"More and more I find myself wondering if it's all worth fighting for. For a future without fear . . . yeah, it's worth it."

The corner of his lips curve as he looks at the sea below them. Such an ironic serene picture to see right after surviving what he can say would be the most difficult battle he has been in. For years, ever since STARS have been betrayed by none other than Albert Wesker, he and his partner Jill have been searching the entire globe to find him. Bringing down Umbrella may be a notable success years ago but they both knew then that the battle was far from over. Not until the very first person who lured them into this nightmare is captured.

Truth be told, even now that they are assuming that Wesker is dead, even when they have given justice to all their friends and teammates, even as he, for a lack of a better term, got his revenge on Wesker, Chris knows it's not yet time to stop fighting. The world is cruel and humans hunger for power.

Revenge is such a strong word. Only now does it cross his mind as he looks back at the blonde woman in front of him. When he was on his way here, he never expected to run into an old enemy, only his old partner. He only agreed to go on this mission because of her. Any rumors, any information or a mere trace of her has never been ignored by him. No matter how absurd the idea may be, he took his chance.

He could swear he almost lost the capability to make logical decisions after finding out that Wesker is not only the one who caused the outbreak in this city but also the reason his partner has been missing for all these years. Moreover, he experimented on her, like she is one of those creatures he placed in those giant tubes that he first saw when they were in the Mansion. He grits his teeth thinking about the disrespect this senile man has done to Jill Valentine.

While talking to Sheva, Jill catches Chris looking at her and she gives him a soft smile. He manages to do the same thing before averting his eyes away from her and back at the sea. The whirling blades of the helicopter may be loud but he could feel his pulse beating, hearing the sound of his heartbeat that seems like it's audible.

Sheva becomes aware of the situation. It's hard to not shout given their situation but she could at least give the two of them some time to talk. "Again, Jill. No need to repeatedly apologize. I understand. I'll go check if Josh needs some help over there." She excuses herself and takes a seat next to their pilot.

Chris carefully takes a seat adjacent to Jill. "Hey, there." He starts to speak, just enough for her to hear over the roaring engine of the helicopter.

"Hey."

He just looks at her while she waits for him to say something. Honestly, he doesn't know where to start or what to say in the first place. Is saying "I miss you" to your partner too unprofessional? Does not saying it make him a terrible friend. He just can't do anything other than just look at her, at how different she is. Can't help but feel the pain in his chest remembering how long it was since he last saw her. He almost couldn't remember what her voice sounded like due to lack of sleep, stress and all the alcohol he had consumed. There was a time that we even welcomed the idea of forgetting her entirely just so he won't suffer anymore. But no.

Her presence hauntingly lingers everytime he is in a place that reminds him of her. Every time he hears music or sees something that he knows she would like. Almost every night he couldn't sleep on his bed without the help of whiskey or rum or anything.

Ironically, now that she is here with him, he doesn't know what to say. What would they talk about anyway? Does she want to know what she missed? She definitely does need an update regarding her life. But where would he start?

Jill notices his difficulty in trying to come up with something to say. She decides to break the awkward silence herself instead, "You look awful." She says with a light chuckle.

He exhales deeply and laughs a bit as well. "It's not like it's your first time seeing me like this. We've been worse." Since they are on the topic, he slightly rotates his shoulders. Jill put up one hell of a fight, he has seen her fight others and even had sparring matches against her. He knows all too well that she has impressive hand to hand combat skills. But maybe the parasite heightened some of her senses and increased her strength because he has never seen her in battle like that.

"It hurts doesn't it?" She stares at his shoulder with a somber look on her face. He shakes his head but she still feels the heavy guilt pinch on her chest. What happened didn't just maim her physically. Maybe this could be her punishment for doing what she did. Not knowing when or how she will recover after everything she has done. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry-"

"No, no." He leans back on his seat and raises his hand in front of her. "Let's not talk about that. We both know what happened is not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing or rather you couldn't stop yourself."

"But I just feel-" She stops as he reaches for her hand, he places his palm on the back of her.

"I know. I understand. But it's not you. Let's leave it that way." They stay like that, his hand just resting on hers.

What happened is undeniably difficult. It was extremely painful for both of them. She is frightened to ask the questions that are filling up her head, unsure if she is ready to hear about it. How he managed not to have a breakdown is a miracle. He couldn't even throw a punch at her to knock her out, just relied on what he can say and hoped that it can wake her up from whatever it is that she needs to be freed from.

"Chris, do you want to fly this? I heard that you are a great pilot" They heard Josh say. The offer was tempting. After all, what better way to celebrate reuniting with his partner other than to fly a plane just like old times. Also, his skills might get rusty if he won't be able to exercise it once in a while. But he is too exhausted as of the moment.

"Maybe some other day." He simply replies.

On a different day, he would have taken the offer. He misses flying planes. Such simpler times that he rarely gets the chance to enjoy now. He can feel Jill's hand start clasping his and he intertwines their fingers together.

All their energy is almost drained from their body. There are these rare times when the aftermath of the mission hits him and all he wants is to just take a nap. Like what happened after that Mansion incident. They joke about Rebecca immediately dozing off on her first mission but it wasn't long until their eyes grew heavy too. Jill even ended up leaning her head on his shoulder as she fell asleep.

He is not sure if his shoulder is dislocated, not sure if he is mildly bleeding somewhere else. But he is sure that he wants to take a nap right now. He sees her hand slowly reaching the side of his face, ever so gently touching his cheek and making his head rest on her shoulder.

The sound of the roaring blades made by the helicopter fades. The harsh wind ceases to exist. The pain he is feeling vanishes. He closes his eyes, cherishing whatever moment he has with her left, we aware of what awaits them, her, once they reach their destination.

He might have only lasted for a few minutes but it's more than enough to fuel him for the rest of the day. It wasn't long before they reached the helipad of their BSAA HQ. Josh and Sheva make their way inside the building. They trail behind but Chris stops on his track for a moment making Jill halt her steps too.

"Hey, is there something wrong?" She looks at him.

He just sighs. He needs to at least try. "You know I could fly that, right? "

She slowly nods, glances at the helicopter for a second then back to him. "I think I have heard that you can maybe once or twice." They both let out a small chuckle at her remark.

"You don't need to go there. We could just fly away from here. You can trust me. I'm a good pilot too, you know." His voice almost cracks as he talks, almost begging her.

"It's going to be fine, Chris. Don't you trust your partner?" 3 years too long. 3 years too late. He just pulls her into a tight hug, one arm around her waist and the other on her shoulder, letting out a sigh in relief. He would trust his life in her hands, he already did as a matter of fact.

"Yeah, things will be fine."

Her lips curl into a small smile as her arms circle around his big frame, careful not to cling to his shoulders too much. "Let's go." It's hard to believe it's been more than a decade since all of it started. She wishes they could just go straight to their favorite bar, hangout with their colleagues and call it a day. Such simpler times that she rarely gets the chance to enjoy now. She gives her a pat of the back, signaling him that they should go. "You better get that shoulder checked."

"And give you the bragging rights of breaking my shoulder? I don't like the sound of that. Last time that happened during our training, the whole STARS team knew it and I couldn't eat my lunch in peace without them teasing me about it." He chuckles as they enter the building.

"Will you be OK?" Jill asks him once again.

The question lingers in the air. Like she is asking his permission if she should really proceed as planned. He was never the obedient one in the team. He hopes the Human Resources would give up leaving a memo on his desk or emailing him warnings for not following orders. They shouldn't, he got Jill Valentine back and that's what's important apart from stopping a 'complete global saturation'

He slowly nods. "Yeah, we should go."