not to push the matter further. 'I did. They're in the room on the desk.'

'Thanks.'

That's it. The man is gone - disappearing around the divider. Door shutting a little rougher than normal and Jill slowly lowers the newspaper to Bonnie rolling her eyes.

'Men,' she clicks her tongue. 'Good morning Ms Valentine. It's good to see you.'

Jill replaces the newspaper and rises from her spot smiling warmly at Bonnie. 'You too, Mrs Llewlyn.'

Bonnie dismisses her with a scoff. 'I've told you to drop the formalities and to call me Bonnie. Now, let's see…'

Jill wonders who the man was that was in the room. Must be a detective. 'Hm? Sorry?'

Bonnie smiles at her. 'I said how exciting. Third interview. You know, most don't make it this far. Especially those interviewing for the S.T.A.R.S position. Now, who are you interviewing with…? Oh. Great. I see. Hm. Well, just be on your guard, darling. And don't be afraid to speak your mind. Any issues, you see me.'

That sentence worries Jill. 'Who will I be interviewing with?'

'Chief Irons. In his office. Second floor. Go up the grand staircase and hang a right. Follow it to the only door on the left. That's a little waiting room. No one is in there so you just go through the door in front of you. Take a left and follow the hallway. Until you see a staircase and a chair. Irons' office is right there. Just knock. He is expecting you.'

'Okay, thank you.'

Bonnie smiles at her. 'Good luck, darling. I know you'll ace it.'

Yeah, sure she will. She's made it this far. It's just thinking about Bonnie's comments. What could she possibly mean about speaking her mind?

It's getting harder and harder to keep the disgust from creeping into her face. Irons was a large man, early fifties with a penchant for taxidermy and cigarettes. The room stank like stale smoke so badly that Jill had to hide her cough when the smell got stuck in her throat. It was also very, very warm. Irons had beads of sweat at the top of his hairline for the whole interview.

Jill could see why Bonnie made the comments earlier. This man was a pig. In every sense of the word. A couple of times he made her stomach flip when he got up from the chair and would stand behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders and squeezing lightly. He'd eventually move away from her, once he inhaled her perfume, and stand by the animals on display.

She found it odd that he didn't want to talk about her record with Delta Force. She was certain he'd want to hear of her accomplishments and how she would be a positive contribution to the S.T.A.R.S team. She was never asked about how she was working in a team environment and if she was comfortable offering her views and ideas in a collaborative setting. Or her language skills - she spoke three languages...none of it mattered.

It was more like talking to a creepy relative. He went into great detail about the dress code of which, of course - I'll need your measurements. For the uniform.

Uh huh. Course it was. Uniform. Right.

Jill knew she had to put up with this. Having the opportunity to be in S.T.A.R.S would look great on her resume and help her with her career. She just had to endure this man and his grotesque attitude and if she was hired, hopefully her team would shut down his harassment of her.

Irons returns to his desk. Jill suddenly feels her heart pounding as he studies her. Very carefully up and down several times before he sits back in the chair and it's instant that Jill knows. She has the job. She knows she does.

However, and it's a big but, Irons will hire her to be eye candy for the team. Just a piece of ass for the team to ogle and look at. It's so remarkably depressing. He doesn't value her skills or what she can bring to this team, no, he values her looks.

'Well, Ms Valentine, I'm impressed. I think the look you have will be great for the team.'

'Are you offering me the job, Chief Irons?'

'Indeed, I am Jill, indeed I am.'

Oh god. Disgusting. She nearly threw up in her mouth at the way he licked his lips.

'Thank you so much, Chief Irons. When would you like me to start? I truly can't wait.'

'Oh? Well, I like a woman who is eager to please,' Irons tells her and rests his elbows on the desk. She is such a fucking beauty. The boys and I will love having something hot to look at. 'Considering today is Thursday, why don't we say Monday? Give me time to get things sorted out for you.'

Namely who to place her with. Unfortunately for her, the only one without a partner at the moment...hm, this could be tricky. And start a fight. Irons knows that he's already difficult to reign in on a good day.

Jill wonders what's going through the man's head, not that she couldn't take a few guesses. She begins to posit if this truly was a good idea. If it'll be worth it. Because her intuition is telling her to run. Run far and fast.

When Irons directs her to the door, lavishly praising her, it sickens her. She's in a battle at the moment. Internally she debates what to do. Stay because this is an incredible opportunity - and well, she just signed an apartment lease - or to leave and go elsewhere. She believes that she won't get the respect she knows she deserves. Even though Irons specifically tells her how happy she'll be in the S.T.A.R.S team, she just can't get over this feeling that she's taking a leap of faith. And it isn't going to end up well.

The ball sails past his right ear as the two idiots continuously lob it across the office to one another. He showed up early, for this? It makes it even more difficult to focus on the case notes when Brad and Joseph are just acting like children. Plus, having to set multiple alarms and still nearly being late for work over some fucking announcement added to his irritation.

The office door opens and Barry walks in carrying a tray of coffee. Fucking finally. Barry wisely stops at his desk first and passes him off the largest coffee in the tray. Barry leans down.

'Doing okay, Chris?'

'Be better if I knew why the hell they called us in an hour earlier than normal.'

Barry frowns. 'Your normal is an hour or two after this office's normal.'

Chris eyes him as he takes a long drink. Hopefully this will cause him to get a bit more with it and stop feeling sluggish. What is the big announcement anyway?

'You know, I heard, from a reliable source, that this little gathering is to tell us they may have finally hired a partner for Chris.' Joseph comments and lobs the ball back to Brad who laughs. Chris is about to say something when Brad chirps back.

'I doubt that highly. Who told you this, huh?'

'I heard it from Shauna.' Joseph states innocently and bounces the ball on the ground a few times when it comes back into his possession.

Brad rolls his eyes and takes a coffee out of the tray when offered. 'I immediately discredit any kind of information if it comes from Shauna. She's just a gossip.'

'Okay, well, sometimes what she says is true…' Joseph replies and sits in his desk chair.

'Pillow talk isn't reliable or true,' Brad shoots back and Joseph looks at him stunned and then immediately embarrassed.

'We're not...!' Joseph composes himself and clears his throat. 'I'm not fucking her anymore. She got too attached.'

'Uh huh. Perfect opportunity for her to slip some gossip into your ear.'

Joseph sulks as he drinks his coffee and everyone turns their attention to the office door as it opens once again and in walks another loathed person. Chris shifts his gaze back down to the papers in front of him and when he gets the feeling that their captain isn't leaving them alone, he glances back up.

Wesker is standing before them with his arms crossed - hard to gauge his reaction because of the damned sunglasses he always wears.

'Good, you're all here.' Wesker shifts his head just a bit until he's got eyes on Chris. No doubt a jab. Chris decides not to feed into it. Check. Good deed done for the day.

Barry liases best with Wesker. Chris doesn't know how he manages to just easily talk with Wesker. But he's certainly glad Barry was the one who wanted to engage with Wesker first. Always the diplomat.

'Morning, captain,' Barry greets and Wesker nods at him. 'We're all here. So, what's the big announcement?'

'A decision has been made regarding Alpha Team,' Wesker informs them and that leads to stunned and confused looks from everyone in the room.

'Didn't realize you guys were making plans,' Barry attempts to get more information but Wesker remains mum. Instead he walks into the office and they all hear a file drawer open.

And that's just like Wesker. Throw a crumb of information and that's it. He only gives necessary information. It pissed Chris off immensely. What kind of decision? They getting disbanded, are they moving offices, did the mayor just die? Like what the fuck?

Wesker emerges and stares directly at Chris.

'We have decided to add to Alpha Team.'

The sound of Joseph throwing his hand into Brad's chest in disbelief is heard. Chris leans back in his chair. Where the fuck is this going?

'Have we?' Chris wonders and Wesker folds his arms.

'Considering you are the only member of this team without a partner-...'

Chris interrupts him knowing Wesker hates that. 'Because I don't want or need one.'

Wesker continues on as though he wasn't just cut off. 'Chief Irons made the call to give you one.'

'Pass.'

'This is not debatable.'

'It is for me.'

It becomes eerily quiet. Brad and Joseph stare wide eyed at Chris taking on Wesker. Again. No matter how many times Chris and Wesker butt heads or have a pissing contest it never ceases to amaze them that Chris consistently does it. Without repercussions. They silently agree that Chris must be hungover or maybe even still drunk.

Barry readies himself to be the mediator when the door opens for a third time.

'What the hell is going on here?'

The tension is halved and a collective sigh of relief when the sound of the chief's voice is heard. Everyone but Wesker and Chris turn over to acknowledge Irons.

'I was just telling Redfield about his new partner.'

'And I was just telling the captain that I don't need or want one.'

Irons feels his eye twitch at the comment from Chris. He knew he should have briefed Chris on this situation but just never got around to it, figuring he'd be cranky but accepting. He points to Chris and then to Wesker's office.

'You. In there. Right now.'

Chris hauls himself to his feet and walks by Wesker into his office while Irons all but slams the door behind them. The rest of the team is stunned to see a woman awkwardly standing in the doorway looking a little stunned by the reaction. Wesker seems to notice her and calls out to her.

'Please come in, I do apologize for his behaviour.'

'It's all right, captain,' Jill can't help but glance through the windows at the man standing with his arms crossed while Irons talks to him. Sometimes in raised tones.

She's curious as to why her captain is wearing sunglasses inside but figures it's best to roll with it. Irons did give her a warning about it, figuring it had something to do with light sensitivity. What she wasn't prepared for was the monotonous tone to his voice. Almost robotic yet stoic. Certainly not entirely welcoming.

But the other three men in the room with her, staring awkwardly at her, seem much more pleasant. One man in his early to mid forties comes over to her with an outstretched hand and warm smile. Jill extends her hand also.

'Barry Burton. Welcome to the team!'

'Barry is Alpha's weapons expert.' Wesker explains and Jill smiles.

'Hi, I'm Jill, it's nice to meet you.'

Joseph and Brad nearly trip over one another to be the next to greet her. And Brad gets there first. Jill smiles politely once more and Brad grins like a little boy.

'Hey, Brad Vickers. Intel and resident pilot. Nice to meet you Jill.'

Joseph nearly elbows him out of the way to meet her next. 'Jill, it's nice to have you on the team, welcome!'

'Thank you!'

Barry folds his arms and internally sighs, knowing where this is inevitably going. 'I guess the only person left is…'

All eyes turn to the only other member of the team she hasn't been introduced to. The only currently being reamed out by Irons. The way Chris is standing, well it makes it very evident where they will probably be heading once they finish up at the station later. Joseph leans in to Brad.

'I think me, him and Speyer are going to the bar after. I can tell, he's pissed. Wanna come?' Joseph questions, keeping his voice barely above a whisper and Brad nods his head.

'Count me the fuck in…' Brad sighs. It's going to be a long day.

Wesker is losing patience. 'Yes, the individual with Chief Irons is…'

'Chris Redfield. I honestly expected better from you.' Irons puts his hands on the desk and glares at him.

Chris frowns. 'Really? Well, that was stupid of you.'

Irons sputters at the insult. 'We're ending this conversation. Jill Valentine is your new partner. I expect you to treat her well and show her the ropes. And if you do anything that causes me to lose her, I'll fucking end you.'

He ignores the way Irons phrased that sentence and the threat. 'What the fuck do you want me to do with her? I'm not a goddamn babysitter!'

'I don't care what the fuck you do with her, just, I don't know. Take her on a tour of this fucking building. Show her the case notes you're working on - assuming you actually do any fucking work around here - I don't fucking care.'

'Tour this building? Are you fucking kidding me? Do I look like a tour guide? Tell you what, I'll make it interesting - you'll love this. You want me to babysit? Fine. We've got maps of this shithole downstairs, she can have one of those and tour around bringing me something from every fucking room in this place. How's that? She's getting acquainted with the building and she's out of my hair.'

Chris smirks when he sees Irons' face turn several shades of red. He barely manages to compose himself and Chris's smirk isn't helping either.

'I swear to fucking god if I see her without you nearby I will fire your ass so fucking fast you won't even comprehend it. I'll personally see to it that you will never find employment in any type of law enforcement setting again. Are we fucking clear?'

He's lost. Time to accept it.

'Crystal.'

'Good. Get the fuck out of my sight.'

A hush falls over the room as the door to the office opens and Jill watches her new partner skulk out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Irons calls for Wesker and he leaves without so much as a word to talk with Irons.

Jill can't help but wonder what the hell she's gotten herself into. There is such an odd collection of people here. She doesn't know how to take any of them yet. Well, she knows how to handle Chris, she thinks but not Wesker. Brad, Joseph and Barry are much nicer and Jill has a feeling that she'll be spending a lot of time being as close to them as possible. Seemed better. Chris doesn't have to deal with her, nor does she him, and everyone is happy.

She's about to turn back to the little circle they formed with the chairs when she hears Chris shouting at her from the hallway.

'You coming, Valentine, or what?'

Jill winces at his tone and Barry puts a hand on her shoulder.

'He's rough, I'll give you that, but he's a damn fine officer. If you need to vent, and trust me, we've all been there, I'm here, Jill. Good luck.'

Barry has been so kind to her. God, she wonders if he gets tired being the middleman for everyone. Or if it's just a role he fell into by accident and accepted it. Either way, she is immensely grateful. Maybe, if she survives her first day, she can convince Barry to explain more of the dynamics of Alpha team. Since she doesn't see this partnership with Chris going very far, maybe she can petition Wesker to make Barry her partner instead.

Jill excuses herself and opens the door to see Chris waiting at the end of the hallway. She trots to catch up to him and wonders if she should introduce herself. It's worth a shot.

'Um, hi? We, uh, we haven't been formally introduced. I'm Jill.' She offers her hand and Chris stares at it with a blank expression before turning on his heel and walking towards a door.

Jill looks to her feet. Okay. Maybe later. Maybe he needs to cool down. Quite the temper. God, what a hot head. I wonder how many fights he's been in because of that attitude. Huh. Worse part, if he started them, or didn't, he won them.

Chris leads her through what appears to be a lounge and through another door that opens into the most sprawling library she's ever seen. She hides her shock. Oh please, she wants to stay and check this place out. But nope. Chris continues to move along at a rapid pace. She sometimes has to trot to keep up. Down another staircase and through the door.

Jill tries to keep up, mentally, with their path but it's so confusing. She also tries to think of something to talk about. The silence is maddening.

'So, um, Wesker mentioned that you were working on a case. Can you fill me in?'

Chris turns over his shoulder and says nothing to her. They descend the staircase to the main level. Jill closes her eyes. Okay. Not that angle either.

They pause at the same desk she first inquired about the position months ago while Chris rummages through the file cabinet for something. The officers there remain silent and out of his way.

He gets whatever it is he needs and turns back to her. The front doors burst open and a small collection of people, dressed in the S.T.A.R.S uniform sweep through. This must be Bravo team.

Jill notices that Chris locks eyes with someone and smirks. He heads over there and she takes a few steps to be closer to him. Whoever this man is that Chris is talking to, they seem to be friends. What a thought. Chris has friends? Jill also notices a very, very young woman in the mixture. She sets her eyes on Chris before quickly looking away when she locks eyes with Jill.

'Hey man, how'd the raid go?'

'A little trouble, but nothing we couldn't handle. Little mistake though, now I have a fuck load of paperwork to do.'

'Shitty. Hey, Joseph doesn't know it yet, but he's going to the bar with me. You in?' Chris offers and Jill feels herself internally groan. Great. So he'll be late tomorrow? It's a Monday night...who gets pissed on a Monday night?

'Yeah? Rough day?' the man wonders and notices the woman over Chris's shoulder. 'Who is that?'

'My new…' Chris pauses and forces the word out. 'Partner.'

The man whistles and then laughs. 'Finally tied you down, huh? Yeah, I'll be there. I have to stop by Kendo's first. I'll be over right after.'

'Great. I need to vent.'

'No fucking doubt,' the man holds his hand out to Jill and she smiles a little bit. 'Hey, I'm Forest Speyer. Welcome to S.T.A.R.S.'

'Nice to meet you, I'm Jill. And thank you.'

Forest lowers his voice. 'She seems nice, so try not to be an asshole to her all of the time, okay?'

'I already got it from Irons, I don't need it from you.'

'Fine, fine,' Forest glances at Jill again, studying the lobby. 'Anyway, I have paperwork. I'll see you later. Be nice. Don't be a dick.'

Chris rolls his eyes and motions for Jill to follow him. She does so and Forest pauses as he heads up to the second level. What a scene, Jill trotting to keep up with his pace. And Chris is already writing her off.

Good luck, Jill. You're gonna fucking need it.

Fuck. Time to move, that paperwork isn't going to do itself.

Why the fuck is it so busy? Chris pushes past a group of people to make his way towards the bar. Great, most of them are Umbrella employees. They always tend to be the rowdier of the normal groups that come in. Who'd have thought scientists had it in them? The amount of times Umbrella employees have started fights with other patrons or off duty police members, themselves included was quite shocking. This is why he's certain someone else should open up another bar. This one is getting a bit too crowded.

It's a raucous scene. The employees of Umbrella are clearly celebrating something. He orders a beer and a shot. Spying Joseph and Brad tucked into a booth at the back corner, Chris throws the shot back and orders another two beers for them. He closes the gap, careful to mind the group of Umbrella idiots and sits beside Brad.

'What the hell's going on?' Chris questions and passes the two extra beers to him and Joseph .

Brad downs the last of the beer in his glass and starts on the other. 'Uh, something about discovering some new gene? Or splicing? I don't know.'

'Great, so we get to listen to this all night?' Chris complains and glances at the door. Forest hasn't arrived yet.

'I guess so,' Joseph replies and sighs. 'So...how'd it go?'

Chris frowns. 'How'd what go?'

'Jesus Christ,' Brad comments and drinks deeply from the glass. 'How did the rest of the day go?'

'Oh. I don't know. I don't really care to remember.'

'Did you...talk to her at all?' Joseph wonders and Chris shrugs.

'I told her that the moment she's ready I'm cutting her loose,' he frowns at the looks of horror from the others. 'What? Fuck off, all of you, don't give me that look.'

Brad sighs audibly. 'You're gonna cut her loose? You know, if you actually talked to her, you'd find that she's pretty capable.'

'I'm not doubting her abilities,' Chris responds hotly.

'Yes you are. I saw the look on your face when it was mentioned that Irons hired her.' Joseph informs him and Chris folds his arms.

'Come on, you don't think Irons hired her because of her resume? He hired her to look good. That's all. Mark my words.'

Joseph eyes him with a smirk. 'No, at first I thought it was because of her...assets. But maybe it was because of her resume.'

Chris rolls his eyes. 'No it wasn't.'

Joseph sits back in defeat. 'Yeah. You're right. But still, to be a member of Delta Force? That's pretty fucking awesome.'

Chris struggles to process that piece of information. Valentine, in Delta Force? He can't say he isn't impressed. Hostage negotiations, counterterrorism, bomb disposals - he wonders just what Valentine was up to in the force. His curiosity is telling him to ask her about it tomorrow. Hang on, why should he care?

Forest slides into their spot moments later with a beer in his hand. He looks just as tired as them. The high from the initial raid is gone. It always happens like that.

'Hey - thanks for the beer…' he responds sarcastically. He studies their surroundings and presses his lips together. 'Great. I can't wait to see which one of these fuckers is gonna start a fight tonight.'

Brad shrugs and then notices an interaction between two guys and a girl. She splashes her drink in the one tall guy's face. She points angrily at him and says something. He gets in her face and the shorter guy in a pretty nice suit pushes him back.

'Heads up, think I found it.' Brad rests his elbows on the table and drinks deeply. 'I mean if you guys wanna.'

Chris sighs. 'I didn't see anything.'

Joseph and Forest nod their heads and murmur in agreement. So they turn into their own conversations, which, unfortunately for Chris, involved Jill. They didn't appreciate his attitude towards her. He kindly told them to fuck right off and they just continued talking about Jill. There had to be something else he could look at.

He decides to focus on the fight breaking out once the tall guy shoves the shorter one into the bar top. Well, at least he has some entertainment. When he does tune in to pieces of the conversation, they've moved on to their respective cases, thank fucking god, but it always circles back to Jill. And how he was the one they picked for her instead of shuffling people around so he was either alone as he liked it or with Barry, Brad or Joseph. How come the ever moody Chris Redfield got the rookie?

He's been asking himself the same fucking question. Why him? Personally if he had to choose, he'd rather Barry because at least they have great history and Barry just fucking gets him.

And then of course their conversation turns to Jill and how hot she looks. Yeah, he supposes so. She is not unattractive. Hang on. No. Not getting sucked into that line of thought. He needs to think about what he's gonna do with her. Merely thinking of that daunting task puts him in a sour mood. Why did things have to change? And how he can get them to go back to normal.

Chris glances up when he sees that threesome from earlier devolve into shouts. The tall guy then pushes the girl into the bar top, she loses her balance and falls. Chris rises. Throwing the others at his table a look that tells them to hurry up, most of them polish off the beers and wait.

'Well, this isn't how I wanted to spend my night…' Brad replies and watches as Forest and Chris go over to confront the asshole. Forest helps the girl to her feet and Chris gets in the guy's face.

Joseph watches the guy shove Chris and Chris respond by hitting him in the face. 'Yeah, I get ya. I'm not really feeling this today either. I just wanted a beer.'

'Those two are always ready for a fight.'

'I almost feel sorry for the guy that meets Chris in a fight tonight. He's as uptight as ever.' Joseph grins as Chris knocks the guy down again, however he's jumped by another guy that doesn't even appear to be a part of the Umbrella group and Joseph stands as well. 'We should probably help.'

Brad turns over his shoulder to where he sees Forest slide across a table and knock it down. 'Yeah, let's go.'

They walked up and pulled one guy off Chris and blocked another one from hitting Forest. Doesn't matter who started this fight. They'll fucking win it.

Barry glances up as another straggler wanders in, this one only fifteen minutes late. Forest Opens and shuts the door very quietly, mumbling his greetings and nodding at Wesker in the office. He barely notices. Barry notices the bruises and cuts on Forest. Him too...Rebecca certainly had her hands full this morning. He notices Brad pull away from Rebecca's touch when she dabs disinfectant on a couple of cuts to his knuckles.

'Thanks, Becks,' Brad tells her and groans at the squeak of a nearby chair.

Forest takes his seat at his desk and immediately rubs his face, trying to spark life into himself. Fuck, drinking a bottle each of Jimmy Beam after their 'victorious' fight last night was such a dumb fucking idea. Whose was it? Joseph's. Fuck.

'You okay, Forest?' Barry questions and each noise ricochets in his mind.

'I am fucking hung over.'

Barry sits back and sighs. That's Joseph and Brad too. They drank and obviously got into a fight. So the only one missing…

'Where's Chris?'

Forest closes his eyes and shrugs. 'No idea…'

Barry sighs and rises from his desk, he has to let Jill know - so he leaves the office to find her. He locates her making copies of the notes in the case files since apparently Chris neglected to fill her in and she wanted to be up to date on that. Barry curses Chris. He's better than this.

Jill thanks him profusely for letting her know. She comments that she's nearly done and will return everything to their place - lest she suffer his wrath. Jill says it with a chuckle in her voice but Barry knows the true meaning behind her statement. Why doesn't he like me?

When Barry returns to the office, he got caught in a forty-five minute conversation with Bonnie because she does love to talk, Forest has gone missing and no sooner does he resume sitting when Chris walks in. He looks like shit too. The others are passable, Chris looks like he's been in a fight.

He drops heavily into his chair and groans. Brad furiously whispers at him to shut the fuck up. Well, at least it will be a quiet day. Rebecca notices as well, nearly offering to clean up the wounds Chris suffered but feels her voice get caught in her throat and remains silent.

It's then that Barry notices all of the case files that were haphazardly spread around Chris's desk seem to be piled neatly off to the side. It looks like Jill did come back. But where did she go?

'Morning Chris,' Barry attempts but Chris doesn't answer him. 'How was last night?'

'Fucking awful…'

Okay, there's some life in there.

The door bouncing off the wall sends an angry murmur from the room, complaining as Forest hurries in only to hear a furious chorus of shut the fuck up.

'Chris? Do you know where Jill is?'

Chris shakes his head. 'No. I don't care. Keep your fucking voice down.'

'You should care, Irons is on his way down.'

Chris bolts up and studies the office. Shit. She isn't here. Well where the fuck did she go? Is she even here? Dumb question, of course she is. Shit. Shit.

'Anyone fucking seen her?'

Barry nods his head, always wondering why he constantly enables them. 'I saw her making copies about an hour ago. She must have come by to drop the files off.'

'And none of you saw her leave?' Chris snaps and there is a quietness to the group.

'I can't even see five feet in front of me without my head pounding.'

Someone muttered that, though since most of the guys have their heads buried in their arms it's hard to tell who it was.

Great. If Irons catches him without Jill there will be trouble. Fuck. Fuck. He moves to the exit and tries to think where she could be. Standing in the hall he looks around. Who the fuck would know? And more so, who would care enough to help? Especially with his reputation around here.

Another lucid moment. She's thankful when she wakes. Because it means she can truly appreciate Chris. The fever won't go down, though. It's bad. She's been burning up for the last day. She thought she recalled a doctor saying it had reached one hundred and two.

She grabs his hand tightly. She convinced him, probably by accident to at least untie her one hand so she could touch him. She was dying to. The condition was that if she fell asleep he had to restrain her.

Anything she would agree to. God it felt so nice. But when she rubbed her thumb over his knuckles, he winced. Though when she inquired, he didn't say anything. Not even to confirm or deny that she gave him the scratches on his cheek.

So apologized anyway because she believed it was her. He tells her that she has nothing to apologize for. But she does.

'Of course I do,' she can't stop the tears from falling. She is so tired and wants this over. What's the point in fighting? 'You're wasting your life here waiting for me to get better. What if I don't? I don't want you suffering here. I do things that I don't remember and the dreams I have, I remember everything. Maybe this is my punishment. To suffer even a fraction of what I did to those people...maybe I deserve it all. Maybe I deserve this prolonged hell.'

Chris holds her hand tighter. How can he tell her she's wrong?

'We'll face whatever it is thrown at us together. Just like we always have.'

Jill smiles at him. She awkwardly puts her hand on his face and bites her lip. 'I do not deserve you.'

'I'd never leave you behind.'

Get better. She needs to get better. When she slips into a fever induced sleep, her body burning up, he wonders if she ever will. How much longer does she need to purge herself of all the toxins? But most importantly, how much of a fight does Jill have left in her? Surely she must be exhausted.

He breaks his own rule. He doesn't restrain her when she sleeps. Because holding her hand, he believes that he can simply give her the strength she needs. Please let her be close to getting through this.

Not being spiritual, he's at a point of asking for a miracle. Because in situations like this, isn't that what people do?