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59. Jill

Something was bothering Chris. Jill knew her partner well enough to tell when the older Redfield had something in his mind. His demeanor changed. Whenever something was bothering him, Chris almost seemed to enter into a permanent wave of bad mood.

"Chris, what's wrong?" Jill asked, seeing that her partner was tapping the desk impatiently.

It was 11 PM. Barry, who had a family expecting him at home, had left the office a little past seven, but since Chris and Jill lived alone, they had decided to stay a little longer working on details from the upcoming mission.

"What? Ah, nothing. I'm just restless..."

"Yeah, I noticed. You've been grumpy ever since you returned from meeting with Adams. Didn't you say he gave the order without pullbacks?"

"Yeah, he did."

"Then why are you mopping?"

"I am not mopping," Chris said, frowning. "I never mop..."

Jill crossed her arms and gave him a skeptical look. Chris wouldn't admit it, but he always did.

"I am just a little uneasy. That's all."

"Worried about Claire?" Jill asked. "Leon is with her, and I know you hate to admit it, but I think she's in the best hands we could ever ask for."

Chris didn't say anything. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed loudly.

"Never mind about that. Do we have any other info regarding Blackwell?"

The change of subject was Chris's usual tactic to divert the attention from his issues.

"Hunnigan, Leon's friend, contacted me a little while ago. She sent me everything she had found and warned me that there was a good chance that we wouldn't find anything else."

"That is an unusual warning," Chris said, crossing his arms. "Did she say why?"

"Gov-related stuff, I presume?" Jill shrugged. "We don't have a lot of background data, but at least we have a location."

"That will suffix. We can figure out the rest when we get there," Chris nodded.

"Too bad we don't know what we will find out there."

"Does it even matter? We always run in blindly."

"I know what you mean," Jill admitted. "But these BOWs are different in so many ways. You've seen how much trouble they have given us, and there's no knowing if there are more and stronger ones on that island. Are we ready for this mission?"

"It's not like you to be hesitant, Jill."

Jill sighed. She leaned back into her chair and looked at the screen of her computer.

"I know," Jill sighed. "It's just...something about these BOWs puts me on edge. I don't know what it is, but they feel different from other BOWs we have fought."

"Different or not, they are BOWs," Chris sighed. "If they are dangerous, then we have to stop them."

"What about Claire?"

"What about her?"

"I know this is hard, Chris, but we must admit it. Claire might be..."

"No," Chris said firmly. "She might be infected, but she's not one of them."

Jill didn't press any further. Chris knew what she meant, and his denial was the product of his love for his sister, but that didn't change the fact. Claire, herself, had said it. She was a BOW.

"It seems we will have to use an alternative route to reach the island," Jill said, changing the subject. "The aerial space above the island has some dangerous winds. It wouldn't be wise to fly there."

"Sailing then?"

"Yeah, it seems like the best option. It could be about 5 hours from Ireland's northern shore," Jill replied. "That puts us in some technical difficulties. Leaving the island won't be that easy if we need to get out of there."

"We'll figure it out," Chris said. " I suppose this calls for a strategy meeting."

"Yeah, Barry might have an idea," Jill approved. "Maybe Claire can give us her advise, too."

"Yeah, I'll tell, Leon," Chris sighed. "That will wait until tomorrow. He might be asleep now."

"That's very thoughtful of you," Jill smiled, resting her chin on her palm. "Hey, Chris..."

"What?"

"Being serious here. Don't you think something is up between Claire and Leon?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is," Jill replied. "Maybe that fake relationship thing isn't that much of a lie anymore. I've seen how they look at each other. I am sure those feelings are there..."

Chris didn't answer, and Jill was already expecting his usual reaction, but to her surprise, Chris leaned back in his seat with a thoughtful look.

"Yeah, I was afraid that would happen."

His answer took Jill by surprise. The woman stared at him, slightly shocked.

"Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Leon. He's capable enough, a decent guy most of the time, and well, he cares about Claire almost as much as I do..."

"But...?"

"Ada Wong..."

Jill's mouth made an "o." So that was it, the reason why Chris so adamantly disapproved of any possible relationship between the agent and his sister spun around the Asian spy. It wasn't like Jill blamed him. There was that incident in China some years before. Chris and Leon had crashed in not-so-friendly terms because of Ada Wong.

"You're worried that Leon might leave her to chase after Wong?"

Chris didn't answer, but Jill found it very adorable. It wasn't that Chris disapproved of Leon as a brother-in-law. It was that he didn't want to see his sister hurt.

"What? Why are you so surprised about that?"

"Sorry, it's...I just thought you were jealous or something. Hearing that reasoning took me by surprise."

Chris sighed.

"Leon is a good guy. I know he cares about Claire," the soldier said. "The way he was when she first went missing was enough to prove it, and the way he's been taking care of her all these weeks only helps confirm it. However, Leon has unfinished business with Wong, and I don't think it will end any time soon."

Jill listened carefully. Chris had a point. Leon's tumultuous relationship with the Asian spy was not a secret to anyone, not even to Claire.

"Claire hasn't had it easy with guys," Chris sighed. "I've seen her suffer through a few of those heartbreaks, and she doesn't deserve it. Claire is a family person, but it seems that having a family eludes her. I don't mind if she tells me that she wants to settle down with Leon..."

Chris grimaced at the words, and Jill smirked.

"But only if I am sure that Leon is into it as much as Claire is. I know Leon's fame as a playboy is purely for image, but his thing with Wong is real," Chris closed his eyes.

"I don't think it is like that. I think Leon's relationship with Claire is sincere."

"How do you know that? He told you?"

"It is a gut feeling. It's my sixth sense," Jill winked at him. "I can't deny he might have something with Wong, but I think that's something a little more platonic, but with Claire, it is more solid."

"So Wong is to fool around, but Claire is for settling down?" Chris said. "I don't know. That doesn't make me feel better."

"What I am saying is that maybe you should let them give it a chance."

"Honestly, I don't know. I'll let Claire decide if she can or cannot trust that guy..."

Jill knew Chris well after working together for so long. She had never seen him in this state, but she found touching the way he, in his own way, showed that his sister would always come first.

"You're a good brother, Chris."

"I try..." Chris sighed. "God knows, I try."

The Redfield sibling's relationship was always something that Jill admired. The bond between Chris and Claire was so touching and admirable. Being a single child, the experience of having siblings was something foreign for Jill, but watching Claire jump into Chris's arms as she greeted them drew a smile on the soldier's lips.

"You brought the whole gang, huh?" Claire smiled when her brother put her down.

"Hey, it's business, and I need all the brains I can get," Chris smiled. "How are you? Did you rest well yesterday?"

"It was complicated at first, but it got better," Claire answered guiltily. "I'm afraid Leon ended up hurt in the crossfire."

"What?" Chris said, turning to the agent.

"Claire exaggerates," Leon replied. He lifted his arm, showing the bandage. "She had a nightmare, and she scratched me when I tried to wake her up."

"Oh, so you were watching her sleep?" Barry snorted, and Jill elbowed him.

"Yes, my knight in shining armor," Claire said, rolling her eyes. "Take a seat. Rebecca is in the lab. I'll call her."

Claire stepped past Leon. The two exchanged looks before Claire walked out of the room. Jill had seen the exchange before, and now more than ever, she felt convinced that those two were together.

"Nightmare?" Chris asked, looking at Leon.

"She has had them frequently since her memories first began to return," Leon explained. "They are not usually violent, but I guess the whole regression experience might have ruffled things a little."

"Shit," Chris sighed. "I knew it was a bad idea..."

"Hey, I know it is hard," Jill said, putting her hand on Chris's shoulder. "But if she had not done it, we wouldn't know where the island is."

"I know, and that's what I hate the most," Chris growled. "I feel like I am using her."

"You're not using me more than I am using myself, Chris."

Claire entered the meeting room with Rebecca. The medic greeted everyone with a smile, and Claire closed the door behind her.

"I am literally using myself as a test subject for experimental treatments, so...using me for information isn't really a big deal, dear brother of mine," Claire said, sitting down next to Leon, as Jill noted.

"That doesn't make it any less unethical."

"On the contrary. It isn't unethical if I am giving you my permission, but that's out of the topic," Claire said. "You asked for a meeting, so...what's up?"

Jill chuckled. Chris was right. Claire had to be a great actress since, at first sight, she didn't look like a woman that was fighting a virus while coping with traumatic memories, being hunted by a crazy terrorist group.

Claire looked like she could gain more weight and perhaps a little more color, but other than that, her charming smile was as bright as Jill remembered from Chris's photo.

"Claire has told me some of the details," Rebecca said. "So you know where Mobius hideout is?"

"Yes, thanks to Leon's friend and Claire, we managed to locate it," Jill answered. She typed into the laptop, and the satellite photo of the island appeared on the screen. "we inquired around, and apparently, we can only reach it through the sea."

"Sea?" Leon asked.

"Air masses," Claire replied. "The air currents in the area are strong, especially during this season. It'd be too dangerous for a chopper to approach the area."

"I see you already knew this," Jill said, impressed. "right, it might be too dangerous to approach with a chopper, so our safe route is this..."

Jill typed, and the colored lines appeared on the map.

"We can go to the BSAA Irish branch, and from there, we can get a ship to the island. We'll take a small one so that we won't attract too much attention," Jill said.

"That is if there's still somebody on that fucking island," Barry mumbled.

"Getting noticed by Mobius will be the last of your concerns," Claire replied. "The whole facility is full of unstable BOWs."

"Great, more monsters. Bring them on. We can take them..." Barry growled.

Claire shook her head.

"It isn't that easy," Claire sighed.

"What's not easy about BOWs? We shoot them, and that's it, right?" Barry said.

"Let me ask you one thing, Barry. If I had a mental breakdown right now and did something that was remotely human..." Claire said in a grave voice. Jill could feel a cold tension in the air. "Would you be able to shoot me?"

"What? What kind of crazy question is that?" Barry said, horrified. "Of course not! Having a mental breakdown doesn't make you dangerous!"

"No, in this case, it does," Claire sighed. "Many of the BOWs you'll encounter there are nothing more than psychologically unstable people."

"They used psychiatric patients as test subjects?" Jill asked.

"Yeah, people that were suffering from anxiety to severe psychopathy and schizophrenia. You get the idea. Even if they're not fully transformed, their behavior might not be friendly in some cases."

"Oh, great. Now we have to deal with lunatics," Barry sighed. "Like we didn't have enough problems already."

Jill elbowed Barry, glaring at him. Barry was a rough man, and sometimes, his comments lacked tact. Claire had lived among them as one of them for several months, so calling them lunatics was almost as if he was calling Claire a lunatic.

Chris had caught Jill's thought, too. The man was staring at his sister with a conflicted look, but Claire made no sign that she had felt affected by Barry's comment.

"So far, the alpha forms you've seen are overall stable; controllable. The ones you might see in Blackwell; well, they could be anything, unpredictable."

"How do you know?" Leon asked.

"I lived there for eight months. I might have been drugged and insane most of the time, but I had my lucid moments, too," Claire sighed. "If I had been a little more lucid, I could probably give you more information."

"You already gave us enough Claire, "We'll figure it out."

"Of course, you will," Claire said. "I will make sure of that..."

Jill looked at her with surprise, and she was not the only one. Leon was looking at her with wide eyes, and Chris frowned. The siblings exchanged a silent conversation of glares before they finally spoke.

"No. That's out of the question," Chris said, getting up. "You're not coming."

"I know the place better than any of you," Claire said, crossing her arms."I walked through its halls for months..."

"You said it yourself. You weren't exactly lucid back then..."

"Oh, trust me. When you are trying to survive, there are things that even in madness you won't forget."

"Even more of a reason to keep you away from there!"

"And how do you expect to move around? The alpha forms will wipe your men out even before you can figure out where you are."

"I can get it mapped."

"You won't have a better map than someone who spent eight months surviving through that hell, Chris. ."

"That is exactly why you shouldn't go," Chris defended.

"Chris, you have to be reasonable," Claire said calmly.

Unlike Chris, Claire was very cool-headed. Jill had to admit the woman was admirable since not even her or Barry dared to face Chris with such defiance. Then again, Claire had special privileges.

Jill looked at Chris. The older Redfield wasn't talking, and his whole demeanor shouted that he wouldn't let this through. Jill understood Chris's position, but as much as she hated admitting it, Claire was right.

Their best chances to make it through this quest were with her.

"No."

"I hate to say it, Chris," Barry sighed. "But Claire is probably right. The smartest thing to do would be to take her with us."

"It's not safe," Chris groaned. "Mobius is after her, and you want me to take her into the wolf's den?"

"That's exactly the last place they would expect me to be," Claire replied.

Chris was stubborn. As Barry said, that seemed to be a Redfield trait, too. It took some coaxing to get Chris to agree to take Claire with them. Jill knew that Chris only did what he believed best for his sister. Taking Claire back to the place where she had suffered terrible things did not sound like the best of the ideas, but the situation left them no other.

At the end of the meeting, they had agreed to a plan: they would take a small team of some handpicked soldiers. Leon and Helena would join them, too, so that they could protect Claire as they'd been doing so far. Rebecca offered to accompany them as medical support.

It wasn't like they needed a medic, but it had been one of Chris's conditions. With Claire's health condition unstable, he wanted someone near to look after her. The best option would have been Hiwamura, but the woman was busy with her TerraSave duties.

"I still feel like this is a bad idea," Chris groaned once they had returned to BSAA-HQ.

"Deep down inside, you know she's right," Jill said.

"Yeah, and that's what I hate the most," Chris sighed. "I just feel like I keep using her."

"I get your point," Barry said. "But if we can put an end to Mobius, we won't have to do it anymore."

"I hope you're right," Chris said. "Shit, I hope I don't regret this."

"Don't worry. I am sure Leon will keep her safe," Jill tried to comfort him.

"He better do, or I'll make sure he pays."

"So this is it?" Barry asked, "I better get my Magnum out."

"I wouldn't count on it. Don't forget what Claire said," Jill commented. "Minimal firearms?"

"Yeah, yeah...noise attracts them. Fucking monsters..."

"That's another thing we need to consider..." Jill sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "Weapons..."

"Shit," Chris cursed. "Leon said he would talk to Hopkins, but we need a backup plan, too."

"Great, suggestions?"

"I already gave mine," Barry said. "But stealth isn't quite my thing..."

"We have time. Let's focus on that in the next few days," Chris said, rubbing his face. "We'll figure it out."

Jill nodded. Yes, they would figure it out, somehow.