Rookie Life

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“God Chris, of course I’ll be alright. No... I know it’s all new... I can handle it, seriously! Don’t make me come all the way out there and kick your ass. Yeah, yeah... love you too old man.” Claire hung up the phone, still grinning to herself. “So over protective.” She chuckled, standing in front of the mirror in the tiny apartment she had rented, looking at her reflection of her first time wearing the R.P.D uniform. “I got this.” She told herself, exhaling the breath she had unknowingly been holding. It wasn’t her first day on the force that had her nervous... it was what her big brother, STARS hero, self proclaimed ladies man Chris Redfield was going to do once she set foot in the precinct. Maybe he wouldn’t notice... maybe STARS never even paid attention to lowly grunts with big ideas. Claire had kept her secret for this long throughout all her training, what was a few more weeks?

Billy sighed quietly and turned the key in the ignition. It usually went this way, or ended in an argument. He didn’t usually push the matter, because once Juliana was done with these missing persons cases, she would be out of there, forcing him to go too.

“Oh they would be ashamed alright, just not of me.” Claire warned darkly. She removed the t shirt she had been wearing to reveal the RPD tank she wore underneath. “Come on Leon, like he says... there’s a run waiting on us.”

"I don't know why we're carrying on like this." Rebecca said after a while of trying to build the bookcase herself. "I mean I'm making a fool of myself and we haven't even ordered a pizza." She wrinkled her nose at him. 

Chris stood on his balcony and took a long drag of his cigarette, shaking his head. How the hell had he missed it? Had Jill helped her lie to him? He should have known. He was more than a little upset that his sister had joined the RPD. He felt like it was a complete betrayal.

“Only winners her pizza.” Billy teased. “Are you about to let some Swedish meatball call you a loser and deny you hot meaty goodness?”

Juliana found Chris, walking up behind him and siding her arms around to trace her red nails over his abdomen. Chris would instantly be able to feel she wore very little too. “Why are you so mad?” She asked. “Are you ashamed of what i this you do?”

Back in her own apartment Claire was suffering troubles of her own. The first place medal felt too hot in her hand and had been tossed on the coffee table nearby. “Was I wrong to keep it secret from him?” She finally asked Leon, as though he held all the answers.

Rebecca jumped up and straddled his lap. "You are so cheesy, Billy Cohen." She purred. "What do I really need..." She didn't finish the sentence as her phone rang. She was quick to answer it. "Where? Ok. I'm on the way." She gave no explanation to Billy as she jumped up and ran to the bedroom to get dressed.

"I don't think so." Leon said, rubbing his ankle. "We all saw how he acted. You probably should have kept it a secret longer." He added, giving Claire a sad look. "Sorry."

Billy groaned and flipped backwards so he lay down on the ground. “Bex!” He groaned. “You know I hate it when...” His own phone suddenly buzzed away in his pocket.

Claire exhaled heavily and sat down beside Leon. “I know. I got so mad though. He was acting like him carrying on with that bitch was fine. Then I saw the look on her stupid face... and saw red. I wanted him to hurt, Leon. I wanted him to hurt for what he did to Jill, and then for calling me an embarrassment. He’s lucky I didn’t punch her!”

Rebecca had no idea Billy had gotten orders to leave as well. She was already out the door and running to her own car. Barry had found the file she was looking for. It would change everything. 

"Do you think it's the girl that's making him that way? I don't remember him being that way when I first met them. I mean even when he was bullying me over Jill it wasn't that bad." Leon asked, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You know...it would have been hot if you'd have punched her." He teased.

Billy was accustomed to Juliana calling him at strange hours saying she needed to pick up evidence, or something similar. He never got a call to say he needed to steal evidence. This was new.

Claire wrinkled pert nose that was almost touching Leon’s as she turned to face him. “You were hitting on Jill, and lived to tell the tale?” She teased.

Rebecca stood in the alley staring at the file Barry gave her. This would change everything. They wouldn't just jail Wesker, they would kill him. 
"Don't let him know I gave this to you." Barry breathed. "Hes threatening my family. I can't lose my girls. Not over him." His hands shook as he held them over hers. "Be careful. This isn't going to end well."
Rebecca turned back to her car, her stomach churning.  All her hard work was all about to pay off. She was going to expose Wesker and Brian Irons and several other corrupt people who were trying to do unthinkable things. Silently she closed her car door and sat there as rain began to pour down. This was it. But how did she do it and who did she trust?

"Not hardly. I was just trying to tell her I liked the way she shot in those exhibition shows they did for us when we were first joining." Leon gave a sheepish laugh. "He thought I was though. He nearly showed my head into the coffee pot. Or are it. I wasn't sure. I was about to ask him if he was a big meat eater." He added, daring to thump Claire on the nose.

Billy had read the message he had received several times. It had come from Juliana’s phone, but didn’t sound like her. He assumed she was simply texting in a hurry and shrugged it off. Rebecca had been gone some time as he geared up. Whatever this was, it was valuable, and also dangerous in the hands of the RPD.

“Yeah right, Jill is like the perfect woman, sure you weren’t hitting on her.” Claire replied with a roll of her sapphire eyes. “But for the record... guns are overrated.” She added.

Rebecca put her hands on the wheel but couldn't convince herself to drive. This was going to tear apart everything she knew. After a moment she dug in her purse and pulled out the sample she'd been working on. The virus that she'd found the instructions for in a message for Wesker a month ago. She'd stolen it before he'd ever seen it. She'd made it in her apartments basement with an old chemistry set. The purple liquid looked like death. This was her evidence...

"Are not!" Leon said, his fingers digging into Claire's hips as he tickled her mercilessly. "Say Leon is amazing or you'll regret it!" He shouted, unable to hide his own grin.

Billy was calling Rebecca’s number, needing to catch her before his mission started. Little did he know their paths would cross from opposing sides, or that a double cross would find him torn away from the woman he loved.

“Leon is amazing or you’ll regret it!” Claire gasped out between squeals of laughter and she tried to wriggle free.

Rebecca didn't answer. Her phone was smashed beneath a heavy boot as she was thrown from her car. The vial she'd had in her hand shattered against the alley trash bin and rained down on a pair of feeding mice beside it. 

Leon didn't know when it happened but the laughter soon turned to soft gasps and pleads for more. Her soft skin was touching his and he was laying her on the bed, giving her the more both of them were pleading for. He didn't know when his feelings for Claire had changed...he wasn't sure if he could admit it to her. He wasn't going to be around much longer.

Billy accepted that she was probably just busy, a decision that would later haunt him. For now he started the engine and began the drive across town to the rendezvous co ordinates he has been given.

That certainly wasn’t where Claire had thought that night was heading. It was no real secret to her that she had always had these feelings for Leon since she first met him, she just hadn’t thought he wanted the same thing. It made it so much harder to tell him that even though it had only been six months... she finally had her letter of recommendation for STARS. That was a conversation for another day though. Right then she was happy with her head against Leon’s chest, listening to the rain beat against the window of her crappy apartment.

Rebecca lay in the mud as Krauser stomped over to her car and set it on fire. Then he turned to her, his gun aimed at her forehead. He was waiting for the order to end her. 

Chris called Jill from what seemed like the millionth time. She hadn't come home and he was worried about her. Without Juliana there his head was clear and for the moment at least he felt a little bit like himself again.

“You have confirmed what she knows? Who she told?” Juliana was in Krauser’s ear as he took care of business. “I want no loose ends!”
“Jack?” Billy was advancing slowly, his own weapon drawn when he saw the flames and his co worker.

“Yeah? What is it?” Jill sounded out of breath. Since Chris had basically moved Juliana into the home they shared, she had spent most of her time either out running, in the RPD shooting range, or in random bars. Right then she was across town in the park by the clock tower.

"Cohen." Krauser snarled. "He's the last of it." He told her, firing a shot that he was sure hit the little medic. "You're under arrest, William Cohen. For murdering an officer. It's a good thing I got here when I did. On your knees! I need back up!" He barked. 

"Where have you been?" Chris' voice was soft and filled with worry. "And before you say anything...I know it's not enough but... I'm sorry. I miss you, Valentine. You are my best friend and...god....I just...miss you." He confessed, his voice barely audible.

Billy didn’t lower his own gun, but also didn’t back up either. “Krauser... what have you done...” He couldn’t see anything more than the feet of the person Krauser had just shot, but it was enough for him to recognise the shoes. “What the fuck?” He continued to advance. “Who are you working for? WHO?!”

Jill suddenly felt herself even more out of breath than when she has been running. The rain was getting harder, and so she jogged over to the looming clock tower to find shelter under one of its elaborate archways. “You’re right... it isn’t enough.” She whispered, closing her eyes as that first time she had seen Chris and Juliana together played in her head. “We had a fight... and you didn’t even wait 24 fucking hours!” She wasn’t shouting the words in anger, she sobbed them with all the pain of a broken heart.

Krauser moved quick, slamming his fist into Billy's face and then kicking his legs out from under him. 
In this position he could easily see Rebecca lying prone, blood flowing from her nose and into a puddle beneath her head.
It wasn't more then a few minutes later that more members of the military showed up and Billy was taken into custody. 

"Jill...I'm an ass..." Chris choked out. "Come home. Let me fix it." His chest was on fire. It hurt him more than he could ever admit to hear her cry. "I...I need you."

It was as he was tossed into the back of a van and driven back to the RPD that Billy would be beaten enough that blood poured from his nose, one of his eyes was swollen and he had several broken fingers. Rebecca was well liked, and it wasn’t all received that he had made an attempt on her life.

“And what about what I need? Or doesn’t that matter... is this all about you?” Jill whispered. The last time she had allowed Chris Redfield to make her cry... she had paid a heavy price, a price she still paid to this day. “You can’t put broken pieces back together, Chris, the cracks will always be there.”

Rebecca woke up to an unwanted sight in her hospital room. Wesker sat by her bed. For a long while she tried to pretend to be asleep, her brain ticking over ways she could get out of the situation. 

Chris had hung up feeling worse than when he'd called. For the next few days he moped around, glad that Juliana seemed too busy to mess with him. Even Claire seemed to be avoiding him.

“How long do you think that will work for?” Wesker commented after several moments. “You think I don’t know the difference between a waking pulse and an unconscious one?” He added.

Jill had taken several steps back after that call, confused by the mixed signals she got from Chris. Clearly he had been over their relationship before he broke up with her, so how hadn’t she seen the signs? Right then she has zoned out at her desk, staring at yet another report of an animal like attack within the city.

"Why are you here?" Rebecca asked, her voice hoarse. Finally she opened her eyes and turned to look at him. "Where is Billy?" Surely someone had told him she was here?

"Not interesting enough for you?" Brad asked, tapping the notes on her desk. "This city is going to hell and so are you, girl." He added sadly.

“Billy? You mean former Lt William Cohen?” Wesker mocked. “The man sitting in our cells for the attempted murder of a STARS officer? THAT Billy?”

Jill looked up at Brad, none of the fire left in her gaze now. “Good morning to you too, Brad.” She snorted.

"What? What happened?" Rebecca all but shouted. She sat up too quickly and was forced to lay back down. "What did you do?!" She demanded. She dug her fingers into the sheets, her hands shaking. 

Brad rested his hand over hers, kneeling in front of her desk. "Tell me the bastard's name. We will totally hide in a bush and throw eggs at his car." He gave her a sheepish grin. "Toilet paper his house? Ooh! Burn it down!"

Wesker smiled and leaned forward. “I didn’t do anything. There was an eye witness who watched him shoot you, and set fire to your vehicle.”

Jill smiled sadly, thankful for the gesture, it was more than anyone else d offered her. That was the real kicker though; she couldn’t even tell anyone it was Chris who had broken her heart. “Asshole would probably have a hundred clueless bum is lined up ready to offer him sanctuary.” She replied.

"No." Rebecca bit into her lip until she was sure it was going to bleed. She didn't want to believe what Wesker was saying but how could she not? The dark look of pleasure in his eyes left no doubt. Billy had used her just like he had. "He's with Umbrella...like you...isn't he?" She asked, her voice barely audible. "How deep does this go?"

"I'm not talking about that asshole." Brad said gently. He came around the desk and turned her around to look at him. "Something is happening to you and someone is responsible. Talk to me, Jill. I'm not going anywhere until you do."

Weaker almost seemed to consider giving a genuine answer for a brief moment. “He’s served his purpose. That’s all you need to know.” He replied. “He will be taken to a military cell in several days, once a confession has been taken from him.”

“Brad... I can’t.” Jill whispered. Of all the people in the team, Brad was probably to only one who would recognise the look in Jill’s eyes right then; fear. “It isn’t safe... nowhere is.”

"Can I see him?" Rebecca asked. She sat up, looking around for her clothes. "Wesker, what the hell is going on?" She got up and closed the door, barely able to keep herself from shaking like a leaf. "Barry told me you're blackmailing him. I've seen the labs beneath the station. I...I have a sample of the G-virus." She turned to glare at him, her back against the door. 

"I know you feel that way but..." Brad took her hands, his thumbs rubbing over her palms. "You need to nail that bastard to the wall. All we need to do is arrest him. It's not that hard. Is it...Chris? Is that why you won't say anything?" He asked, his voice low and hesitant.

As always, Wesker’s expression gave away nothing he didn’t wish it to. “You have a sample?” He asked coolly. “Then Billy was correct to try and end you.” He purred. “Because without the correct storage... what would keep you from infecting the city... killing millions?”

Jill’s eyes grew wide in horror and she jerked her hands free. “Of course it isn’t Chris!” She hissed, trying to keep her voice low, should anyone walk in on them. “You think that playboy has the brains to...” Sje shook her head, realising she was saying too much. “Stop digging, Brad... I can’t have you on my conscience too.”

"That was the...fuck!" Rebecca shouted. She threw her hands in the air ran to her pants. "Fuck!" The vial she'd made was gone but not the one she'd stolen. Quickly, she grabbed it and turned back to Wesker. Luckily for her, this one was already in a syringe. "I had them both." She whispered, quickly shoving the needle into his neck and depressing it. Once she'd done that she turned and ran, knowing she would have to be fast. 

"I'm a good detective, girly." Brad teased, squeezing her hands. "At least tell me so you're not carrying this burden alone. It makes your shoulders sag way too much and I miss the old Jill."