Revival Valley Girl
I don't wanna wait,
For our lives to be over,
I want to know right now what will it be,
Will it be yes or will be….
Sorry……
I Don't Wanna Wait, By Paula Cole.
Becca drove up into the RPD Car Park, her mind full of determination. She wasn't going to show Carlos she was upset, she was going to be unfazed, but not exactly a pushover. Becca thought holding grudges was a waste of time.
She strode confidently into the building, nodding at the other officers, with her head held up high. She approached the STARs Office and peeked in the door. She saw Carlos talking to a couple of the others, and all her confidence melted away and she found herself crouched behind the Statue of Abraham Lincoln and the taste of Murray's Trophy polish in her mouth.
She tensed herself up and found herself into the brown eye's of Barry Burton, who had an amused twinkle in his eyes, but a solemn face.
'I didn't know that anyone else used this as a hiding place' chuckled Barry, hauling Becky up to her feet and dusting her down. Becky felt her cheeks turn a deeper shade of red.
'Umm, I was thinking about something' stuttered Becky, finding it hard to meet his eyes.
'I woulda thought the Lady's Room woulda been a better choice. No trophy polish or cobwebs,' replied Barry, plucking a cobweb out of Becky's hair. 'Now will you tell why you had the sudden urge to run the fifty yard dash when you approached the Office?' he asked kindly, placing a fatherly hand on Becky's fiery head.
'I thought nobody saw??' mumbled Becky, staring at her feet.
'Me and Chris thought you might've done a runner' said Barry. 'Come back when you've done your thinking'. And with that, he gave her a understanding smile and sauntered back to the Office.
'Pull your goddamn head out of your ass, and get yourself in that Office' Becky told herself fiercely, shaking her head. She could hear the sound of laughter, and of Jill relating her story about her burned skin, and about Claire's new motorcycle.
She threw her embarrassment aside and strode in confidently. She couldn't help noticing everyone turned to look at her when she walked in.
'They're laughing at my bad luck….'glowered Becca, and she was going to do her dash to Abraham Lincoln again, when Chris caught her eye and rapidly called the Office to order.
'Okay. Today Police Chief Donaldson has requested that the Bravos do some break in training. You will be using the laser guns and packs.' Said Chris, with forced authority.
The Bravos departed, some curiously looking at Becca, Chris was glad to see her stare straight back at them, and he laughed inside as he noticed she still had a cobweb stuck to her back.
'Leon, Jill and Barry, the RPD need you to act as extra back up today, if anything arises' said Chris, looking at the three competent Alphas. 'So head to the control room, and await further instructions'.
The three left the room, Jill plucking the loose cobweb off Becca much to Becca's annoyance. Leon hobbled out of the room, his lips tensed up, with Barry following close behind.
'Carlos and Claire, to the Choppers to test fly them and make sure they're in order' said Chris, nodding to the two sitting in the front row.
They left, both of them ignoring each other, to the Hangers.
'Becky, you and I have some paperwork to go over' said Chris kindly. Becky nodded and felt a surge of relief go over her, and was glad that it was just her and Chris in the room, and that she didn't have to face any of the Bravos' inquiring stares.
Becky scooped up her pen and went to sit at Chris's desk at the front of the room. Chris plucked the remaining cobweb off her head and ruffled her hair.
'Did someone visit Abraham Lincoln today?' asked Chris kindly.
'I did' grimaced Becca. 'Was it that noticeable?'
'Not very. Barry and I were on the lookout for it' replied Chris, tapping his pen on the table.
'Ermm, what did it look like?' ventured Becky, red-faced.
'We just saw ya peek in and do a runner, nothing else' grinned Chris. 'But your gonna have to talk to him sooner or later'.
'I will. I'm not going to kid myself, saying I'm not angry, but I'm just going to move on' said Becky confidently.
'That's my Becca. Now let's go through the Ammunition lists' said Chris, clapping her on the back.
Claire stormed to the hanger, intent on getting as far away from Carlos as possible. The Spanish Amigo had driven her nuts and she wished she had been placed in Control Room than with him. She wished she could divert the plane into a tree or make a getaway on her motorcycle, but hell she was stuck with him.
'Damnnit, Claire, we've been placed together, try to make the most of it!' yelled Carlos exasperatedly as Claire slammed the door of the hanger in his face and proceeded to make an unnecessary clatter with the tools.
'Because!' shouted Claire, waving a spanner and hammer threateningly in the air making Carlos cower from her.
'Yeah, what?' asked Carlos, ducking the hammer, raising his arms up to shield his face.
'Because you've got your own head so far up your damned ass!' shrieked Claire, putting the tools down and grabbing the keys for the door to chopper.
'Is that why? Because I've got my head shoved up my ass? That's rich coming from biker girl who has hers shoved up the exhaust pipe of her Harley!!!!' yelled Carlos, storming after Claire.
'Better than up my own ass!' bellowed Claire, checking the fuel tank.
'Claire, just tell me why!' said Carlos, slamming his hand down on the chopper.
'You already know why, dumbass!' shouted Claire, screwing the fuel tank's lid back on.
'Becca? But what the hell could I do?' said Carlos angrily, picking up a hose and preparing to wash down the sides of the chopper.
'You ran after Phoenix. You broke her heart!' screamed Claire, also picking up a hose, but instead of washing the chopper's sides down, she aimed the hose at him full blast.
Carlos was about to say something, but was smothered by the flood of water, and Claire thought the most pleasing sight was of Carlos standing there, dripping wet and cold. Carlos turned his hose on and aimed it at her, but she had dodged round the other side and was blasting him with a torrent of water from the tail of chopper.
'I hate you!!!!!!' she screamed, as he finally caught her and soaked her to the skin.
'I'm only a goddamn human!' he retaliated, turning his hose on full blast.
'Womaniser!' she squealed, attacking from the underside now.
'Judgemental!' he shouted, blasting her repeatedly.
They both sank to the floor, panting with excitement and fatigue. Claire turned to Carlos and with the finishing blow, slapped him hard around the face. Carlos flinched as it was his bruised side, and he cowered away from Claire who stared down at him and grasped his collar roughly.
'Now you listen to me! You may not think it was so big, but I do!, yes sirree, I bloody well do. Now you better make an effort to apologise to Becky and be nice to her, or you'll hear it from all of us! Got it?' she asked, shaking the dripping Carlos hard.
'Jeez, all right' said Carlos tiredly. Claire dropped him and he sank down to the ground.
'Now, we'd better do some work, huh?' she asked acidly, strutting off to service the cockpit.
Carlos rubbed his red cheek and hauled himself to his feet.
'So that's my plan' concluded Jill, placing her pen down.
Barry scratched his stubby red beard thoughtfully, and Leon shrugged.
'In theory, I guess it's an okay plan' said Leon looking troubled.
'But you can't force two people together' finished Barry, setting down his pen decidedly.
Jill paced up and down the room, presenting her case.
'It isn't exactly forcing them together, just helping her along' stated Jill.
'She has a point there, Barry' agreed Leon, nodding.
'And, it's just to boost her confidence' wheedled Jill, staring hard at Barry.
'Okay, I go along with it. If it is the best plan..' said Barry, giving in and nodding.
'So here's what ya do…'
Becca was sitting on her own in the office, working through some paperwork as Chris had been called up to help co-ordinate the Bravos in their break in techniques. She was carefully totalling up the figures at the end. She heard the sound of heavy boots clumping in and was surprised at hearing Chris come back so early. She looked up and saw Carlos Oliveira ruefully smiling down at her.
'Hi' he muttered, his head down. Bec could hardly hear him and had to duck her head to catch his words.
"Hi? That's all he could manage? Well well well….the Spanish Amigo at a loss for words…this is a first. Okay, so he's guna be feeling awkward. What do you want him to do? Start a conversation? Hear him out…." Her mind hissed as she punched numbers into the calculator.
'Hey.' She replied quietly, trying to keep her eyes on her work and trying not to notice that his clothes were dripping wet, and that the water had made his t-shirt cling to his well defined torso…and the way his brown bangs flopped casually over one velvet soft eye. She bit her lip and focused on writing up the reports.
'Listen, I'm gonna cut to the chase. There's no point in dragging this out. I'm sorry for treating like an object' started Carlos, and Becca's head shot up and she looked directly into his eyes.
Carlos studied her reaction to this carefully. He had been a little surprised when she hadn't even taken one look at his dripping clothes, but then again he couldn't blame her. He had done a dirty one on her. Now he had to eat humble pie. By the bucket load.
Bec was looking up now, staring at him. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her watchful grey-eyed gaze, and tried to focus on her fiery head, and found his eyes travelling over her gleaming hair down to the curve of her neck, right down to her….
'Bullshit.' Was Becca's clear reply. She was tapping her pen on the desk, shaking her head.
'What do you mean? I'm sorry, I'm sincerely sorry. I've just found another person to be with' said Carlos, at a loss for words at her curt reply.
'Is that so? Where did I ever fit into your schedule?' asked Bec bitterly, looking down at her work, clenching her pen so tightly that her knuckles showed white.
'I liked you Bec. I liked you a lot. But I had to figure out where I could place you in my heart, and I realised that I only could think of you as a friend' said Carlos, trying to lower his head so he could study her reactions.
'So I was just a friend? A friend to play with, a friend to fall back on?' asked Bec viciously, her wrath up. Colour rushed to her cheeks, and she found herself standing up and eyeing the Spanish Amigo fiercely.
'No…I never meant it like that…..' Carlos stuttered, and he found himself reaching for her hand, and drawing her close.
Bec was astonished at being pulled into Carlos's arms, and could feel the dampness of his shirt, and the warm of his chest. She tried to pull away, but couldn't drag her eyes away from his diamond-strong glare, and had a battle of feelings in her mind. She leaned in slightly, her lips barely brushing his and felt his palms caressing her hair.
Carlos hadn't known what had taken control of him, and he had found himself pulling Becca into his arms, and he wanted to bring her close, to whisper in her ear and-
"Damn you. You explain to her you like another girl, promptly forget about the other girl and end up wanting to throw her on the table and do nothing but kiss her all over?" he thought desperately. He felt he needed to get his head straight first, and didn't want to risk hurting either of his girls, before he made a more definite decision.
So he reluctantly, dropped his arms from around Becca's slim waist, brushed back his wet bangs, and walked quickly out of the room.
He didn't turn around to look at Becca's shocked expression and the quiver of her lips. He nearly ran out of the room so he could erase those deep grey eyes away from his memory.
Bec felt pissed. She was more than pissed. She was raging angry and hurt. And more than a little stunned of the past events. She steadied herself against a desk and watched forlornly as Carlos ran from the room, trouble in his eyes his face a mask of discontent.
She slid into the chair, and willed herself to carry on with her work, but looking down at the sheet, Carlos's face appeared, his eyes, his face, and his lips that had been so close…. Bec dropped her head down into her hands and felt the cold tears trickle down her face.
'So close' she sobbed unhappily, the tears dropping onto her work her head swimming with pain. She fiercely rubbed her eyes and pushed the stray locks of hair out of her eyes.
"He starts to tell me he loves somebody else…somebody I would never be able to contend with, and then he's sweeping me into his arms and I thought I could read the emotions in his eyes" thought Becca wretchedly, her hands shaking as she recalled the moment. The thought of his eyes and lips so near, so full of promise made her cry even more.
Becca swiped her eyes, and dashed to the bathroom to clean up and get her head together, before facing the inquiring stares of the others.
The day had gotten a little better. Becca had seemed happier, and the rewarding bruise on Carlos's other cheek was like nectar to Chris's tired legs as he strode into the office. Nearly a whole day of co-ordinating the BRAVOs in breaking tactics had taken its toll, and Chris winced as his boots rubbed at his calves. He shouldn't have broken in his new purchase before wearing them to work. He settled himself into his seat.
Leon swaggered up and handed Chris an article he had found, it was titled 'Take revenge, shit on a Pigeon' Chris chuckled as he read the punch line, and placed it down and looked at Leon.
'Good day, Rookie?' asked Chris, leaning back on his chair. Leon draped himself on the side of his desk and nodded.
'No calls whatsoever. Most of the stuff that came through was so easy, the PD could handle it. So Barry, Jill and I finished up paper work and stuff.' Replied Leon swinging his legs carefully, and trying not to wince.
'Groin still bothering ya?' asked Chris, who didn't miss much.
'That obvious?' groaned Leon, giving up and seating himself on a chair.
'Claire not letting ya rest, huh?' quipped Chris, cocking up an eyebrow and gazing shrewdly at him.
'Claire's like a bull. She sees the target, and never stops' groaned Leon.
'You're telling me. Back when we were kids, she used to make me get up at 6 am on weekdays to wrestle with her and play cards. She's used to getting her way' agreed Chris, musing thoughtfully.
'Or as Becca would say, 'Save a Whale Harpoon a Fat Chick' chuckled Leon. 'So how has she been getting on?'.
'She seems fine. But she's quiet, I guess she's dealing with it in her own way' said Chris quietly, and confidentially to Leon.
'Ya well, our Becca known for being independent' Leon drawled, looking up as he heard the thud of boots approaching the door.
Both men looked up to see a damp Claire and Carlos trudging in, both silent with their lips drawn. Chris knew he was fighting fire with fire when he placed those two together, but he couldn't imagine what had happened. He did remember however, that there was a large tool box in the Hanger….he shuddered thinking at what could have happened. He was broken from his muses by Claire asking him a question.
'We're done with the Choppers, what shall we do now?' she asked, wringing her hair out, and re-tying it in its normal ponytail.
'The others should be finished soon, we'll go through the evening schedule' said Chris, still trying to figure out why they were so wet. Carlos saw him staring and answered his question.
'Claire and I had a little scuffle with the hose pipe' he drawled, glaring at Claire who puckered her lips and kicked him in the shins.
Chris looked over at Leon, who chuckled in response and winked at Claire whose clothes clung to her athletic body damply.
'Geez Leon, you've seen her naked enough times, quit gawking' moaned Carlos, as he rummaged in the Medical kit for an icepack for his cheek.
'Never underestimate the Power of a Woman in wet clothes' drawled Claire. She sidled up to Leon and said in her sweetest voice.
'Leon, I'm so cold and wet, do you think you could handle dinner tonight?' she crooned sweetly, making her eyes wide and appealing. Leon's jaw dropped and he rubbed the back of his neck coyly.
'Claire, Baby, Of Course I would…' he said giving her a cheeky grin. Claire sat up and looked triumphant.
'But I don't fall for the helpless little girl ploy' he finished. Claire drooped forward and groaned.
'Damn you' she muttered angrily, standing up quickly when she realised the she was making the chair wet.
'For someone who has survived Racoon, Rockfort, and faced off with so many mangled Umbrella creations, the 'Helpless Ploy' is hard to believe' agreed Chris, drumming his hands on the desk.
Claire admitted defeat and propped herself against the fan heater, to dry and dry her clothes off. Her blue combats were sticking to her legs and her STARs t-shirt was clinging to her svelte upper body. Carlos joined her next to the fan heater and said quite loudly.
'I'm going to change clothes; I have a spare lot in my locker. Coming, Claire?' he asked, thought it really wasn't a question it was a statement. Claire understood perfectly and together, they left the room to the STARs Locker Room. Carlos checked if it was empty and sat down on the bench.
'I talked to Becca' he said, running his hands through his dark hair.
'And?' asked Claire, eyeing Carlos like an eagle.
'She was cool with it' he said simply. Claire looked at him closely. She knew Carlos wasn't letting everything on, but she couldn't quite place what it was.
'But were you cool with it?' she asked carefully, studying Carlos's reactions. Carlos said slightly unhappily with his teeth gritted, 'Yes'.
'Hmmmm' mused Claire.
'Well, c'mon we better get dressed and back there before they think we went to the bathrooms and fell in' said Carlos, eagerly changing the subject and walking off to his locker. Claire shrugged and walked over to her locker and pulled out her spare uniform, trying not to think about what was really going on between Carlos and Rebecca.
Jill was walking along one of the corridor's to the PD's briefing rooms when she spied her target. The target was dressed in his cop's uniform, and was walking to cafeteria. Jill stalked stealthily behind him.
'Hey Jill, what happened?' asked a smooth Californian voice. She looked up and one of the rookie cops, Liz Whitman come hurrying over to her.
"Great, just when I have my target, I get intercepted…. play it cool Valentine" she thought, and she turned to face the Blond Cop and try to fend her off before she lost her target completely.
'Accident with a sun bed' she muttered, she swiped her face, as she was still a little sore.
'Nasty, oh, the Dance is only this weekend. That must suck' said Liz sympathetically, looking at Jill's burned face.
'Oh, well, I have to be going. I'll catch ya later, okay?' said Jill quickly, trying to strain her eyes to find her target.
'Okay, later' said Liz, walking off in a flurry of Blond hair and red lipstick.
Jill walked carefully into the Cafeteria, trying to avoid the stares of the other officers who looked at her red skin inquisitively. She saw her target seated by himself on a table. Perfect.
'Hey' she said, sitting down opposite him. The man looked up from his mug of coffee and muttered a response back.
'Are you Jill Valentine from the STARs unit?' he asked, looking her up and down.
'Yeah, that would be me, how do you know?' she asked.
'Oh, everyone's heard about your accident with a sun bed, so your quite easy to spot' said the Officer lightly, chuckling slightly at Jill's skin.
'Oh, well there's a first time for everything' she remarked, kindly. 'So what's ya name?' she asked innocently.
'Jack King' he replied, shaking her hand and giving her a grin. Jill felt her reactions pick up a signal, a signal that he was interested in her. No, that wasn't meant to happen!
'So what you doing tonight?' she asked, trying hard to make it sound that she wasn't hinting at anything.
'Nothing, why?' he asked, picking up on the bait.
'Well, my Boyfriend and I are going out for dinner with another friend, and I wondered if you'd like to join us?' she asked sweetly, emphasising the boyfriend part.
Jack seemed to get the message, and Jill could tell he was no blue collar. She prided herself on picking the perfect person to take tonight.
'Great. We have reservations at Venice Square, so if you would like to meet us there at around 7:30pm?' she asked, her fingers crossed.
'Sure. That would be fine. Who is your boyfriend?' he asked interestedly.
'Chris Redfield, the STARs Captain' she stated innocently, twiddling a red lock around her finger.
'Oh yeah. Him. So that's okay for tonight' he said, finally giving in and grinning at her.
'Super. Later then!' she said, nodding at him and leaving the cafeteria. She needed to link up with Chris and fill him in on what was happening, as well as reporting back to Leon and Barry, and concocting a way to tell Becca. Jill was working in Bec's best interests, and she didn't want her to sense the real purpose of dinner tonight. Jill smiled cunningly to herself and began to make plans in her head.
'So Carlos, what you doing this evening?' asked Barry as he read through the evening rota.
'It's my free night, so I'm taking Phoenix out to dinner' he said loudly. He glanced and Becca and saw her face was devoid of all emotions.
'Just don't spill wine on her dress' chided Leon, trying to take the edge out of the situation. There was a heavy silence that remained unbroken, and Leon tried to think of a way to diffuse the situation. Luckily, Chris came to his rescue.
'Carlos, remember the time when you got your zipper stuck on that date with the chick from the Forensics Department?' asked Chris, chuckling at the memory.
'I had to be rushed to the emergency room. She never did talk to me again' mused Carlos, remembering the embarrassing occurrence.
'Remember that time you were on the that other date and you knocked into that woman sitting next to you at the bar?' asked Leon, eager to embarrass Carlos further.
Carlos grimaced and didn't reply. Leon took the line up himself.
'You said, 'Sugar, if your heart is as soft as eyes you'll forgive me' and she said 'If your penis is as hard as your elbow, then I'll be behind the car lot in ten minutes' said Leon, grinning the whole time. Chris started to laugh, Barry grinned and even Becca managed a small smile. Carlos's face burned red and he tried to hide it in his hands.
'Your date heard the whole thing, slapped you and said she'd never speak to you again' continued Leon, milking the situation for its worth.
'Leon, what about the time we went down to Shooters and you got might friendly with that brunette next to the bar?' questioned Carlos, eager to get Leon back. Leon gulped and shook his head.
'You guys were in the act of saliva swapping, and then she had to leave….'Carlos trailed off, nodding suggestively. Leon shook his head and shrugged.
'C'mon tell what happened' said Chris, grinning at the quivering Leon.
'The Bartender told us that She was really a He….' Carlos said slowly, allowing the full implication to be afflicted on the whole group. Chris and Barry began whooping, and Carlos thumped Leon on the back, while Becca's grin widened and she started to laugh at the red-faced Leon.
'Alas, even the best make their mistakes' said Leon theoretically, striking a pose.
'You call mistaking a man for a woman a mistake? I call it hilarious!' quipped Becca, talking for the first time. 'Leon likes to have the best of both worlds'.
All four men doubled up with laughter, and Jill walked in amidst them. She had her sweetest smile, and her hips were rolling. Chris knew those signs and wasn't show what to expect.
'Honey, I made reservations for tonight!' she said brightly, catching Chris's hand.
'We're going out?' he asked, confused. 'But…'
'So Becky, wanna join us? Another officer is coming as well' asked Jill quickly, ignoring Chris and focusing on Becky. Beck looked startled but readily agreed, much to Jill's surprise.
'Great, we'll pick you up at around 7. Dress dressy' replied Jill, flashing her a grin and turning to face Chris. Chris eyed Jill closely.
'Guess it's all arranged then. Who's the other Officer?' he asked curiously.
'That will be revealed tonight' said Jill mysteriously, shooting Chris a look. She turned around and nodded at Barry and Leon, telling them the plan was set.
Tonight would be a very interesting night for all of them….not a night to forget.
Chicky Sez: Well troopers, here it is. What will happen tonight at the restaurant? I can't say much here, or I'll give the game away! Sayonara!
I don't wanna wait,
For our lives to be over,
I want to know right now what will it be,
Will it be yes or will be….
Sorry……
I Don't Wanna Wait, By Paula Cole.
Becca drove up into the RPD Car Park, her mind full of determination. She wasn't going to show Carlos she was upset, she was going to be unfazed, but not exactly a pushover. Becca thought holding grudges was a waste of time.
She strode confidently into the building, nodding at the other officers, with her head held up high. She approached the STARs Office and peeked in the door. She saw Carlos talking to a couple of the others, and all her confidence melted away and she found herself crouched behind the Statue of Abraham Lincoln and the taste of Murray's Trophy polish in her mouth.
She tensed herself up and found herself into the brown eye's of Barry Burton, who had an amused twinkle in his eyes, but a solemn face.
'I didn't know that anyone else used this as a hiding place' chuckled Barry, hauling Becky up to her feet and dusting her down. Becky felt her cheeks turn a deeper shade of red.
'Umm, I was thinking about something' stuttered Becky, finding it hard to meet his eyes.
'I woulda thought the Lady's Room woulda been a better choice. No trophy polish or cobwebs,' replied Barry, plucking a cobweb out of Becky's hair. 'Now will you tell why you had the sudden urge to run the fifty yard dash when you approached the Office?' he asked kindly, placing a fatherly hand on Becky's fiery head.
'I thought nobody saw??' mumbled Becky, staring at her feet.
'Me and Chris thought you might've done a runner' said Barry. 'Come back when you've done your thinking'. And with that, he gave her a understanding smile and sauntered back to the Office.
'Pull your goddamn head out of your ass, and get yourself in that Office' Becky told herself fiercely, shaking her head. She could hear the sound of laughter, and of Jill relating her story about her burned skin, and about Claire's new motorcycle.
She threw her embarrassment aside and strode in confidently. She couldn't help noticing everyone turned to look at her when she walked in.
'They're laughing at my bad luck….'glowered Becca, and she was going to do her dash to Abraham Lincoln again, when Chris caught her eye and rapidly called the Office to order.
'Okay. Today Police Chief Donaldson has requested that the Bravos do some break in training. You will be using the laser guns and packs.' Said Chris, with forced authority.
The Bravos departed, some curiously looking at Becca, Chris was glad to see her stare straight back at them, and he laughed inside as he noticed she still had a cobweb stuck to her back.
'Leon, Jill and Barry, the RPD need you to act as extra back up today, if anything arises' said Chris, looking at the three competent Alphas. 'So head to the control room, and await further instructions'.
The three left the room, Jill plucking the loose cobweb off Becca much to Becca's annoyance. Leon hobbled out of the room, his lips tensed up, with Barry following close behind.
'Carlos and Claire, to the Choppers to test fly them and make sure they're in order' said Chris, nodding to the two sitting in the front row.
They left, both of them ignoring each other, to the Hangers.
'Becky, you and I have some paperwork to go over' said Chris kindly. Becky nodded and felt a surge of relief go over her, and was glad that it was just her and Chris in the room, and that she didn't have to face any of the Bravos' inquiring stares.
Becky scooped up her pen and went to sit at Chris's desk at the front of the room. Chris plucked the remaining cobweb off her head and ruffled her hair.
'Did someone visit Abraham Lincoln today?' asked Chris kindly.
'I did' grimaced Becca. 'Was it that noticeable?'
'Not very. Barry and I were on the lookout for it' replied Chris, tapping his pen on the table.
'Ermm, what did it look like?' ventured Becky, red-faced.
'We just saw ya peek in and do a runner, nothing else' grinned Chris. 'But your gonna have to talk to him sooner or later'.
'I will. I'm not going to kid myself, saying I'm not angry, but I'm just going to move on' said Becky confidently.
'That's my Becca. Now let's go through the Ammunition lists' said Chris, clapping her on the back.
Claire stormed to the hanger, intent on getting as far away from Carlos as possible. The Spanish Amigo had driven her nuts and she wished she had been placed in Control Room than with him. She wished she could divert the plane into a tree or make a getaway on her motorcycle, but hell she was stuck with him.
'Damnnit, Claire, we've been placed together, try to make the most of it!' yelled Carlos exasperatedly as Claire slammed the door of the hanger in his face and proceeded to make an unnecessary clatter with the tools.
'Because!' shouted Claire, waving a spanner and hammer threateningly in the air making Carlos cower from her.
'Yeah, what?' asked Carlos, ducking the hammer, raising his arms up to shield his face.
'Because you've got your own head so far up your damned ass!' shrieked Claire, putting the tools down and grabbing the keys for the door to chopper.
'Is that why? Because I've got my head shoved up my ass? That's rich coming from biker girl who has hers shoved up the exhaust pipe of her Harley!!!!' yelled Carlos, storming after Claire.
'Better than up my own ass!' bellowed Claire, checking the fuel tank.
'Claire, just tell me why!' said Carlos, slamming his hand down on the chopper.
'You already know why, dumbass!' shouted Claire, screwing the fuel tank's lid back on.
'Becca? But what the hell could I do?' said Carlos angrily, picking up a hose and preparing to wash down the sides of the chopper.
'You ran after Phoenix. You broke her heart!' screamed Claire, also picking up a hose, but instead of washing the chopper's sides down, she aimed the hose at him full blast.
Carlos was about to say something, but was smothered by the flood of water, and Claire thought the most pleasing sight was of Carlos standing there, dripping wet and cold. Carlos turned his hose on and aimed it at her, but she had dodged round the other side and was blasting him with a torrent of water from the tail of chopper.
'I hate you!!!!!!' she screamed, as he finally caught her and soaked her to the skin.
'I'm only a goddamn human!' he retaliated, turning his hose on full blast.
'Womaniser!' she squealed, attacking from the underside now.
'Judgemental!' he shouted, blasting her repeatedly.
They both sank to the floor, panting with excitement and fatigue. Claire turned to Carlos and with the finishing blow, slapped him hard around the face. Carlos flinched as it was his bruised side, and he cowered away from Claire who stared down at him and grasped his collar roughly.
'Now you listen to me! You may not think it was so big, but I do!, yes sirree, I bloody well do. Now you better make an effort to apologise to Becky and be nice to her, or you'll hear it from all of us! Got it?' she asked, shaking the dripping Carlos hard.
'Jeez, all right' said Carlos tiredly. Claire dropped him and he sank down to the ground.
'Now, we'd better do some work, huh?' she asked acidly, strutting off to service the cockpit.
Carlos rubbed his red cheek and hauled himself to his feet.
'So that's my plan' concluded Jill, placing her pen down.
Barry scratched his stubby red beard thoughtfully, and Leon shrugged.
'In theory, I guess it's an okay plan' said Leon looking troubled.
'But you can't force two people together' finished Barry, setting down his pen decidedly.
Jill paced up and down the room, presenting her case.
'It isn't exactly forcing them together, just helping her along' stated Jill.
'She has a point there, Barry' agreed Leon, nodding.
'And, it's just to boost her confidence' wheedled Jill, staring hard at Barry.
'Okay, I go along with it. If it is the best plan..' said Barry, giving in and nodding.
'So here's what ya do…'
Becca was sitting on her own in the office, working through some paperwork as Chris had been called up to help co-ordinate the Bravos in their break in techniques. She was carefully totalling up the figures at the end. She heard the sound of heavy boots clumping in and was surprised at hearing Chris come back so early. She looked up and saw Carlos Oliveira ruefully smiling down at her.
'Hi' he muttered, his head down. Bec could hardly hear him and had to duck her head to catch his words.
"Hi? That's all he could manage? Well well well….the Spanish Amigo at a loss for words…this is a first. Okay, so he's guna be feeling awkward. What do you want him to do? Start a conversation? Hear him out…." Her mind hissed as she punched numbers into the calculator.
'Hey.' She replied quietly, trying to keep her eyes on her work and trying not to notice that his clothes were dripping wet, and that the water had made his t-shirt cling to his well defined torso…and the way his brown bangs flopped casually over one velvet soft eye. She bit her lip and focused on writing up the reports.
'Listen, I'm gonna cut to the chase. There's no point in dragging this out. I'm sorry for treating like an object' started Carlos, and Becca's head shot up and she looked directly into his eyes.
Carlos studied her reaction to this carefully. He had been a little surprised when she hadn't even taken one look at his dripping clothes, but then again he couldn't blame her. He had done a dirty one on her. Now he had to eat humble pie. By the bucket load.
Bec was looking up now, staring at him. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her watchful grey-eyed gaze, and tried to focus on her fiery head, and found his eyes travelling over her gleaming hair down to the curve of her neck, right down to her….
'Bullshit.' Was Becca's clear reply. She was tapping her pen on the desk, shaking her head.
'What do you mean? I'm sorry, I'm sincerely sorry. I've just found another person to be with' said Carlos, at a loss for words at her curt reply.
'Is that so? Where did I ever fit into your schedule?' asked Bec bitterly, looking down at her work, clenching her pen so tightly that her knuckles showed white.
'I liked you Bec. I liked you a lot. But I had to figure out where I could place you in my heart, and I realised that I only could think of you as a friend' said Carlos, trying to lower his head so he could study her reactions.
'So I was just a friend? A friend to play with, a friend to fall back on?' asked Bec viciously, her wrath up. Colour rushed to her cheeks, and she found herself standing up and eyeing the Spanish Amigo fiercely.
'No…I never meant it like that…..' Carlos stuttered, and he found himself reaching for her hand, and drawing her close.
Bec was astonished at being pulled into Carlos's arms, and could feel the dampness of his shirt, and the warm of his chest. She tried to pull away, but couldn't drag her eyes away from his diamond-strong glare, and had a battle of feelings in her mind. She leaned in slightly, her lips barely brushing his and felt his palms caressing her hair.
Carlos hadn't known what had taken control of him, and he had found himself pulling Becca into his arms, and he wanted to bring her close, to whisper in her ear and-
"Damn you. You explain to her you like another girl, promptly forget about the other girl and end up wanting to throw her on the table and do nothing but kiss her all over?" he thought desperately. He felt he needed to get his head straight first, and didn't want to risk hurting either of his girls, before he made a more definite decision.
So he reluctantly, dropped his arms from around Becca's slim waist, brushed back his wet bangs, and walked quickly out of the room.
He didn't turn around to look at Becca's shocked expression and the quiver of her lips. He nearly ran out of the room so he could erase those deep grey eyes away from his memory.
Bec felt pissed. She was more than pissed. She was raging angry and hurt. And more than a little stunned of the past events. She steadied herself against a desk and watched forlornly as Carlos ran from the room, trouble in his eyes his face a mask of discontent.
She slid into the chair, and willed herself to carry on with her work, but looking down at the sheet, Carlos's face appeared, his eyes, his face, and his lips that had been so close…. Bec dropped her head down into her hands and felt the cold tears trickle down her face.
'So close' she sobbed unhappily, the tears dropping onto her work her head swimming with pain. She fiercely rubbed her eyes and pushed the stray locks of hair out of her eyes.
"He starts to tell me he loves somebody else…somebody I would never be able to contend with, and then he's sweeping me into his arms and I thought I could read the emotions in his eyes" thought Becca wretchedly, her hands shaking as she recalled the moment. The thought of his eyes and lips so near, so full of promise made her cry even more.
Becca swiped her eyes, and dashed to the bathroom to clean up and get her head together, before facing the inquiring stares of the others.
The day had gotten a little better. Becca had seemed happier, and the rewarding bruise on Carlos's other cheek was like nectar to Chris's tired legs as he strode into the office. Nearly a whole day of co-ordinating the BRAVOs in breaking tactics had taken its toll, and Chris winced as his boots rubbed at his calves. He shouldn't have broken in his new purchase before wearing them to work. He settled himself into his seat.
Leon swaggered up and handed Chris an article he had found, it was titled 'Take revenge, shit on a Pigeon' Chris chuckled as he read the punch line, and placed it down and looked at Leon.
'Good day, Rookie?' asked Chris, leaning back on his chair. Leon draped himself on the side of his desk and nodded.
'No calls whatsoever. Most of the stuff that came through was so easy, the PD could handle it. So Barry, Jill and I finished up paper work and stuff.' Replied Leon swinging his legs carefully, and trying not to wince.
'Groin still bothering ya?' asked Chris, who didn't miss much.
'That obvious?' groaned Leon, giving up and seating himself on a chair.
'Claire not letting ya rest, huh?' quipped Chris, cocking up an eyebrow and gazing shrewdly at him.
'Claire's like a bull. She sees the target, and never stops' groaned Leon.
'You're telling me. Back when we were kids, she used to make me get up at 6 am on weekdays to wrestle with her and play cards. She's used to getting her way' agreed Chris, musing thoughtfully.
'Or as Becca would say, 'Save a Whale Harpoon a Fat Chick' chuckled Leon. 'So how has she been getting on?'.
'She seems fine. But she's quiet, I guess she's dealing with it in her own way' said Chris quietly, and confidentially to Leon.
'Ya well, our Becca known for being independent' Leon drawled, looking up as he heard the thud of boots approaching the door.
Both men looked up to see a damp Claire and Carlos trudging in, both silent with their lips drawn. Chris knew he was fighting fire with fire when he placed those two together, but he couldn't imagine what had happened. He did remember however, that there was a large tool box in the Hanger….he shuddered thinking at what could have happened. He was broken from his muses by Claire asking him a question.
'We're done with the Choppers, what shall we do now?' she asked, wringing her hair out, and re-tying it in its normal ponytail.
'The others should be finished soon, we'll go through the evening schedule' said Chris, still trying to figure out why they were so wet. Carlos saw him staring and answered his question.
'Claire and I had a little scuffle with the hose pipe' he drawled, glaring at Claire who puckered her lips and kicked him in the shins.
Chris looked over at Leon, who chuckled in response and winked at Claire whose clothes clung to her athletic body damply.
'Geez Leon, you've seen her naked enough times, quit gawking' moaned Carlos, as he rummaged in the Medical kit for an icepack for his cheek.
'Never underestimate the Power of a Woman in wet clothes' drawled Claire. She sidled up to Leon and said in her sweetest voice.
'Leon, I'm so cold and wet, do you think you could handle dinner tonight?' she crooned sweetly, making her eyes wide and appealing. Leon's jaw dropped and he rubbed the back of his neck coyly.
'Claire, Baby, Of Course I would…' he said giving her a cheeky grin. Claire sat up and looked triumphant.
'But I don't fall for the helpless little girl ploy' he finished. Claire drooped forward and groaned.
'Damn you' she muttered angrily, standing up quickly when she realised the she was making the chair wet.
'For someone who has survived Racoon, Rockfort, and faced off with so many mangled Umbrella creations, the 'Helpless Ploy' is hard to believe' agreed Chris, drumming his hands on the desk.
Claire admitted defeat and propped herself against the fan heater, to dry and dry her clothes off. Her blue combats were sticking to her legs and her STARs t-shirt was clinging to her svelte upper body. Carlos joined her next to the fan heater and said quite loudly.
'I'm going to change clothes; I have a spare lot in my locker. Coming, Claire?' he asked, thought it really wasn't a question it was a statement. Claire understood perfectly and together, they left the room to the STARs Locker Room. Carlos checked if it was empty and sat down on the bench.
'I talked to Becca' he said, running his hands through his dark hair.
'And?' asked Claire, eyeing Carlos like an eagle.
'She was cool with it' he said simply. Claire looked at him closely. She knew Carlos wasn't letting everything on, but she couldn't quite place what it was.
'But were you cool with it?' she asked carefully, studying Carlos's reactions. Carlos said slightly unhappily with his teeth gritted, 'Yes'.
'Hmmmm' mused Claire.
'Well, c'mon we better get dressed and back there before they think we went to the bathrooms and fell in' said Carlos, eagerly changing the subject and walking off to his locker. Claire shrugged and walked over to her locker and pulled out her spare uniform, trying not to think about what was really going on between Carlos and Rebecca.
Jill was walking along one of the corridor's to the PD's briefing rooms when she spied her target. The target was dressed in his cop's uniform, and was walking to cafeteria. Jill stalked stealthily behind him.
'Hey Jill, what happened?' asked a smooth Californian voice. She looked up and one of the rookie cops, Liz Whitman come hurrying over to her.
"Great, just when I have my target, I get intercepted…. play it cool Valentine" she thought, and she turned to face the Blond Cop and try to fend her off before she lost her target completely.
'Accident with a sun bed' she muttered, she swiped her face, as she was still a little sore.
'Nasty, oh, the Dance is only this weekend. That must suck' said Liz sympathetically, looking at Jill's burned face.
'Oh, well, I have to be going. I'll catch ya later, okay?' said Jill quickly, trying to strain her eyes to find her target.
'Okay, later' said Liz, walking off in a flurry of Blond hair and red lipstick.
Jill walked carefully into the Cafeteria, trying to avoid the stares of the other officers who looked at her red skin inquisitively. She saw her target seated by himself on a table. Perfect.
'Hey' she said, sitting down opposite him. The man looked up from his mug of coffee and muttered a response back.
'Are you Jill Valentine from the STARs unit?' he asked, looking her up and down.
'Yeah, that would be me, how do you know?' she asked.
'Oh, everyone's heard about your accident with a sun bed, so your quite easy to spot' said the Officer lightly, chuckling slightly at Jill's skin.
'Oh, well there's a first time for everything' she remarked, kindly. 'So what's ya name?' she asked innocently.
'Jack King' he replied, shaking her hand and giving her a grin. Jill felt her reactions pick up a signal, a signal that he was interested in her. No, that wasn't meant to happen!
'So what you doing tonight?' she asked, trying hard to make it sound that she wasn't hinting at anything.
'Nothing, why?' he asked, picking up on the bait.
'Well, my Boyfriend and I are going out for dinner with another friend, and I wondered if you'd like to join us?' she asked sweetly, emphasising the boyfriend part.
Jack seemed to get the message, and Jill could tell he was no blue collar. She prided herself on picking the perfect person to take tonight.
'Great. We have reservations at Venice Square, so if you would like to meet us there at around 7:30pm?' she asked, her fingers crossed.
'Sure. That would be fine. Who is your boyfriend?' he asked interestedly.
'Chris Redfield, the STARs Captain' she stated innocently, twiddling a red lock around her finger.
'Oh yeah. Him. So that's okay for tonight' he said, finally giving in and grinning at her.
'Super. Later then!' she said, nodding at him and leaving the cafeteria. She needed to link up with Chris and fill him in on what was happening, as well as reporting back to Leon and Barry, and concocting a way to tell Becca. Jill was working in Bec's best interests, and she didn't want her to sense the real purpose of dinner tonight. Jill smiled cunningly to herself and began to make plans in her head.
'So Carlos, what you doing this evening?' asked Barry as he read through the evening rota.
'It's my free night, so I'm taking Phoenix out to dinner' he said loudly. He glanced and Becca and saw her face was devoid of all emotions.
'Just don't spill wine on her dress' chided Leon, trying to take the edge out of the situation. There was a heavy silence that remained unbroken, and Leon tried to think of a way to diffuse the situation. Luckily, Chris came to his rescue.
'Carlos, remember the time when you got your zipper stuck on that date with the chick from the Forensics Department?' asked Chris, chuckling at the memory.
'I had to be rushed to the emergency room. She never did talk to me again' mused Carlos, remembering the embarrassing occurrence.
'Remember that time you were on the that other date and you knocked into that woman sitting next to you at the bar?' asked Leon, eager to embarrass Carlos further.
Carlos grimaced and didn't reply. Leon took the line up himself.
'You said, 'Sugar, if your heart is as soft as eyes you'll forgive me' and she said 'If your penis is as hard as your elbow, then I'll be behind the car lot in ten minutes' said Leon, grinning the whole time. Chris started to laugh, Barry grinned and even Becca managed a small smile. Carlos's face burned red and he tried to hide it in his hands.
'Your date heard the whole thing, slapped you and said she'd never speak to you again' continued Leon, milking the situation for its worth.
'Leon, what about the time we went down to Shooters and you got might friendly with that brunette next to the bar?' questioned Carlos, eager to get Leon back. Leon gulped and shook his head.
'You guys were in the act of saliva swapping, and then she had to leave….'Carlos trailed off, nodding suggestively. Leon shook his head and shrugged.
'C'mon tell what happened' said Chris, grinning at the quivering Leon.
'The Bartender told us that She was really a He….' Carlos said slowly, allowing the full implication to be afflicted on the whole group. Chris and Barry began whooping, and Carlos thumped Leon on the back, while Becca's grin widened and she started to laugh at the red-faced Leon.
'Alas, even the best make their mistakes' said Leon theoretically, striking a pose.
'You call mistaking a man for a woman a mistake? I call it hilarious!' quipped Becca, talking for the first time. 'Leon likes to have the best of both worlds'.
All four men doubled up with laughter, and Jill walked in amidst them. She had her sweetest smile, and her hips were rolling. Chris knew those signs and wasn't show what to expect.
'Honey, I made reservations for tonight!' she said brightly, catching Chris's hand.
'We're going out?' he asked, confused. 'But…'
'So Becky, wanna join us? Another officer is coming as well' asked Jill quickly, ignoring Chris and focusing on Becky. Beck looked startled but readily agreed, much to Jill's surprise.
'Great, we'll pick you up at around 7. Dress dressy' replied Jill, flashing her a grin and turning to face Chris. Chris eyed Jill closely.
'Guess it's all arranged then. Who's the other Officer?' he asked curiously.
'That will be revealed tonight' said Jill mysteriously, shooting Chris a look. She turned around and nodded at Barry and Leon, telling them the plan was set.
Tonight would be a very interesting night for all of them….not a night to forget.
Chicky Sez: Well troopers, here it is. What will happen tonight at the restaurant? I can't say much here, or I'll give the game away! Sayonara!