Hi everyone. Sorry it's taken so long for an update. I struggled a bit with writer's block. So I tried to write at least something every chance I got. I do worry it isn't the best. Hope everyone had a good holiday and New Years. I started a new job in January so I won't be able to devote as much time as I would like to, but I will do my best. Please let me know your thoughts by leaving a review if you'd like. Thanks as always and enjoy

Something catches Chris's eye as he heads up the stairs to work. Jill and Brad leaving the third-floor clock tower entrance. He allows them to come down and he silently follows them, inadvertently trying not to listen to their conversation while he slows his pace. They strangely haven't noticed him. They seem to think that currently, they're the only ones in the station.

'You're sure…? I just felt like...I did something last night to make you uncomfortable.'

What?

Brad shakes his head and dismisses Jill's concern. 'Nope. You were fine. Honestly. I just wasn't in a good place to be thinking critically. At least not in that way.'

Chris eyes Brad. He knows. Instantly. Well, he thinks he does. They're carrying on a relationship. Have to be. What else could it be?

'Okay, good because I thought I'd done something wrong by inviting you over,' Jill replies and Chris pauses in his step. Oh, so she initiated it? Chris almost wonders if he feels obligated to tell Jill what a womanizer Brad is and is probably scheming a way to sleep with her.

Eh, then again, Jill was the one who invited him over so...what's he griping about? Also, wait, hang on. No, he will complain. He can't even offer her a fucking ride without her brushing him off and telling him to go fuck himself - er, probably - but Brad can swoop in and not only pick her up but drive her home and get an invite into her place? Brad is certainly smooth. He always has been.

No reason to be mad, right? He really doesn't care. Not in the slightest. These thoughts will go away eventually.

Chris ends up following them right to the S.T.A.R.S office but he decides at the last minute to head outside for another quick smoke. He needs the opportunity to calm his nerves. Jill turns over her shoulder as Chris walks past them in a hurry and she wonders just how long he'd been following them. And if he'd been eavesdropping.

Kinda rude to not say anything. Of course, that's just who he is. She rolls her eyes and heads into the office with Brad. After a flourish of good mornings, Jill sits and pulls out her files from her bag.

They look exactly the same as last night. Nothing changed. No magic revealed anything new. Just a pile of notes. Piles of case reports and literally nowhere to go. All of the follow ups had been done. Next of kin contacted, funerals and memorials held. Families wanted answers. They couldn't give them any. None of it made sense. It was so frustrating.

The only similarities they could find were mutilated corpses. But not by animals, at least not at first, but what appeared to be humans.

How, what, and why were the questions that constantly plagued them. Who could do such a thing? The boys had joked that maybe some cult that indulged in cannibalism moved into the Arklay mountains. It was a dense thicket of land. Surely undesirable things occurred in some corner of the land.

That...couldn't be possible. She just couldn't process it. It had to be an individual. Maybe two. Who were just sick people. Or a sick person. It's a serial killer. It's the only explanation she had.

Jill internally sighs as Chris comes into the office and sits across from her. He offers no greetings or any vocalizations of her existence, so it's a pretty typical morning she assumes. Probably just decided to have another smoke before dealing with this place.

Jill reaches for a list of victims once more. Nothing similar at first glance. Different ages, ethnicities, backgrounds...younger or older...fuck. What is the connection? Where is it? It'll be miniscule. Something so small...it'll blow the whole thing open.

'What's wrong?'

Jill glances up and then frowns at Chris. 'What do you mean?'

'You're glaring at the notes. What's wrong?'

She nearly answers with something snarky but decides to just be somewhat curt in her response. He usually is with her. She gathers her patience.

'I'm...frustrated that I can't seem to find a connection between the victims.'

Chris doesn't say anything, merely watches her. Jill doesn't like the look. Is it pitying? Is he pitying her that she has this desire to actually do the work and solve these cases? Pitying her rookie energy and enthusiasm when normalcy coupled with complacency is the best option?

'It's a miniscule connection. Probably staring at us right in the face,' Chris offers and Jill is rather surprised they seemed to be on the same page about that fact without speaking to one another. 'Since it's not glaringly obvious, what's a small background connection?'

Jill blinks. 'Are you asking me?'

'Yeah.'

'I don't know. What's background to you?'

'I don't know, maybe their kids went to the same school, or played on the same little league team?' Chris wonders and Jill is rather surprised. That's...actually not a bad place to start. 'What's that look for?'

Now she feels embarrassed she couldn't reign in her facial expressions. 'There's no look, it's just...a good idea.'

Chris can't help but smile. Jill avoids his gaze cuz that smile is actually fairly genuine looking. 'Yeah, I'm full of them.'

'I'm sure you are…' Jill responds and rolls her eyes. Chris turns away to sulk. Okay. Good feels over. Back to their supposed hating of one another.

Credit where credit is due, though. That's actually a fantastic idea. Maybe the connection is there. The fact there may be kids who went to the same school. Oh, but how could one make an enemy of someone at school? PTA meeting fiasco? Someone didn't sell enough cupcakes at the fundraiser bake sale? She's heard the stories of the moms who get a bit too...into everything. What's to say she didn't vent to her husband who took matters in his own hands, maybe potentially fulfilling dark fantasies?

God her imagination runs wild sometimes. Okay. Start there. Who had kids and who didn't. Any similarities on that, such as the schools and sports teams. What next? Um, maybe jobs? Maybe there was the potential to have the same fields be an option.

It was a long, long day. The artificial light of the RPD Archives caused her to have a slight headache at the end of it - something she was not looking forward to once leaving. There was just so much pulling out forms and files, reshelving and repeating the process that looping around the room made her dizzy sometimes.

And now, flipping through the pages of notes, Jill isn't sure if it was worth it. Chris hadn't followed her down to the archives like she had hoped, instead he stayed up in the office, doing god knows what. He never even came down to check on her, bring her a coffee or, or to keep her spirits up, literally anything to keep her going. Like the ass that he was. Nope. That job of keeping her engaged and happy and not bored to death fell to Marvin. He noticed her walking around a few times to clear her head and she had caught his eye from the ground office.

So, being the sweet soul he was, wandered by the archives with coffee and a cupcake from who knows where.

Sandy's birthday, apparently. She didn't know who Sandy was but hey, have a great birthday. They had a couple of extra treats in their office and they were homemade. And wow, can Sandy certainly bake.

Introductions aside, Marvin asked who she was. Apparently, there is a disconnect from the regular RPD cops and S.T.A.R.S members. With the cops looking up their nose at them since they believed they were just elitists. Not that Alpha or Bravo did anything to combat that image. Maybe Barry. He's one of the good ones, according to Marvin.

Other than that, every S.T.A.R.S member seems to keep to themselves, so other than coming in the front door to head upstairs to the office or the backdoor, the rest of the regular folks, as Marvin calls them, don't normally have the privilege to interact with them.

Jill had apologized for that perception but Marvin had smiled at her. He could tell she was cut from the same cloth as Barry was.

Their conversation was pleasant. Marvin was nearly thirty years with the force and humble bragged that his eldest daughter had nearly completed her law degree at Harvard. His son was contemplating a career with the FBI or CIA. The younger daughter. She wasn't sure yet. He didn't want to pressure her.

She had to go through the routine questions and answers next. Yup, moved all the way from California. No, no parents living or any siblings. She just returned from France after having tended to her deceased grandmother's affairs. Which is why she floundered for a bit before coming across this job posting. She didn't mention how much she regretted taking it though. She did want to get this attention off of her as quickly as possible. Especially since now there was a lull in conversation.

Marvin finishes up his coffee and leans against the closest shelf. Jill glances up.

'Well, Jill I think you may have something there.'

Jill tilts her head and looks at her notes. 'What's that?'

Marvin heads to the door and closes it just a little bit further. 'I'm going to let you in on a little secret of mine, Jill.'

'What's that?' She can't imagine where this could possibly be going.

'I don't trust Umbrella.'

That didn't go in the direction she thought it would. 'Umbrella, that's the Pharmaceutical company that owns half the land in RC, right?'

Marvin nods his head. 'Oh, hell yeah. And I tell you what else they own. The mayor. The politicians and I'm sure even our own Chief. Not that I've been able to prove any of this, but still. I digress.'

'What makes you think that?'

'Umbrella has free reign to do whatever they please. With nearly zero consequences. A worker got injured a couple of years back and died from his injuries on the manufacturing line.

'Parents sued for negligence causing death and a myriad of other things but Umbrella fought it in court. Judge ruled in Umbrella's favour despite solid evidence, I should know, I gathered it! Poor Caleb's family was distraught. They started a memorial fund aimed to help young workers know their rights. Umbrella was the first to make a massive donation, I'm talkin' at least a hundred thousand. Talk about insult to injury. Anyway, Caleb's family only lasted a couple more years before they decided to get out of Raccoon City and start fresh. Not that I blame them.'

Jill stares stunned. 'That's so awful, and Umbrella was never charged or prosecuted? For anything? Surely there are other things they could have been charged with.'

Marvin nods his head. 'Oh, sure. But anytime something bad happens with Umbrella, things simply don't go anywhere. I mean it when I said they owned more than just the land.'

That's gross. Everyone talks in such high regard for Umbrella. Their charity work, how they are the first to cough up money if anything needed to be done. Some city folk approached Umbrella about overhauling Spencer Park. Umbrella funded the entire thing. It was pretty beautiful once done.

And that's the cover. If Marvin is right then Umbrella is actually harbouring a much more sinister appearance. But for what purpose? What is the objective to buy out the politicians, the law and police? What was the end goal? And did it truly, maybe potentially, involve Irons? What an exposé that would be.

Marvin is right. While she's been digesting this information, he's been making notes on another piece of paper. Nearly everyone on the victim list had at some point worked for Umbrella. Now, in what capacity, that was gonna warrant a little visit. Finally. It seems like there may be a small shred of a lead.

'Marvin! This could be it, this may be the break we're looking for!'

Marvin smiles at her and nods his head. 'Sometimes, all you need is a fresh pair of eyes. Where's your partner?'

Marvin sees the life drain away from Jill's face as she crosses her arms and rolls her eyes. 'I'm not sure. Doing whatever he wants, I guess. The less we see of each other, the better.'

Jill's comment makes Marvin smile a bit in understanding. 'Ah, so the gossip was true. You did get partnered with Redfield.'

'I shouldn't be speaking of someone like that. Sorry, it's just...frustrating. But, there's others on the team that have been more...receptive to my joining them. So, I try to make the best of it.'

'That's a real shame to hear that. Chris is a great cop. A little...unorthodox in his method but terrific nonetheless.'

'You sure we're talking about the same Chris?' Jill wonders with a surprised expression.

'Sure am. Granted, he certainly isn't the same as he was when he first started. I think it was after the Herschel incident. Got a lot more cynical after that...I think he felt personally responsible. Even though there wasn't anything he could do. Herschel had only recently been hired by RPD. He only had five days under him.

'But far be it from me to talk about it. If you ever warm up to Chris, maybe you should ask him.'

Jill smiles at the comment. 'Well, I appreciate it. Maybe someday I will. Probably won't look too good if I come at him wondering about the Herschel incident. He'll know people have been talking about him behind his back. Can't imagine he'd like that. And it'd somehow be my fault.'

'Touché.' Marvin grins at her. Jill smiles and rolls her eyes.

'I'll keep you updated, Marvin. We needed this so badly. People want answers.'

'Answers always come. Sometimes it's just not at the desired speed,' Marvin eyes the partially eaten cupcake on the table in the room and as he heads out, motions to it. 'Eat that. Sandy's cupcakes can't be wasted. That'd be the real crime here.'

It makes Jill smile. Marvin heads out but not before wishing her good luck. As soon as Jill's certain Marvin is gone, she jumps up and down joyfully, excited to maybe be pointed in the right direction. God, the elated feeling doesn't go away even as she stops jumping and collects herself. Right then. She's gotta tell someone. Who? She turns in a small circle, trying to gather her thoughts cohesively. Well, there's only one person she'd ever want to tell, isn't there?

Chris glances up from doing absolutely nothing but staring at Jill's case notes as he can hear her excitedly talking to someone as she comes into the office. Can't be Brad, he's too busy lobbing the ball to Joseph. There is a real lack of motivation from the group today. They're all annoyed that Bravo seems to be the group who is having the most fun pursuing this drug case. It just means there is a lot of stakeouts and lead following up. Kinda wish they could swap for a change.

But here comes Valentine, excitedly talking to Barry, pointing to paper. Chris has never seen her this lively before. It must be something good. Well, he'll hear about it as soon as she….okay never mind. She just walked right by him and pulled a chair to Barry's desk. Whatever then.

He tries not to listen to their conversation out of spite but it's kinda hard not to. Jill's found a lead. Of course she did. This will be interesting.

'Isn't that incredible?'

Barry leans back in his chair and lowers the paper from in front of him. Jill is beaming ear to ear with her discovery. And the look of longing for approval in her eyes. He hands her back the paper, a list of names and one simple word written across the top. Umbrella.

As she goes on to explain her theory, Barry leans back in his chair to make eye contact with Chris. Even Chris seems surprised by the discovery. Also why he wasn't with Jill.

Where were you, Chris?

God it's written all over Barry's face, that fucking question.

'Great job, Jill. Who'd have thought, huh? I guess we'll be needing a bit of time to speak to someone in Human Resources,' Barry comments and Chris can see Valentine's look of elation doesn't go away. She bites her lip as she nods at Barry's statement.

'Failing that, then maybe we can reach out to family members and see what they say. At least get some background.'

'Maybe this is the big break we've been waiting for,' Barry replies and Jill excitedly nods her head. 'You gonna head down to get some phone numbers?'

'Yup! Probably the easiest information to get…' she replies and stands, gathering up her paper with names on it as Barry reaches for something in the file folder drawer of his desk.

'Right, well, I can't imagine they're gonna talk to us without a warrant. So, I'll get the request in to Judge Hawthorn just in case.'

'I'll let you know if anything tangible comes from the conversations.'

Valentine excitedly heads out of the office again, no doubt going to see about gathering up the phone numbers needed. The rest of Alpha stares rather stunned at the door as it shuts. She fucking did it. She found the miniscule lead. Eventually the conversation turns back to nothing at all. Barry gets on the phone with Hawthorn's legal assistant to get started drafting that warrant. However, it sounds as though she's reluctant to pass the message on to him. All he had to do was mention Umbrella and things got immediately sour. Chris could see it in Barry's face.

Eventually, after hanging up the phone, Barry turns and looks over to Chris. 'What is it about Umbrella that suddenly makes everyone clam up and become blockheaded?'

'Guess you're going to have to make an appearance,' Chris states and Barry sighs.

'Crosstown traffic will be a nightmare,' he confirms as he rises. Chris does the same. He really ought to check on Valentine. Barry's silently given him shit once before. He doesn't need it again. 'Where are you going?'

'To take a walk.'

They head out of the door together and Barry eyes him. 'Don't you think you've missed that boat?'

'You think so?'

'I think you'd better sit this one out.'

Yeah but that's all he's done. Sit out. Fine. Whatever. Chris gives him an acknowledgement and decides to go for a smoke instead.

'Good luck with Hawthorn,' Chris offers and pauses by the exit door to the fire escape. Barry sighs.

'Time to see if I'm still in his good graces.'

'Spin it in a way that makes it seem like we're there to do Umbrella a favour. Quash some rumours or something.'

'Not a half bad idea,' Barry agrees and Chris heads out.

Barry heads towards the garage. Hard to believe that after all this time, their lead is right in front of them. Hopefully this will shed light on the connections of the victims and they can go on from there. Perhaps they were targeted or something of the like.

Chris comes in the front of RPD and scans the area to see if he can spot Valentine. He knows Barry told him to stay away, but how can he? Valentine got a lead! It's enough of a lead that it piqued his interest. Umbrella. Why the hell didn't he think of that? He knew of their sinister nature. Guess he assumed it wasn't sinister enough to warrant a hard look. Still, to have all the vics work for Umbrella, it is rather suspicious that they all suddenly turned up dead.

No sign of Valentine. He goes in to ask Bonnie if she's seen Valentine since nothing escapes Bonnie's eagle eyes. Lo and behold there's Valentine, speaking on the phone while Bonnie absently files her nails. Chris can feel the questioning gaze from Bonnie as he enters the reception area.

'Hey Bonnie…'

Bonnie peers up from her task, taking her time in responding. She holds her hand out in front of her to inspect her meticulous work. 'Chris. How can I help you?'

He absently points to Valentine, frowning on the phone. Bonnie turns over her shoulder and nods. She says nothing more so Chris waits, listening absently as Valentine seems suddenly desperate to maintain whoever is on the other line.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect. I, I understand but I really thought...right. That's fine, I'll take down your lawyer's information. I am sorry, I just wanted to know more about what she did. That's all. Yes, we are trying to get to the bottom of it.

'I understand. I'll pose any questions to your lawyer. And you can decide whether or not you'd like to answer them. Thank you for your time…'

Valentine pulls the phone away from her ear just in time for Chris to hear some woman scream at her to go to hell.

'Well, how many does that make now?' Bonnie wonders and Jill quietly sets the retriever down. She looks defeated.

'Six out of seven. The only one I didn't get yelled at was because I had to leave a message. I don't understand. Some are mad, rightfully so. But some seemed fearful. Like they couldn't talk about it.

'Mr Maratoni, Celeste's dad? He sounded so desperate to talk to me. The language he used. The I want. The I need. But he followed up by immediately telling me he couldn't. He wasn't permitted to.

'It isn't looking good so far. Maybe I should try speaking to them in person.'

Bonnie shakes her head. 'You're gonna get a lot more than doors slammed in your face if you go speaking to them.'

'What was that reporter's name? The one that tried to dig into Umbrella's business dealings? Maybe they may know something. Or at least someone willing to talk,' Valentine speculates and Bonnie eyes her with a smirk.

'Ah. Ben Bertolucci,' Bonnie rolls her eyes. 'Careful about being seen with him, Jill. Chief Irons doesn't like him. At all. I swear sometimes he looks for any excuse to harass Ben. So if you're going to be speaking to him...just don't do it here.'

'Really?'

'Oh sure, right Chris?' Bonnie wonders and he can see Valentine's expression deadpan. She glances down to the paper and then to the phone. She's debating something.

'Ben can be useful. Sometimes,' Chris agrees and Valentine turns over to him. She wonders why he's even here.

Bonnie hides her smirk as she reaches down to grab her purse before heading off for the day. Their interactions have become comical to her. Problem is, she can tell Chris is attempting to mend fences, just because she knows Chris quite well. However, she can see that Jill is just fed up.

'Well, this is me heading out for the night,' Bonnie flicks a button on the phone interface, ensuring that anything incoming is dealt with. She can see the moment of panic in Chris's eyes. Ah. So she was the buffer between the two. Well that just makes her departure all the more satisfying. 'Jill, good luck with things. You've come too far to get stymied now. But be careful.'

'Night Bonnie,' Jill smiles at her. Bonnie walks by Chris and eyes him. That's a bit of a cold look, isn't it? Chris lingers outside in the reception area, kinda waiting for Valentine to acknowledge him. However, she doesn't. She doesn't even say anything to him.

Once Chris hears Bonnie talking with someone out by the desk he attempts conversation.

'So...how'd you make out?'

Jill stares at the list of names and phone numbers, along with a massive circled word at the top of the page. Umbrella. She gathers her wits and patience. Chris went from being ice cold to chilly. Maybe tepid. No. Tepid was too much of a compliment. So was tolerant. Is he making an effort?

Chris watches Valentine exhale slowly and push the chair back. She rises and gathers up the papers. She turns to him and shrugs.

'I'll come around,' she turns to leave and then glances over her shoulder. 'Are you...gonna still be there?'

'Yes?'

'Okay...just wanted to be sure…'

Chris drops into the closest chair and waits. She really thought he'd ask how she was making out, bait her into joining him on this side and then in the interim of her coming around, he was just gonna leave - obviously bored by her antics? Fuck. She really does not hold him in high regard.

He did that one time. One. Time. Someone needed help with something and he kinda forgot Valentine was coming up from the garage - on her third day no less. He only disappeared into the break room right by the staircase but...fuck. She iced him out for a whole week. She was pissed. That was an understatement, actually.

She believed he did that to embarrass her. That he did it on purpose. That was the hardest he had to show her he was authentic.

He also wants to ask her why she doesn't feel like getting this shit done in the office upstairs. Why does she constantly move around? Maybe it's just to familiarize herself with the building layout - maybe she works better in silence. After all, it isn't like it's quiet in the office. Or, maybe she just doesn't want to be around him. A whole plethora of things.

He looks up as Valentine comes around the corner with a folder. He can tell she's debating where to sit, if she should, should they move? She walks by him and sits on the opposite chair, dropping the files onto the table between them. She glances up to him and they lock stares. Chris looks away first. Unsure of why they did that, and why he felt weird afterward.

'So, what'd you find?'

Valentine sighs and just shoves the papers over to him while she explains what she's been up to as he reads things quickly. She was able to get a hold of everyone save one on the list. First, they were pissed she was calling them once she had introduced herself. Livid in fact. Nearly all of them screamed and cursed at her that she wasn't doing enough to solve their loved one's death. All they did was merely confirm that the victim worked at Umbrella, but only a few worked in the same department. Celeste's dad told her that she worked in Finance. Some were in R&D while others were actually bioengineers. As far as she knew, none of them knew one another. Their only connection was Umbrella.

Almost all of them took offence to her asking questions about their deceased. It was as though they were mad at having to repeat themselves. Or that she was asking questions she should have already had the answer to. Maybe they just didn't like to have to relive the trauma.

Something just didn't feel right. There was a desperate rage heard in their voices, or at least that's what Valentine said. As though they were not permitted to talk about it. And the desperation turned to rage because they had no outlet. It wasn't until Valentine spoke to Celeste's dad that some of her suspicions were confirmed.

He used words like unable and can't when asked questions by Valentine followed by an immediate, I wish I could but I'm not able to answer that. Even though I could.

Valentine wants to go and talk to Maratoni. He agrees. He also doesn't miss the surprised expression on her face before she quickly hides it once more. He tries to move past it by telling Valentine that Barry has gone to secure subpoenas. She nods her head and stares at some of the paper in her lap.

'Uh, hey, Valentine?' Chris begins and she turns to him with an unimpressed look. Clearly, she's ready for something. She's mentally preparing herself. 'Great job, uh, finding the connection.'

Again, there is that surprised look. Before it morphs into disbelief.

'Are you...being facetious?'

Chris blinks from surprise. Fucking hell, do his words really not come across as genuine? Or does she truly not believe a single thing that comes out of his mouth in regards to her?

'No, I'm serious. I do mean it. You found a connection. The best one we have to go on so far. So, I seriously mean it. Good job.'

Valentine's face betrays her thoughts. He can tell she doesn't believe him. 'Thanks. I guess…'

The need for another smoke to get past this uncomfortable tension makes Chris decide that this day is done. They can work the angle tomorrow. He stands and Jill watches him for a brief moment before understanding that he's finished with her and this day. So she gathers up the notes and dutifully follows him up the grand staircase.

By the time they get to the office, the lights are dim. Most of the team is gone, save for Wesker. The door to his office is shut and he only briefly glances up to them while on the phone jotting something down. His monotonous voice is muffled by the glass. They wonder who he's speaking to. He catches them walking in and he turns the chair around so he is no longer facing them. Typical. Chris rolls his eyes.

Valentine organizes her desk a bit while Chris grabs his wallet and keys out of his desk drawer. He notices Valentine seems to be lingering, pausing to think as she spaces out while staring at the folder.

'See you tomorrow?' Chris offers and Jill glances up to him.

'Sure.'

'Do you...want to go and see these people together?'

Why is he offering her a choice? She doesn't really have one. Of course they're going together, right? Valentine must have picked up on that thought because she arches an eyebrow.

'I don't believe I have a choice in the matter,' she reminds him and Chris silently acknowledges that. 'Please don't be late, then.'

'I've been pretty good, recently,' he tells her and she merely shrugs. Knowing full well he could slide back into old patterns just as easily. Why does he feel...bad when he lets her down?

She checks her watch abruptly and sighs. Slinging her bag over her shoulder she simply tells him to have a good night as she hurries to the door. Must have to catch the bus. Or the subway. Damn. He could have offered a ride. Like hell she'd accept it though.

He slowly walks to the door, Wesker hasn't changed positions so he just heads out and towards the parking garage.

He's gotta be on time tomorrow. So, he can't spend all night at the bar. An hour or two at most. He's just got a lot on his mind. And Claire would only bug him about it immensely. No more than an hour or two. He promised Valentine.

Jill carefully watches as Chris slides into the driver's seat of the car and shut the door almost as silently. They sit in an awkward silence before Jill turns to him, but not before taking a peek at the house they just left.

Quiet and unassuming. Yeah, it just didn't know the tempest that lived inside of it.

'How's your um…' Jill struggles to find the right words. Chris looks over to her very unimpressed. They certainly didn't see that happening.

'She hits with purpose,' Chris replies and gingerly touches the spot where the woman slapped him. Definitely red. Definitely tender. She caught him with the band of her wedding ring. 'That was explosive…'

Jill turns back to the house's front bay window. A man and woman are arguing. Celeste's parents apparently fundamentally disagreed with what transpired. The woman, Marla, disagreed with her husband Seth about the ramifications of speaking with the 'fucking cops.'

When they inquired about the ramifications, she told them to mind their business and get the fuck out of their home. Seth said that he had invited them, a lie as they had just decided to show up to this house first, because they seemed like the first people who actually gave a shit about finding out what had happened to their daughter. That seemed to set off Marla further. She raged about costing them everything, and how could he forget what those people told them? They threatened them. And they demanded their compliance and silence on this matter. Or else.

How could she and Chris not find that intriguing? Who was blackmailing them? Apparently, Seth was tired of hiding, but Marla feared for their other children. Any time they attempted to ask a question, Marla shot them down with a glare. A cold one. It shut them both up immediately so she could go back to arguing. And when the word Umbrella was mentioned by Seth they attempted another angle.

Chris attempted to find out what Celeste did at Umbrella, Marla rounded on him so quickly that it took Chris a second to register the fact that she'd slapped him. Even Jill and Seth had been surprised.

And then the demand to remove themselves from her house echoed loudly around them. Get out. Get the fuck out and don't concern themselves with things they know nothing of. Seth argued with Marla while escorting them out, but not before he shoved a piece of paper into Jill's hands.

Which she had forgotten about just her memory jolted her back to reality. She had been so busy processing what the hell had happened that she turned to her still clenched hand. Carefully she smoothed out the ball of paper until it was somewhat legible.

'What's that?' Chris turns over to her and peers at the paper in her hand.

'An address,' Jill replies and frowns. 'Cedar Street.'

'Very industrial.'

'Well, Seth Maratoni works on Haelog Ave. At the steel mill there. Cedar is adjacent to it.'

Chris turns his attention back to the streets before them and then to the house. The lights are off. Even though it's early evening. Marla doesn't want to be seen. And she doesn't want visitors.

'He give us a time?'

Jill nods her head. 'He works the night shift. So he said around eleven tonight.'

Fuck. Why so late? Jill can see the irritation in Chris's eyes. She inhales. Chris turns to her.

'What?'

'What's bothering you? If you don't want to do this, I can go. If you have plans, then-...'

'Who said I had plans?' Chris interrupts her and Jill rolls her eyes.

'You have this look that says this is an inconvenience. Look, I can fill you in after, if you'd prefer.'

Chris folds his arms. 'I think you're trying to make something out of nothing.'

'I doubt it.'

'I worry that this is a giant waste of time. I worry that he doesn't know shit and what he does know isn't connected with what we're looking into,' Chris tells her and Jill stares at him.

'All of the victims we can identify in some way worked for Umbrella and you don't consider that suspect as hell?'

'Seth said she was an intern. What the hell is an intern going to know about the inner machinations of Umbrella?' Chris responds and Jill folds her arms and glares at him.

'I don't know. But I'll tell you tomorrow.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

Jill motions to the paper now sitting on the console. 'It means that you truly do not have to bother with joining me. I'll just meet with Seth on my own since you're convinced he'd only waste your time.'

'Stop being petty. I was merely making an observation,' Chris retorts and Jill shakes her head. 'I was merely stating that an intern will not know what we're hoping for.'

'And what is it that we're hoping for?' Jill wonders sarcastically and Chris feels his patience threshold being tested.

'Literally anything that an intern wouldn't know. Financials, meeting minutes, records. Literally anything.'

'You've given up before we've even started. That's what this is, isn't it? You're done with this case. You want it to go away. You-...'

'Drop it, Valentine!' Chris raises his voice and Jill gawks at him. He doesn't make eye contact with her as he starts the car. That tone was a little harsher than he wanted because yeah, this case is draining. Emotionally and mentally. It's been months with no leads. Then this one comes along and he doesn't get a good feeling from it. He'll see it through to the end though, whatever the end may be. Valentine doesn't get that.

The rest of the car ride back to the station is done in silence. Awkward silence. Tense and thick. She's out the door before the car is in park. It's at the same time as Irons from the corner elevator at the back of the garage. His own little shortcut.

Irons seems delighted to see Valentine - in a grotesque way. Chris gets out of the car and notices Valentine's demeanor switch from pissed to defensive and closed off. Yeah, not that he could blame her.

Irons could also not take a hint of Valentine not wanting to be anywhere near him until she had paused at the women's locker room and smiled once before heading inside. Irons locks eyes with Chris who simply shrugs at him. He continues on to the office. Chris catches Irons going after Steph from City Hall records next. It's truly disgusting.

Chris is about to head through the next door when he sees Valentine emerge carefully and peer around a bit. She's clearly still on edge.

'He isn't around. He's off harassing someone else.'

'Thanks.'

Okay so now what? Valentine walks right by him. That's the answer then. Her thanks was very sincere, he didn't doubt that but she didn't care to be around him currently. And besides, she was probably more concerned with getting back to the office without alerting Irons.

He sighs. He's going to have to join her. Even if he does believe it will be a giant waste of time. Maybe they can wait for the appropriate hour by going out to eat. He'd attempt to get all the information on Celeste's time at Umbrella. And they can hammer out questions to ask.

Oh he already dreads thinking about this. He's going to have to come up with a decent plan to convince Valentine to join him. Especially after the ride back to the station. How...does he even attack this problem? Does he just...ask her outright? In the office? In front of everyone? She'd never fucking say yes.

Valentine doesn't seem as uptight as she normally does while at the station. He wonders if it's the beer. Or two. Or that fact she's out of the setting that usually causes her grief, even if she's with the person who also causes her to have a headache. Hey, he knows.

He also wonders if it was just him constantly wearing her down. He convinced her that it simply made sense to go out to kill the time, come up with a plan before they headed over to meet this guy. And she eventually said yes to make him go away - huh, that doesn't sound like coercion at all…

He hopes he's not being terrible company. Even though she hadn't allowed him to go pick her up and so that had soured him. At least until she had walked in. Casually dressed and wearing a look that said okay, let's get this over with. He felt the same. He knew he had to try harder this time. Could be the only time he's being given to bridge the gap and start over.

She had also allowed him to do most of the talking, after all, it was his idea. Just vaguely agreed with him. At least until the first of their pints were served. He should've realized that Tanya was working. That explained the dirty looks she was shooting Valentine, who didn't seem to notice. And if she did she said nothing. Thankfully. He'd have to make it up to Tanya at some point. Totally not what she thinks it is.

Conversation doesn't veer anywhere else but work. Valentine is still being closed off and distant. Her answers are direct and to the point. She must be mad from their earlier exchange. Conversation then lulls. Valentine stares out of the window, watching the people pass by. Chris leans back in the chair. Well, this is a make or break moment. He kinda wanted this work...drink, er, meeting whatever this is, to be a chance for them to start over. A better opportunity to show Valentine that he's not as terrible as he made things out to be initially.

Cuz it dawned on him that he truly has no idea about her. He knows nothing about her. And it's embarrassing. Not to mention how frustrating it is. Claire reminds him all the time of all the shit she knows about Valentine. Whatever.

Fuck, it's been a while since anyone has said anything. It's getting awkward. The silence is getting louder. He notices that Valentine's resorted to picking at the bottle label. He should ask her something...anything.

'So, uh...what was it like growing up in California?'

He watches as Valentine turns her gaze to him without moving her head. She's got a blank expression on her face. Tough to read. What? He just thought it'd be interesting to see what the other side of the country was like.

'Don't. Don't do that.'

'Do what?'

She sighs as though he should already know the answer. 'Pretend to care. Small talk between us? Never going to work. So, let's just stick with work conversations, okay?'

That bugs him.

'Look, I'm trying to…' he trails off, unsure of how to finish that sentence. Valentine pounces on the opportunity.

'Trying to what? Make an effort to get to know me? Finally dawned on you that everyone else knows me better than you? You truly don't have to. It's fine.'

Why the fuck did she have to rub it in his face that everyone at RPD knows her? Also, the tone in her voice. It bothers him. She didn't say that with any indignation in her voice, it was...flat. Devoid of anything but boredom. The awkwardness just keeps on skyrocketing.

Fine. He'll make it worse then.

'So you're just not going to tell me anything? I have to keep guessing over every little detail about you?'

Shit. That sounds like it's going to start something. That...wasn't exactly how he wanted to say it. But she got his back up with that comment.

'I mean, that would be quite entertaining for me,' Valentine agrees. Chris takes a long swig from the beer to hold off on his latest comment. 'You're just gonna have to get over it. We aren't going to have anything more than a tense but hopefully cordial experience reluctantly working with each other. You didn't want to make the effort, I've accepted it and moved on. You should too.'

You fucked up, is what she's telling him. Yeah he did. So she's telling him to stop trying. Well, she certainly has to know by now, that he's very stubborn. He'll get something out of her. Eventually.

'So, what do you want to talk about then?' Chris questions and Valentine shrugs at him.

'Work. I think that's the only thing we have in common.'

Like you would know that...Chris nearly says it out loud, but manages to reign it in. Okay fine. She wants to talk about work then that's what they'll talk about. She says something to him but he doesn't catch it in its entirety. Something about pouting? He isn't. Not at all.

Valentine offers to revise the list of questions they came up with earlier. Strike some off to make them more condensed and efficient. Who knows how long they have with this guy before he changes his mind or has to get in for work.

Tension just continues to rise. They resort to glares at the other. He tells her what questions are stupid and how they won't get what they want if they ask that. Valentine only gets angrier.

After ten minutes or so of their petty attitudes, she excuses herself and disappears. Chris nearly finishes the beer and gathers his wits. Why is it so easy to get wound up by her? Why does she just...do that to him? Even when he tries to make some kind of decent conversation, she immediately shuts him down.

He glances up when Valentine abruptly returns and takes her jean jacket off of the back of her chair.

'We should go. It's getting late.'

Chris sighs and stands, polishing off the rest of the now warm-ish beer. He pulls out his wallet and Valentine dismisses him.

'What? You paid?'

'Yeah, so?'

'Nothing. Thanks. I guess.'

'You're welcome. I guess.'

She begins to head to the car and Chris locks eyes with Tanya. She does not look happy and so he spends a second telling her he'd phone her later, that it isn't what it looks like. Tanya doesn't seem to believe him. Well, that's going to be a lot of hard work to smooth that over.

Valentine is waiting patiently by the car, an unimpressed look on her face when he unlocks her door first and silently moves around to get into the driver's side. She must have seen through the window him conversing with Tanya. When he slides in, the cab retains that lingering smell of her perfume. He inwardly sighs. This is going to take a while before it dissipates.

They ride in silence. She's just looking off into the cityscape as they head towards the outskirts of town on the west side. The heavier industrial side is located there. Back in the day, it used to be a saw mill and then sometime in the late 50s it became a steel mill. Raccoon City is full of weird history. And even weirder people. Guess that's part of the charm.

Chris glances over to Valentine, her entire body is angled away from him. He decides to try again and talk to her. See if he can't wear down those defences of hers.

'Hey, Valentine?' Chris calls over to her. She doesn't respond so he takes that as a cue to keep going. Even if he wasn't meant to. 'What do you think of RC so far? I'm just trying to fill the void here.'

He added the last part very quickly in one breath so she could tell that the silence was becoming unbearable. Surely, she knew it was. She's quite intuitive like that. It's the one thing he can't deny, that sometimes, they sync. And sync very well.

Valentine shrugs absently. 'It's fine.'

Chris sighs. Okay, harder than he thought it was going to be. 'Nicer than California?'

She turns to him with an unreadable look. 'What do you think?'

'I don't know, that's why I'm asking.'

Uh, maybe shouldn't have sounded that snarky. They still have about a twenty-minute drive to the mill. He wouldn't be able to stand the silence for that long. Thankfully, Valentine doesn't seem to mind the attitude.

'No. It isn't.'

Okay, so she isn't going to elaborate? Jesus fucking Christ…

'Yeah, I guess if you surf or whatever, RC pales in comparison…'

'Yeah…'

'Okay, fine. What do you want to talk about?' Chris finally asks and Valentine stares at him. 'What? I'm just trying to fill the silence.'

'Uh huh. Well, we can talk about the fact that we're almost at the mill.'

Well, she's right about that. Making the final left turn dumps them into the industrial part of town. Bland and grey. Dark too. Not a lot of street lights on. Just a lot of rundown looking buildings. Probably here since the turn of the century, Claire would probably know. She just retains information like that.

They spy the mill's address number in bold letters and stop just outside the employee parking lot entrance. A lot of blue collar workers are filing in, tired and worn down looking. One can't help but wonder if they followed a parent into this line of work. Surely the steel mill was falling on hard times. Things just seemed to be migrating away from RC. A lot of people would be out of work if the mill closed down. Well, Umbrella would probably do something. They always seem to swoop in when there's a crisis. He supposes it's good in a way. At least publicly.

Valentine is right, they're not trustworthy. He just can't put his finger on it. Why though? They have the cleanest image around - even when it wasn't. Umbrella threw money at problems to make them go away.

Chris parks the car in a smaller alley to the right side of the mill. What the fuck kind of night was this, anyway? Valentine seems to be reviewing case notes and a small profile they were able to build on Celeste with the little information they could find.

'Look. There he is.'

Valentine's voice shakes him from his thoughts and his eyes follow to where she's pointing. Seth Maratoni. He appears skittish. Looking over his shoulder as he approaches the mill's fenced gates. Chris hopes he hasn't changed his mind.

Valentine attempts a friendly greeting and Seth launches into some elaborate tale. He tells them how he had to feign getting gas for the vehicle to explain his earlier departure for work. His wife would instantly know something was amiss if he merely left early without a reason. Given the timing of their initial encounter, Seth was certain it'd devolve into a fight.

'Ah, but listen to me drone on and on. I'll have to tell you everything I can as quickly as I can. I've only got fifteen minutes before my shift starts.'

'Good.'

Valentine turns up to Chris with a frown. Fuck. Said the quiet part loud. She offers an apology but Seth dismisses it and beckons them closer.

'Just promise me one thing...promise you'll get justice for Celeste. Please. She deserves it. And Umbrella deserves whatever you can give them.'

'Right, well, tell us what you can and we'll see what we can do,' Chris offers and he catches Valentine roll her eyes out of the corner of his.

'Okay, I'll be as quick and concise as I can.'

This was a different silence. This was a silence that blanketed over people who were digesting information that was incredible and hard to believe. And so, sitting in the car after what had rapidly turned into twenty minutes - Seth had to sneak into his station - of a man explaining how he lost his daughter who had such a bright future in the field of science. Until she got mixed up with Umbrella and Doctor Bard.

Celeste had always had a passion for science. And she really fine-tuned it in college, looking at bioengineering. She had applied for an internship at Umbrella since it gave her a chance to come back home in her final year. She was accepted. He and his wife were happy for her. It was her dream to work for a large corporation such as Umbrella. And hell, she'd worked hard for it.

Unfortunately, she was mostly regulated to tasks that she deemed unsuitable for her level of curiosity and intellect. Grabbing coffees for the boardroom meetings, taking minutes, filing. Granted, she said she met a lot of brilliant scientists. The one she was most impressed with was the husband and wife duo, William and Annette Birkin.

And once in the lab, those working there, the male scientists viewed her as nothing more than an assistant they harassed. Which drove him insane, he couldn't convince Celeste to file a police report. She had said to him it would ruin career prospects. Chris noticed Valentine sighed in agreement.

Seth went on to explain that everything, everything she went through, made her question her career choice. However, Seth had also told them that all changed when Bard noticed her doing some of her own experiments while he was in to tour the lab. Seth explained that he liked what he saw from Celeste and invited her to the hospital to get first-hand knowledge and experience.

Celeste had foolishly thought it was going to be a mentorship. Instead it was more harassment and this time verbal, which, Seth struggled to inform them, she hated more than the sexual harassment. She would explain the tone that Bard used in speaking with the nurses. She never denied he was brilliant but he was an ass, a narcissist and an all-around disgusting human.

She did learn a lot from him. He did allow her to participate in his experiments - only when drunk and at the office - and sometimes he used her hypotheses. Celeste said she felt validated. He did tell her that she would go places, and sadly those drunk compliments spurred her on.

So, when Chris had questioned what exactly went wrong, Seth said it wasn't exactly clear. Celeste went into work one day and phoned him on her lunch break excited because both Birkins were with Bard at the hospital discussing things. When it was revealed she had interrupted something big, she immediately went to excuse herself but William Birkin called her back in.

Seth said that they asked her back in the morning to view some results they had been working on. She had said that Bard said she was ready. And they wanted an unbiased review. That was the last time he heard from her.

She had decided to meet up with some friends and crash at their house. She had gone into work the next morning and then…he isn't sure what happened. His wife had received a phone call mid-morning saying that Celeste had collapsed at work and was unresponsive.

By the time they had arrived at the hospital, Celeste was dead. No one knew anything. It seemed that everyone corroborated their stories to a finite detail. That's why he was suspicious. His wife didn't seem to notice or care. Bard promised the best coroner to get to the bottom of it. He said that he'd personally oversee it.

But even then, what the coroner did supposedly find didn't align with who Celeste was as a person. Toxicology came back positive for illicit drugs and alcohol. No one believed them when they said it had to be a mistake because Celeste never did things like that.

Instead the blame shifted from Bard, the hospital and Umbrella. All of a sudden, they were vilified because they clearly were not paying attention to their daughter's silent cries for help.

After constantly attempting to refute the claims about themselves and their daughter, they had grown tired. Sure enough, the noise faded. They had buried their daughter and attempted to pick up the pieces.

Seth hadn't wanted to give in to the mighty Umbrella. For months after her death, he called and called, looking to speak to someone. Someone who would listen to them. Nine months after they buried Celeste, he discovered her diary which raised serious ethical questions about Umbrella's practices.

That was the ammo he had needed to get Umbrella to listen to him. Instead they had sent lawyers to intimidate him. To silence him once more. Even his wife grew angry with him for not letting the issue die.

'Where's that diary?' Chris had wondered and Valentine glanced up from the notes she'd been taking to look at Seth.

Seth's face became an annoyed glare. 'Fucking cops took it. Said they needed the diary to investigate something that Umbrella was looking into. And they never even told us they were looking for something! Or what they were looking into. No matter how hard we begged. We never got it back.'

Chris failed to see the issue. 'Okay, then it's in the archives. We can look when we get back.'

'Don't count on it. Don't mean to be a pessimist but fuck,' Seth explained. True, RPD cops could be massive fuckers.

'We will see what's there. We'll let you know either way,' Valentine had promised. There she went saying things that may be difficult to keep.

That had been all. Seth was late and had to go. So, they carefully watched as he hustled inside, the door shutting softly behind him. Chris exchanged looks with Valentine. She inhaled deeply and they headed to the car.

Now reviewing all the notes she had taken - she worked quickly - they were trying to decide next steps.

'First, we should check the archives. See if that dairy is still there,' she remarked and Chris tries to remain hopeful but he isn't sure it'll be there. Something is telling him it won't be. Whenever something ties back to Umbrella, things fall apart or disappear. People potentially as well.

'Right. Next?'

'We talk to Bard.'

Chris smirks at her naivety. 'And when he won't talk?'

'Subpoena.'

'He'll come at us with a lawyer.'

He can see Valentine roll her eyes. 'I'm not doing this to be annoying. You need to see how things work in RC. Umbrella will protect its own. Fiercely. And I don't have to tell you about how corrupt the judicial system is.'

Valentine sighs. 'Right. It favours Umbrella.'

Chris nods his head. 'It does. When we come at Bard, we need to have everything in a line.'

'Right. Well, I guess we have a starting place tomorrow,' Valentine offers and Chris starts the car and carefully pulls out of the alleyway.

'Can I drop you off at home?' Chris wonders after some time has passed. He grips the steering wheel tighter when Valentine rejects his offer. When is she going to get over that? When is she just going to accept him trying to do nice things?

'Closest subway drop is just fine, thanks.'

He has no choice but to oblige. And so they ride in silence. He kinda feels like it's awkward but Valentine doesn't seem to think so. When he drops her off at the one on Brooke street, she thanks him and bids him a good night. When he drives away, having made sure she's gotten down the stairs to the subway safely, the comment she makes bounces around in his mind.

Even after he's pulled into the bar to see Tanya.

Thanks for not making this outing totally suck.

Yeah, he wanted to tell her that he didn't entirely hate her company - even if his initial plan was to find out more about her went out the window - she wasn't awful to hang out with. And yet…he has this sneaking suspicion that this will just be a blip in their incredibly rocky relationship.

Some days maybe they'll just get along. And most of the time it'll just be a terse relationship that will go nowhere.

Can't keep trying forever, right? Nothing will come of it. He's done too much irreparable damage to fix it. They won't ever become close. He'll just have to be okay with that.

Tanya greets him warmly but from a distance. Even when he's explaining how things went earlier in the evening, Valentine doesn't leave his mind.