A calm night before the storm
By: Bloodlover
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Capcom.
Authour´s notes: This is my version of how Jill and Chris hooked up. It´s sort of a sequal to "I´ll be right back" but it´s also a separate story. As usual feel free to comment on it!
It was a calm night, unusally calm to be a Friday in late July. The weather was pleasantly warm and the air conditioner in Grill 13 was in working order. There were many people in the restaurant but not too many so it became too crowdy. Maybe it was because people felt relief now that it had been announced that the murders were over.
But for two people this night was just the calm before the storm. This night were maybe their last rest before the battle, a battle which could cause their deaths, but it was a battle that had to be fought if the human race was to survive. But this night however, was their night….
******************************************************
"This table is good. What do you think?"
Jill nodded. "It´s great Chris."
They sat down and a waitress came up to them to take their orders. They both took "Surprise of the evening" and Colas. The waitress told them it would be ready soon and left.
"Wonder what that is!" laughed Chris.
"Whatever it is, it better be good or we´ll call the Food Police!"
They laughed again.
Good that we can laugh despite all that has happened! thought Chris and looked at Jill, at her eyes. He saw the same relief he felt in them.
Her eyes…
He felt himself drown in them. It wasn´t just her eyes that were beautiful, Jill was so …. wonderful. Tonight he was going to tell her how he felt.
"The night´s unusally calm Chris."
"Yeah."
They both felt silent again. Chris heard some music playing but he couldn´t determine which piece it was.
Too bad this isn´t a place where you can dance. It would make a good start…
"Here, two "Surprise of the evening" with two Colas! I hope you enjoy the meal!" It was the waitress, beaming at them.
"Thank you!" said Jill and Chris nodded a thank you. The waitress smiled and nodded back. She put down their food and left. Jill turned to her meal.
"This looks really good! It´s chicken. I hope it´s tastes as good as it looks!" She took a bite.
"Mmm! It was! Well fried and well spiced. 10 out of 10." She looked at him. "Chris, aren´t you going to taste it?"
He blinked, startled. Stop daydreaming like an idiot Redfield…
"Uh, yeah. Of course!"
They continued to eat under silence, each stole glances at the other when they thought the other wasn´t looking.
Finally, when they had finished their meals, Jill suddenly cleared her throat. The unknown music piece changed into a more softer one.
"Chris…"
He looked directly into her eyes. Is she… Is she going to say what I hope she´ll say?
"Yes?"
"There is something I wanted to tell you for a long time…Especially since the mansion…"
She leaned forward.
"Mr Redfield? Miss Valentine?"
DAMN!
"Yes what is it?" Chris managed to reply somewhat politely.
They had been so close, and then this creep came and ruined it all! He took a closer look at the intruder. He wasn´t very musclar, but well-trained. He had brown hair tied into a pony-tail, and for the moment he looked a bit scared.
Probably by my glare. I must have glared it surely felt like that. To come and ruin this moment… Hmmm he has a noteblock and a pen. I bet he´s a reporter…
The man extended his hand. "Excuse me if I interrupted something, but this is important. My name is Ben Bertolucci and I work for Raccoon Times. I just wondered if I could get an exclusive interview with you two, regarding the mansion case, in that Spencer house you know…"
Chris interrupted him. "Mr Bertolucci, we gave a press conference a couple of days ago. It´s a bit too late for an `exclusive interview´ now."
Bertolucci startled, but didn´t admit defeat yet. He continued.
"Yes I know. But how you two felt as INDIVIDUALS in that hell. Your dreams…"
Chris was scowling and was about to tell Bertolucci to go to hell, but suddely he got an idea. He put up a hand and smiled brightly at Bertolucci.
"Mr Bertolucci, wouldn´t it be better if you could get an interview with us all? Not just me and Jill, but also Barry Burton who saved Jill´s life? And Rebecca Chambers the sole survivor of Bravo team? Not to mention Brad Vickers who saved us all when the mansion blew up?"
Bertolucci brightened and beamed at them. "Yeah, yeah that would be wonderful, excellent! I should probably come to your office on Monday."
"Yes that would be the best for us all. I´ll get in touch with the others too. I´m sure they will all be positive."
"Oh thank you! Have a nice weekend!" said Bertolucci as he left.
"To you too…" said Chris and turned to Jill who looked delighted.
"Chris you´re amazing! You handled that very well. First I thought you would tell him off, but you turned it to our favour!"
He smiled at her. "Can´t say something rude in front of a lady…."
She smiled back at him and stroked his cheek. "That´s one of the reasons why I love you Chris Redfield, your chivalry and cleverness…" Suddenly she turned a bit red. She was blushing!
Well she said what she felt about you Redfield. This is your chance! Take it!
"I love you too Jill. Ever since you came to Raccoon and began in Alpha team I always admired you. You were good in everything whetever it was chemistry or machinery. You had gotten high honours from your superiors in the Delta Force. You saved my life once in that anti-terrorism operation. We soon forged a deep friendship bond And that admiration and friendship led to love." He felt himself getting hotter. I must be blushing too!
"You always made me feel safe Chris. I wanted to tell you that so many times. But it never felt like the time was right. Last time I tried to tell you was in the mansion lab, when you had saved me. But it was hardly the place and time… Now it really felt like it was the right time to tell you. Not that we are safe yet…"
The meaning of what she had just said sunk in. They had walked from a dangerous situation into a more dangerous one. Jill was right, they were not safe yet.
They paid for their dinner, leaving a generous tip for the waitress, and left Grill 13 in silence. The shadows in the street seemed to reach out for them, to drag them in. Jill shivered and took Chris´s arm. He placed it around her shoulders to warm her.
"Still… we are still alive. Whatever happens Jill we must never lose hope. We will always have each other. I´m glad we finally confessed what we felt for each other, even if the circumstances are terrible. But together we will survive." They had stopped, holding hands now. A street lamp shone down on them. Jill smiled and embraced Chris, lifting her head to look him directly in the face.
"I will always have you Chris. And you will always have me."
As one they moved their faces towards each other. They closed their eyes and kissed, somewhat hesistant but loving and tender. After the kiss ended, Jill took Chris´s arm and they started to walk down the street, no longer afraid for mere shadows.
THE END
I hope you liked it. Sorry about the creepy part, but I wanted to show that no matter how scared or lonely you feel, you´ll always come thorugh with love. And if you live in the world of Resident Evil, that thing is especially important.
Oh BTW, I used Ben Bertolucci in the story because I wanted to write something with him in long time now. I really loved it when you first met him in RE2, it´s to bad he died...