Everyone's nap was interrupted when Alcina came by to inform them that they had a dinner reservation that evening, and that they needed to get ready. Reluctantly, the two couples got out of bed and dressed themselves into more appropriate attire before heading downstairs to meet with the others. The Countess has arranged a reservation at a place called Sotto Mare, an Italian seafood restaurant that was apparently highly rated, which got everyone excited as hunger overrided sleep.
Chris and his squad escorted the group on the drive over and some people were even going to stay by the entrance to keep watch which made everyone feel a lot better. They wanted to make the most of this trip and enjoy themselves without constantly worrying about being attacked, and it looked like the BSAA General was taking every precaution to protect them, something that made everyone feel a lot better.
When the group arrived at the restaurant, there was a woman waiting for them at the entrance. She was about five foot ten and had short brown hair which was lighter than Chris'. But like Chris, she too had a professional look to her and had a fit build.
As she walked up to them, Chris in particular smiled and greeted the woman with a kiss before turning back to the group.
"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to my wife, Jill. She's also a General and CO of the BSAA."
Jill smiled warmly.
"It's nice to meet all of you." She said as she shook everyone's hand, not wanting anyone to feel left out.
This made Joseph smile wider. He could already tell she was wholesome and kind, but she also had that tough, strong vibe to her as well, which wasn't surprising. She led the BSAA after all.
Chris then spoke up again.
"So anyway, shall we head inside? I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving."
Jill rolled her eyes.
"You're always hungry, Chris. I consider it a miracle that you manage to keep yourself in shape."
Her husband made a face at her words, causing everyone to chuckle.
"I think the exact same thing with Dani." Mandy said.
Daniella turned to her girlfriend with a sad puppy look, causing the raven haired girl to giggle.
"I'm just teasing, babe. With all seriousness, I am pretty hungry myself."
Everyone nodded in agreement and wasted no more time going inside and getting themselves seated. Everyone quickly started up conversations with each other as they looked over the menus and placed their orders. It was a huge selection, and much of the group was having trouble deciding what they wanted to get.
After placing her order, Jill turned to Joseph.
"So Joseph, Chris was telling me that you spent some time in Japan before you met Cassandra and the others?"
Joseph smiled as he took a sip of his drink.
"Sure did. I trained under Master Hisashi for three years. It was such a great time to be there. The dojo always made me feel accepted, and I loved getting lost in the culture Japan had to offer."
Jill's interest seemed to vastly increase upon hearing this.
"What was it like? My mom was Japanese, but I've never actually been to the country myself."
This got Master Hisashi's full attention.
"Is that so?" He asked. "Is it because you just never got the chance to do it?"
Jill adopted a slightly more sad look and nodded.
"Yeah. My mom died when I was very young, and that devastated my dad. He always tried to be there for me, but he was never really the same after that, and I guess I wasn't either."
Master Hisashi's face now filled with sorrow for the BSAA General.
"My sincerest condolences to you and your father. Every child deserves to have a caring mother growing up. I'm truly sorry to hear that you didn't."
Everyone agreed with that, especially Joseph and Mandy.
Jill smiled.
"Thank you. Honestly, it's been so long now that I've learned to cope with it. Nowadays, it's not even the worst pain I've had to deal with."
The subtle hint of pain and guilt appeared on her face. It was so subtle that most people wouldn't have noticed it, but not these people.
"You've done something you're not proud of, haven't you?" Cassandra asked.
Jill quickly turned to the brunette with a surprised look.
"How did you…?" She trailed off.
Heisenberg chuckled.
"How did we notice? Because we've all had that look at some point or another. Trust me, we know a thing or two about living with guilt."
Bela nodded.
"Absolutely. So whatever is causing that pain for you, don't keep it bottled up inside. Please, share it with us. We promise we won't judge you."
Jill seemed hesitant since she had just met these people, but Chris then put his arm around her.
"It's okay, honey. You've read their files, right? So you know they've dealt with the same kind of pain. They will definitely understand."
There was a pause before Jill took a deep breath and nodded.
"Okay. I'll tell you. Please forgive me if I'm slow to get to the point. This is still a painful memory for me. First things first, have any of you heard the name Albert Wesker?"
Some shook their heads but others nodded.
"I've heard of him." Mandy said. "He was behind the bioterrorist attacks in Africa a little while back, right?"
Jill nodded.
"Correct, but I knew him long before that. Wesker was one of the top officials of Umbrella, and was also an undercover agent for them as the leader of our S.T.A.R.S. unit, when Chris and I served in the Raccoon City Police Force."
Everyone's eyes widened at this, but didn't say anything. At that point, Chris spoke up.
"He tricked us all into being guinea pigs for an experiment he and Umbrella set up in the Arklay Mountains, but it didn't go exactly according to plan for them. Jill and I as well as a few other members of our team made it out. Wesker was badly injured, but he survived because of the Progenitor Virus in his body, and the superhuman abilities it gave him. I learned that for myself when I ran into him again at Rockfort Island."
Jill nodded and continued the story.
"After that, we dedicated our careers to tracking him down and putting a stop to him and his plans for good. Eventually, our efforts paid off and we got a reliable source that informed us of the location of Umbrella's founder, Oswell E. Spencer."
"Oswell?" Miranda asked. Her eyes became as big as saucers now, which got everyone's attention.
"Do you know him?" Elena asked.
The Priestess nodded.
"I used to. Oswell was a medical student of mine a long time ago. In fact, the symbol I used for the village is where he got the idea for the logo for Umbrella. I promise you though, I had nothing to do with Umbrella's creation or any of the evil things they did."
"She's telling the truth." Chris said. "I've been through all the files from her and Umbrella, and they confirm this."
Everyone nodded and motioned for Jill to continue telling her story. The BSAA General took a deep breath before continuing.
"When we were informed of Spencer's location, Chris and I went there right away, but we learned too late it was another trick from Wesker. When we arrived, he was waiting for us, and his super human abilities meant we couldn't do jack shit against him."
Jill was starting to get emotional as she continued.
"At one point, Wesker had Chris by the throat. He was going to kill him. Without thinking I threw myself onto him, and we both fell out the window. As you can see, I didn't die…but neither did he."
Everyone's mouths started to open. They had an idea of where this story was going, but what Jill said next was worse than they could have imagined.
"What happened next was three years of hell. Wesker experimented on me, used my body to create the Uroboros Virus. I was 'special' according to him, because I was the only one immune to the T Virus, since I received a vaccine for it during the Raccoon City outbreak. But that wasn't all, oh no. My unique physiology meant I was the prime candidate for a super soldier project Wesker had been working on. So he attached a device that administered a certain chemical to my body. And once that happened, I became his puppet.
"For the next three years, I served Wesker against my will. I couldn't break free from his control no matter how hard I tried. But even though I couldn't control my actions…oh god…I was still aware of what I was doing. I did so many terrible things, killed so many innocent people, and I…I couldn't do anything about it! For three years I helplessly watched as my body betrayed me and made me do all those things! WESKER MADE ME A MONSTER, AND THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD DO ABOUT IT!"
She banged her fist on the table, causing some silverware to bounce up in the air. A waiter even came over to ask if everything was okay, which Chris assured it was.
Everyone else was completely speechless. They were horrified to hear that Jill had gone through such a traumatic experience. It was one thing to do such horrible things, but doing it against your will was debatably even worse.
This was obvious from the look on Jill's face, which had a mix of sadness and anger in it. Even though the incident in Africa was years ago, it was clear the events still deeply affected the BSAA General.
Cassandra got up and walked around the table before also giving Jill a hug. Everyone smiled at this, especially Joseph. There wasn't enough room for everyone to join in a group hug so they let the brunette speak for them all.
Eventually, after Jill had calmed down, Cassandra spoke.
"Jill, I am so sorry that you went through all of that. I can't even imagine what that must have been like. What I do know however is that you endured that torture for three years, and you survived. That proves how strong and brave you are."
Chris smiled widely.
"Damn right. Jill is the toughest person I've ever known, and I've never seen anything keep her down. People have always looked up to her, especially our kids. They think she's some kind of superhero."
Alcina put her hand on her heart as she smiled.
"That's wonderful to hear. You must be so proud Jill, that you can be such an inspiration to your children."
Jill finally smiled and nodded.
"I am, and I'm glad I can say that too, because before I wouldn't have. I was depressed for a long time, thinking that everything that happened was my fault."
Cassandra shook her head.
"You can't blame yourself for that, Jill. You couldn't control it, and you shouldn't stress yourself out over things you had no control over."
Master Hisashi nodded in agreement.
"Precisely. You may have killed people, but their deaths were not your sins. They were Wesker's."
Jill nodded as well.
"I know that now. It took a year of therapy, but I know that now. I also have Chris and my friends to thank for that as well. They never left my side no matter how much I lashed out at them."
Cassandra smiled.
"See? You fit right into this group! We've all been through a lot of pain, but we've survived it because we have each other, and that gave us the strength to overcome our pain. So stop being all melodramatic and turn that frown upside down!"
Joseph was beaming now. His girlfriend was being loving and supportive to Jill, just as he supported her when she was in pain, and he couldn't be more proud of her. Alcina's face indicated she felt the same way.
Now Jill was smiling warmly and looked at the rest of the group.
"Seeing you all like this, it's almost hard to believe you were once in my shoes as well. But it makes me happy to know I'm not alone, and that you have fought through a similar pain to mine. You guys are very strong and brave too. I really mean that."
Daniela looked beyond happy to hear that.
"Thank you so much, Jill! You've been fighting against bioterrorism for so long now, so to hear that from you means so much to us."
"Absolutely." Bela said. "If people like you can accept us, then that tells us we did something right."
Jill nodded.
"I agree, and thank you for being patient and listening to my story. Even to this day, I still have trouble coping with it."
Joseph smiled.
"Hey, no problem. We understand completely. Memories like that are always painful, no matter how much time has passed. So it's better to focus on the more positive stuff. For example, I understand Wesker was killed not long after Chris saved you. That must have been such a huge relief."
Chris nodded.
"Oh my god, that would be a huge understatement. We had spent pretty much a decade trying to hunt Wesker down, terrified of the threat he posed. When I finally killed him, it was like the world could breathe a sigh of relief.
Jill nodded back.
"I couldn't agree more with that. Not to mention, it was satisfying as hell to see you shoot him in the face with an RPG."
Heisenberg laughed.
"You shot him in the face with a rocket launcher? Nice!"
"Two actually." Chris said. "My partner Sheva, who was with me, helped."
"Don't forget that Wesker was burning in lava." Jill added.
"Of course, let's not forget that." Chris said, smiling.
Mandy couldn't help but form an amused smile on her face.
"You guys have quite an interesting job to say the least."
The couple both laughed.
"You could say that." Jill said.
She then turned to her husband.
"Hey. Since this is a seafood restaurant, you want to tell them the story about the Queen Zenobia?"
"You read my mind, honey." Chris replied.
The timing of this was perfect as the waiters came out with everyone's food. As everyone chowed down, Chris and Jill proceeded to tell everyone about a monster infested cruise ship they investigated in the Mediterranean sea. Needless to say, it was quite the story to hear, and if it wasn't so well documented, most people probably wouldn't believe it.
As the couple told their tale, Joseph leaned to Miranda.
"You definitely chose the right people to help us out. Those two are really something."
His Godmother couldn't help but nod in agreement.
"I knew they were well respected and praised by the people. But hearing all of this? I don't think they're being praised enough."
"Absolutely. They deserve all the medals in the world for what they've done."
The rest of dinner was filled with laughter and happiness as everyone ate and shared stories with each other. After they left, they did a little sight seeing around the city before returning to the hotel. San Francisco had a lot of things to offer, and as everyone made plans on what to see and do tomorrow, Joseph was nervous.
Cassandra had asked him if they could go to the zoo, which he gladly agreed to. But they also planned to go to the beach afterwards, and that's what was making Joseph nervous. Because little did his girlfriend know, he had something very special planned for her.