The office of Chief Brian Irons.
The various remnants of the STARS division were scattered throughout the cozy office. Chris was standing in front of Chief Iron's desk, Rebecca and Jill were sitting on the table, Brad was leaning on one door, and Barry was leaning on the other. Each and every one of them helped create an oral report for the Chief. Irons would nod periodically at their far-fetched tale, as one by one, they explained the series of events.
Jill seemed to be keeping her cool. She had been in more shock and stress than any other of her comrades, but she seemed to be in a better frame of mind for the moment. Chris had spent the night in her apartment, sleeping on the couch, having to get up from time to time to awaken Jill from her nightmares. Neither of them had gotten much sleep, but they had eaten enough sugar donuts and consumed enough caffeine to compensate.
Rebecca was eerily calm. She was the bright and happy optimist. Perhaps she saw the whole issue as some kind of a fairytale movie that had a happy ending. But had that been the case, she failed to take into account that sometimes fairytales get sadder before they get happy again. Her legs dangled over the table, as the young medic would give her input from time to time.
Brad was leaning against the wall that led to the Chief's private collection of whatnots. Despite having the least to do with the whole affair, his natural cowardice and fear of anything with anything remotely horrific made up for it. He was essentially the opposite of Rebecca. Where she was bright and optimistic, he was depressed and unhappy. Long term effects of bullying and disrespect in its truest form.
Barry seemed to be off in another world. He spoke even more rare than Rebecca. He was more concerned with his wife and kids. What would they do? Where would they go? What could he tell them? His family was more important to him than his own job. He'd gladly sacrifice himself for their well being, but he prayed to god that there was something the lot of them could do about the matter.
Chris was the most verbal, tense, and wired of the group. He'd allow his teammates to add their two cents from time to time, but for the most part, the Chief paid the most attention to him. Chris had gone over each and every detail there was to be told. Their team under attack, locating the Bravo team, Wesker's deceit and assumed death, and how Umbrella was responsible for the entire mess. His fingergloved hands were placed firmly on the Chief's desk as he explained the story.
"Sir, with all due respect, I know this sounds extremely far-fetched and unlikely, but it's true. You've got five people all testifying to the matter being true. With your permission sir, we'd like to begin a full- scale inquiry and investigation of the Umbrella Corporation. We need to find out where their laboratories are in the city, and inspect them all."
Chris lifted his sweaty palms from the ashwood desk of the Chief, and sat on the table as well with Rebecca and Jill. The chief nodded for the last time, and looked up from his notepad, where you would think he had been taking notes, but it was merely a stick figure representing himself swimming in a sea of cash. He stroked his chin with his right hand for a moment, setting the notepad down facedown. He cleared his throat, sat forward, and looked at Chris…
"Have you all gone completely mad? This sounds like a pathetic remake of the Blair Witch Project!"
All five of them groaned. It looked like the chief, to no surprise, wasn't going to buy their story after all. Jill looked to the chief…"Sir, I'm afraid it's all true. Give us the resources, and we can deliver evidence…"
The Chief held his forehead and shook his head. They all sounded crazy and insane…"Miss Valentine, you need evidence to begin an investigation. And if you claim this mansion 'Was blown to kingdom-come', then there isn't a chance in hell that you can get evidence is there?"
Chris had watched Jill speak, but then turned his glance back to the chief. "Sir, we're the most elite that the Precinct has to offer. Would your best men and women lie to you?"
The chief stood from his desk, his voice heightened…"I've got five of my officers all claiming the undead are roaming a mansion and who are you blaming? Umbrella! That company's dedicated to mankind, you speak of nothing of their kind! All you've done is waste the lives of innocent comrades! You're all on leave until a psychiatric evaluation can be conducted! You're dismissed, now get out of my office!"
The chief never blinked nor stepped down. He stood firm on his statement. The STARS members each took their turn shaking their heads, then left the office one by one…
They were all at their respective places in the STARS office. Barry, Chris, Jill, and Rebecca were each seated at their desks, while Brad was sitting in front of the communications equipment. Paperwork was not the issue at hand. They had each been given leave until a psychiatric evaluation could be done.
"Okay…so here's what we do know…" Jill started out…"The chief didn't buy the story, no surprise there. He's bringing in a shrink to check us out, but he can't get that started until at least tomorrow…What else?"
Rebecca held up a sheet of paper…"Well, Irons drew himself swimming in a big fat pool of money, what does that mean?"
Everyone looked at Rebecca. Brad snatched the piece of paper…"Well well…he certainly did. I thought only kids could do stick people…" He passed the sheet to Jill, who passed it on to Chris…
Chris looked up from the paper to Rebecca…"Where did you get this?"
Rebecca shrugged…"It's from that notepad the Chief was taking notes on. I took it when he wasn't looking…
Chris examined the paper…"Well, I'm no forensic, but I can tell this is a fresh pad. There's no imprint of the sheet before it…" He lowered the paper from his face…"That bastard never even took any damn notes! It's like he already knew what we were going to say!"
Barry looked up from a picture in a frame on his desk of his wife…"So, that means Umbrella and the chief are probably connected…but how? Family? Favoritism?"
Jill shook her head. "No. Best way to the man's head is money. So he's probably been getting payoffs from Umbrella…but for what purpose?"
"Maybe Wesker's in on it too?" Brad interrupted…"I mean, I heard about most of this for the first time this morning…kinda sounded like rats being tested in a maze…"
Rebecca pouted…"Ick. I hate mazes, too confusing…"
Chris raised a brow…"You might be right Brad. Okay…so Umbrella's probably guilty of unauthorized genetic experiments, the Chief's been getting payoffs, Wesker's a dead and dirty rotten turncoat…is there anything else we have?"
Jill shook her head…"No, I think that's all we have to go on so far. We've got about twenty-four hours to learn some more before the shrink gets here."
Chris nodded…"What's stupid, is even though we can get records and history on each other, I'm pretty damn sure the Chief would have pulled his file if there was anything incriminating…"
Brad waved to him. "I called up one of the officers. He swears the chief's file isn't in the storage room. He said he'd keep looking, see if someone misplaced it…"
Chris nodded once more, standing back up…"Alright people…I guess you've got the day to yourselves. But…like the chief said, we haven't got any evidence handy, so keep quiet about this to anyone for now, alright? That goes especially…" He glared at their medic…"…for you Rebecca."
Rebecca nodded and stood up as well, along with everyone else. She exited…then Brad, then Barry after. Chris planned on staying, but why was Jill still here? He turned around and looked at her down in her chair…"You staying Jill?"
She looked up at Chris…"Yes Redfield. Like you said, we've got to get our hands on some information. But what can we get in what time we have anyway?"
Chris shrugged…"Well, I'm sending that fax to the FBI field branch for a background check on the chief. The feds usually aren't too fast though. What are you going to do?"
Jill slowly got up from her chair, and stood in front of Chris…"The others have their family and roots in their town. I've got an apartment in the slums. I think I'd rather be here right now…"
Chris nodded. The two of them were almost eye to eye, literally. He never did notice how nice her blue eyes looked…"Anyway…I guess I'll write that fax and stay here, I figure you'll want company…"
Chris turned to sit down, but Jill quickly raised her hand to his elbow, and tugged. Chris stood before her once more. He raised a brow as Jill lowered her head, the beret all he could see of her face. She looked back up…"About last night…I never did get to thank you Chris…"
Did she just call him 'Chris'? Wow. Then she must have meant it. He nodded, and sat down in his chair…"It's no big deal. Personally, I don't think I could have stood to sleep alone after that either…"
Jill slowly sat back down at her desk, setting her beret upon a stack of papers. She sighed and looked at a piece of paper. She did love Chris. God knew she had a funny way of showing it, but she had to keep up her tough appearance. It was slipping recently though. She leaned her chair on its rear two wheels and placed a small peck on Chris's cheek…"Don't be such a chickenheart, Redfield!"
She laughed playfully, and patted Chris on the head. Damn that felt good. She smiled, and pulled open a laptop, while Chris went back to writing up that letter…
*****
Well, the chief didn't buy the story. Not like we couldn't all see that coming. But despite all that, there's still a bit of romantic and sexual tension between Jill and Chris. Will they finally resolve the matter without resorting to a pair of twins and a miscarriage? Send me a review!
The various remnants of the STARS division were scattered throughout the cozy office. Chris was standing in front of Chief Iron's desk, Rebecca and Jill were sitting on the table, Brad was leaning on one door, and Barry was leaning on the other. Each and every one of them helped create an oral report for the Chief. Irons would nod periodically at their far-fetched tale, as one by one, they explained the series of events.
Jill seemed to be keeping her cool. She had been in more shock and stress than any other of her comrades, but she seemed to be in a better frame of mind for the moment. Chris had spent the night in her apartment, sleeping on the couch, having to get up from time to time to awaken Jill from her nightmares. Neither of them had gotten much sleep, but they had eaten enough sugar donuts and consumed enough caffeine to compensate.
Rebecca was eerily calm. She was the bright and happy optimist. Perhaps she saw the whole issue as some kind of a fairytale movie that had a happy ending. But had that been the case, she failed to take into account that sometimes fairytales get sadder before they get happy again. Her legs dangled over the table, as the young medic would give her input from time to time.
Brad was leaning against the wall that led to the Chief's private collection of whatnots. Despite having the least to do with the whole affair, his natural cowardice and fear of anything with anything remotely horrific made up for it. He was essentially the opposite of Rebecca. Where she was bright and optimistic, he was depressed and unhappy. Long term effects of bullying and disrespect in its truest form.
Barry seemed to be off in another world. He spoke even more rare than Rebecca. He was more concerned with his wife and kids. What would they do? Where would they go? What could he tell them? His family was more important to him than his own job. He'd gladly sacrifice himself for their well being, but he prayed to god that there was something the lot of them could do about the matter.
Chris was the most verbal, tense, and wired of the group. He'd allow his teammates to add their two cents from time to time, but for the most part, the Chief paid the most attention to him. Chris had gone over each and every detail there was to be told. Their team under attack, locating the Bravo team, Wesker's deceit and assumed death, and how Umbrella was responsible for the entire mess. His fingergloved hands were placed firmly on the Chief's desk as he explained the story.
"Sir, with all due respect, I know this sounds extremely far-fetched and unlikely, but it's true. You've got five people all testifying to the matter being true. With your permission sir, we'd like to begin a full- scale inquiry and investigation of the Umbrella Corporation. We need to find out where their laboratories are in the city, and inspect them all."
Chris lifted his sweaty palms from the ashwood desk of the Chief, and sat on the table as well with Rebecca and Jill. The chief nodded for the last time, and looked up from his notepad, where you would think he had been taking notes, but it was merely a stick figure representing himself swimming in a sea of cash. He stroked his chin with his right hand for a moment, setting the notepad down facedown. He cleared his throat, sat forward, and looked at Chris…
"Have you all gone completely mad? This sounds like a pathetic remake of the Blair Witch Project!"
All five of them groaned. It looked like the chief, to no surprise, wasn't going to buy their story after all. Jill looked to the chief…"Sir, I'm afraid it's all true. Give us the resources, and we can deliver evidence…"
The Chief held his forehead and shook his head. They all sounded crazy and insane…"Miss Valentine, you need evidence to begin an investigation. And if you claim this mansion 'Was blown to kingdom-come', then there isn't a chance in hell that you can get evidence is there?"
Chris had watched Jill speak, but then turned his glance back to the chief. "Sir, we're the most elite that the Precinct has to offer. Would your best men and women lie to you?"
The chief stood from his desk, his voice heightened…"I've got five of my officers all claiming the undead are roaming a mansion and who are you blaming? Umbrella! That company's dedicated to mankind, you speak of nothing of their kind! All you've done is waste the lives of innocent comrades! You're all on leave until a psychiatric evaluation can be conducted! You're dismissed, now get out of my office!"
The chief never blinked nor stepped down. He stood firm on his statement. The STARS members each took their turn shaking their heads, then left the office one by one…
They were all at their respective places in the STARS office. Barry, Chris, Jill, and Rebecca were each seated at their desks, while Brad was sitting in front of the communications equipment. Paperwork was not the issue at hand. They had each been given leave until a psychiatric evaluation could be done.
"Okay…so here's what we do know…" Jill started out…"The chief didn't buy the story, no surprise there. He's bringing in a shrink to check us out, but he can't get that started until at least tomorrow…What else?"
Rebecca held up a sheet of paper…"Well, Irons drew himself swimming in a big fat pool of money, what does that mean?"
Everyone looked at Rebecca. Brad snatched the piece of paper…"Well well…he certainly did. I thought only kids could do stick people…" He passed the sheet to Jill, who passed it on to Chris…
Chris looked up from the paper to Rebecca…"Where did you get this?"
Rebecca shrugged…"It's from that notepad the Chief was taking notes on. I took it when he wasn't looking…
Chris examined the paper…"Well, I'm no forensic, but I can tell this is a fresh pad. There's no imprint of the sheet before it…" He lowered the paper from his face…"That bastard never even took any damn notes! It's like he already knew what we were going to say!"
Barry looked up from a picture in a frame on his desk of his wife…"So, that means Umbrella and the chief are probably connected…but how? Family? Favoritism?"
Jill shook her head. "No. Best way to the man's head is money. So he's probably been getting payoffs from Umbrella…but for what purpose?"
"Maybe Wesker's in on it too?" Brad interrupted…"I mean, I heard about most of this for the first time this morning…kinda sounded like rats being tested in a maze…"
Rebecca pouted…"Ick. I hate mazes, too confusing…"
Chris raised a brow…"You might be right Brad. Okay…so Umbrella's probably guilty of unauthorized genetic experiments, the Chief's been getting payoffs, Wesker's a dead and dirty rotten turncoat…is there anything else we have?"
Jill shook her head…"No, I think that's all we have to go on so far. We've got about twenty-four hours to learn some more before the shrink gets here."
Chris nodded…"What's stupid, is even though we can get records and history on each other, I'm pretty damn sure the Chief would have pulled his file if there was anything incriminating…"
Brad waved to him. "I called up one of the officers. He swears the chief's file isn't in the storage room. He said he'd keep looking, see if someone misplaced it…"
Chris nodded once more, standing back up…"Alright people…I guess you've got the day to yourselves. But…like the chief said, we haven't got any evidence handy, so keep quiet about this to anyone for now, alright? That goes especially…" He glared at their medic…"…for you Rebecca."
Rebecca nodded and stood up as well, along with everyone else. She exited…then Brad, then Barry after. Chris planned on staying, but why was Jill still here? He turned around and looked at her down in her chair…"You staying Jill?"
She looked up at Chris…"Yes Redfield. Like you said, we've got to get our hands on some information. But what can we get in what time we have anyway?"
Chris shrugged…"Well, I'm sending that fax to the FBI field branch for a background check on the chief. The feds usually aren't too fast though. What are you going to do?"
Jill slowly got up from her chair, and stood in front of Chris…"The others have their family and roots in their town. I've got an apartment in the slums. I think I'd rather be here right now…"
Chris nodded. The two of them were almost eye to eye, literally. He never did notice how nice her blue eyes looked…"Anyway…I guess I'll write that fax and stay here, I figure you'll want company…"
Chris turned to sit down, but Jill quickly raised her hand to his elbow, and tugged. Chris stood before her once more. He raised a brow as Jill lowered her head, the beret all he could see of her face. She looked back up…"About last night…I never did get to thank you Chris…"
Did she just call him 'Chris'? Wow. Then she must have meant it. He nodded, and sat down in his chair…"It's no big deal. Personally, I don't think I could have stood to sleep alone after that either…"
Jill slowly sat back down at her desk, setting her beret upon a stack of papers. She sighed and looked at a piece of paper. She did love Chris. God knew she had a funny way of showing it, but she had to keep up her tough appearance. It was slipping recently though. She leaned her chair on its rear two wheels and placed a small peck on Chris's cheek…"Don't be such a chickenheart, Redfield!"
She laughed playfully, and patted Chris on the head. Damn that felt good. She smiled, and pulled open a laptop, while Chris went back to writing up that letter…
*****
Well, the chief didn't buy the story. Not like we couldn't all see that coming. But despite all that, there's still a bit of romantic and sexual tension between Jill and Chris. Will they finally resolve the matter without resorting to a pair of twins and a miscarriage? Send me a review!
