Chapter 38

Raccoon City, September 5th, 1998

"It's nice to have a roommate," Jill said as she helped Alicia settle into her apartment. "Mark's not a bad neighbor, and I like getting free food whenever he's cooking, but he's a guy. He just doesn't seem to understand some things."

"Such as?" Alicia asked for clarification as Jill continued working the brown dye into her blond hair.

"Such as not understanding that sometimes I just want to vent, I don't actually want solutions to my problems," Jill replied with a sigh. "And then there are other times that he just doesn't want to go out and do things, we're friends, but he seems so distant from the rest of us sometimes."

"You said he wasn't exactly a part of the STARS proper, right?" Alicia asked. "More of a go-between for SWAT and STARS, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Maybe he felt like he was torn between the two, I mean, we all saw how the SWAT team members were scared of you STARS, and he had to go and work with both SWAT and STARS with the expectation that both teams would watch his back."

"I never thought about it like that," Jill said as she finished. "We'll have to let your hair sit with the dye for a couple of hours before washing it out, and we should probably take it to get cut too."

"That's probably not a bad idea," Alicia said as she stood up and stretched. "I've needed a trim for a couple of months, and a wardrobe shift away from lab coats would be nice."

"Shopping trip?" Jill asked with a sigh. "I tend to only go when it's absolutely necessary. Or when I owe Mark some groceries."

"It does look like you eat out a lot," Alicia noted as she glanced at the trash can full of take-out containers. "Not that I'm one to judge given I spent most of college living off of junk so I didn't get any student loans."

"Well, I'm not exactly the best in the kitchen," Jill said with a glance toward the small pile of dirty dishes in the sink. "I can manage some basic stuff, but I didn't have much of a teacher for that sort of thing growing up."

"Well, once this dye is done setting we should head to a clothing shop," Alicia said. "I've got to get some new clothes that aren't borrowed anyway," She gestured to the shirt and gym shorts she had borrowed from Mark. "These don't exactly fit properly."

"Right," Jill said. "Do we want to see if the rest of the girls want to join in before they leave next week?"

"Might as well," Alicia shrugged. "I'm not sure how Rain and Natalia will handle it though. They don't exactly strike me as the shopping type."

"There's a mall here that has clothes that should work for their styles too," Jill replied as she moved over and plopped down on her couch. "Besides, if Rain is heading overseas to England with Chris she'll need a new set of clothes anyway."

"True, and Natalia might need a business suit or something for when they're able to go fully public with everything."

–

–

"Well, I don't normally do this sort of thing, but it's nice to do something a bit different sometimes," Rain said as they relaxed in the eating area of the local mall. "Thanks," she nodded toward Jill.

"No problem," Jill said as she dug into her burger. "Been meaning to hang out with someone that's not a guy for a while now."

"Speaking of guys," Rain said as she leaned forward. "You got a stake on Chris?"

"What?" Jill asked after she had finished choking down a bite of food. "No, we're just really good friends."

"You sure about that?" Rain asked. "Because he looks at you like he's lovestruck."

"I'm pretty sure I'm just friends with him," Jill replied.

"You never hooked up with him?" Rain asked with a raised eyebrow. "He's a hunk of a man."

"I never thought about it," Jill said with a frown. "I mean, he's attractive, but I never considered it before."

"Well, that just means I've got a shot at it," Rain said with a smirk before it dropped off of her face. "Look, I'm not trying to poach or anything here, but I might see if we work."

"Take your shot," Jill said with a smile. "Chris pretty much only has a sister left for family anyway, and I'm fairly sure that she'll want to vet you herself."

"I'll take my chances," Rain said as she made herself comfortable in her new gear, the black cargo pants fitting comfortably along with the dark camo jacket and gray shirt she was wearing.

"I think I found some stuff that works," Alicia said as she walked up to Rain and Jill, followed closely by Natalia, both of them already wearing their new outfits.

"I am not certain that I like this," Natalia said as she twisted a bit in the business suit she had bought. "It looks professional, but feels too tight, movement is limited."

"It suits you," Alicia said with a smile. "Besides, if you find a good tailor they can fix up that fairly quickly."

"And you look like you found something practical," Rain said to Alicia. "It's not tactical gear, but it doesn't scream 'scientist' either."

"It works," Alicia shrugged. "And it fit the budget we had for this."

"Looks like we're done here then," Jill said. "It's a shame that Rebecca decided to go ahead and head back to her family, but it is what it is."

"Mathias Dawson," I greeted the SWAT team Sergeant as I opened the door. "How are you healing up?"

"I'm almost back to a hundred percent," the man said with a smile. "I've been on medical leave since that night and just dropped by to see how you were doing."

"I'm not half bad," I said with a smile. "I'm actually expecting Captain Welles to stop by for a visit soon."

"Really?" Mat asked. "I thought you'd had a falling out?"

"Nah," I shook my head. "I get along plenty well with most of SWAT and STARS, it was Captain Wesker and Chief Irons who I didn't like, they just feel oily and slimy if you know what I mean."

"I think I get it," Mat said as he walked into my home and sat down in the chair I indicated across from me at the table. "I've been looking for other job opportunities outside of Raccoon City since the mountain incident anyway. After I got put on medical leave I was told that I would be moved to regular beat cop and my salary cut to go with."

"Did they give you a reason why?" I asked.

"Budget cuts," Mat shrugged. "They're cutting an entire team of SWAT members too, said that we don't have the funds for everything and since crime has seen a general downturn this year the city has started cutting the RPDs budget."

"Well, I'm willing to be one of your references if you need one," I offered as Mat accepted the cup of coffee.

"I'm planning on moving south to Texas," Mat said as he took a sip. "I've got an offer to join a SWAT team in the Houston PD, and my fiance and I have decided to move into that area this week. I just dropped in to say goodbye and thanks for saving my life."

"It's not something you need to thank me for," I said as I eased myself down into the chair. "You and your fiance getting to have a family and a life is more than enough for me."

A knock came at my door and I stood up and moved to answer it.

"Captain Welles," I greeted the sizeable black man and his wife. "Come in, come in."

"Mark," the man said as he wiped his shoes off and came into my apartment. "I see you've got company," he said once he saw Mat. "We can leave if you're busy."

"No, that's not necessary," I said as I waved them into my house. "Mat here was telling me that he was moving to Houston to join their SWAT Team there. "

"I didn't want to cut you," Welles said with a frown. "But you were already on medical leave and Chief Irons had already cut personnel that he had put down as 'excess expenditures'."

"I figured," Mat said with a sad smile. "But in a way, this works out for me, I've got family that's down south and this way I can be closer to them as well as be back on a SWAT Team."

"I'm glad to hear that you found a good job," Welles said as he and his wife took a seat at my table while I got them some coffee. "I'm just sorry that you're leaving, you were a good cop and a damn fine operator."

"Thanks for the coffee, Mark," Mat said as he took his cup to the sink and rinsed it out. "I think I'll be on my way. I'll keep in touch though."

"See ya," I shook his hand before he left and then sat back down to talk to Captain Welles. "Now, you wanted to speak with me?"

"I wanted to apologize for you losing your job," Welles said after he had taken a breath. "You were our medic and despite any issues that I may have with the STARS teams, you never treated us any differently. I was merely told that the STARS teams were being put on leave pending an investigation. Not what else was going to happen there."

"You mean when some of SWAT Team Gamma tried to go against the law?" I asked.

"Yeah, that," he said uncomfortably. "That team is mostly made up of hires that don't answer to me, I only know a handful of them and they're all from out of town."

"Seems like Irons is bringing on a lot of people that we don't know," I said with a shake of my head. "I heard rumors about him setting up some sort of team to replace the STARS from somewhere, but I doubt they're true if the funding issues I've heard of are really happening."

"I came to apologize, but also to give you this," Welles said as he pulled an envelope out of his jacket and handed it to me. "It's the check that's mandated by your contract to cover the replacement of your personal firearm. We saw that your rifle was destroyed by something and so we managed to convince Irons that the rifle cost a lot more than you paid for it when you and the armorer built it. It's not a lot, but it should help cover your expenses until you're able to get into another job."

Welles stood up and began to leave before turning his head and looking at me from over his shoulder. "The RPD thanks you for your service and wishes you well on your journey in life."