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?

Wesker met Rebecca’s gaze and shook his head only once. “This isn’t a diplomacy. Redfield wants to be a wimp and quit, that’s his choice. Back to work people!”
Jill was sure the room had just bottomed out as Wesker told Chris to just leave. She knew this wasn’t just him quitting the force, this was him quitting on them too.

Claire groaned and slumped down further in her seat. The whispers were already starting as people turned to look at her. There was no claiming they simply shared a surname now; everyone knew she was family.

Chris stood in the hallway for what seemed like eternity. His chest was on fire and the white hot rage was still coursing through his veins. It was enough to finally send him stomping back into the room and into Wesker's office. "Screw your reprimand. I'm not taking time off and I'm not quitting. What happened was off the clock. If I need to get a lawyer to say so I will. otherwise, fuck you." That said he shoved everything off the other man's desk and calmly returned to his desk. 

Leon made a face as he and his partner got up to leave. Then he smiled and waved at Claire, pointing toward a poster of food on the wall and then a clock as he left. The cat calls and laughter that followed him had his ears visibly red.

Wesker was smiling once Chris had left. It was perfect, right down to the outcome. “Lose the soft to find the steel.” He purred to himself. That’s exactly what this was. It wasn’t about making a spectacle of him, it was about forcing him and Jill to work alone. They were reliant on one another, and he wanted strength in his Alpha team, not dependence.
Jill was staring at the report on the screen in front of her as Chris slammed back into his seat on the desk next to her own. She could feel the anger coming from him, and was ashamed to find herself wanting him to take at least a little of it out on her. She could hold her own.

Claire was grinning again, the cat calls not bothering her any. She didn’t want it to be a secret she had the hots for mr perfect scores. She leaned back in her seat for a moment, chewing thoughtfully on the end of her pen. She finally understood the draw of a man in uniform.

At lunch time Rebecca curled under her desk and fell asleep. Her stomach was on fire and her head was killing her. The whole scene with Chris hadn't helped. She wished he wasn't so loud and the room wasn't so bright. She wished she wasn't so emotional. At least Richard and Forest had left so they weren't able to see what an idiot she was. 

"So I heard from Johnson that. Some guy went to the hospital last night." Leon dropped into the booth across from Claire and stole her chip with a grin. "I need gossip. I'm dying here."

In the silent office Rebecca was carefully scooped up, carried with gentle care and deposited back down several minutes later in on of the. Inks of the guardroom. None of the guards were there, Wesker had made certain. “So much trouble...”

“You sure are.” Claire replied, slapping at his fingers playfully. No way was she making it this easy to get gossip out of her. “Hot gossip like this doesn’t come cheap, you know.” She added with a wicked grin before slurping on her milkshake.

"I love you too." Rebecca whispered, pulling the blanket over her head. She, of course, had no idea she was speaking aloud. The tiny medic knew Wesker would hate her for it. 

"How about I give you one and then you return it?" Leon asked, leaning over to take more chips and salsa. "There's a rumor going around that the STARS Captain and a lady named Valentine are a thing."

Wesker sat on the bed opposite Rebeccas for a little while longer, thinking back to his interaction with Chris. He hoped his gamble paid off. He needed Chris to be the leader he knew the younger man was.

Leon would be rewarded with milkshake sprayed in his face as Claire reacted to this little piece of gossip. “You’re kidding, right?” She hissed, though was apologetically handing him a paper napkin.

Annette Birken watched Albert Wesker getting dressed with a frown. "You keep calling her name. I'm starting to think you're getting bored." She was not one for pouting but this was different. The little medic had no idea what she was getting into by trying to steal this man's attentions away.

Leon groaned as he once again wiped away food from his face. "There's several departments making bets on proposal dates and all that. The evidence room is the worst." He added, gratefully taking a rag from the waitress.

“Do you care?” Wesker asked as he crudely zipped up his pants. “After the things we’ve done, calling another woman’s name is extremely low on the list of wrong, wouldn’t you say?”

“Proposal? Yeah right.” Claire replied with a nervous chuckle. “Jill would never be dumb enough to shit where she eats.” She added, unknowingly filling in the name of ‘Valentine lady’ Leon had already met.

"At any rate..." Annette didn't bother getting dressed as she got up and handed Wesker the G-virus sample he'd been eyeing. "Let's see that little bitch offer you something like this." She purred.

"Jill?" Leon asked. Too late he felt the burn of the salsa coming out of his nose. He winced. He was never going to win with this girl. "She's so nice. You've met her too?"

Wesker took the sample and held it up against the fluorescent light shining down harshly on the two of them. “Given the right tools, yes. I believe she could.” He finally told Annette, slapping her painfully across her bare behind. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” He asked, as though his previous action hadn’t made it clear he was done with her. For now.

“Once or twice.” Claire replied rather evasively. “Beautiful, isn’t she?” She added, again offering a napkin out to Leon. “You know, if being covered in food is your thing... I think we need to have a talk.” She teased.

"Screw you." Annette hissed, slamming the door behind her. 
No more than an hour later Rebecca was in Wesker's office retrieving her medkit and cleaning the mess Chris had made. It was as she was doing this that she began to discover information that she shouldn't have. Her lover was much more than he seemed...

"I think one of us has a fetish." Leon laughed. "And you know I totally don't believe that Captain crap. I saw her with your brother. They are a thing. Even if she kicked his ass." He added, flicking a single bean in her direction.

Wesker had discovered Rebeccas wasn’t where he had left her, and assumed she had gone out for lunch. It was for this reason he was looking the virus sample over as he entered what he assumed would be an empty office.

“No fooling you, huh?” Claire asked, the bean catching her on the top of her pert nose. “They’ve been crazy about each other since the day they met, but Jill seems to think their captain will ship her over to the B team if they make it official.” He smile faded somewhat and Claire took to swirling the straw around in her milkshake. “I like Jill, I do, but... I think she needs to quit leading my brother on if she has no plans for a future.”

Rebecca was quick to begin shoving papers back into his filing cabinet but it was obvious her fingers were shaking. "Everything is clean, Captain." She said softly, unable to meet his eyes. "I even rehid the...uhm... picture you had of me in your desk." She added, a deep blush overtaking her freckles.

Leon nodded. "They've been together a while then. I'm guessing You're brother isn't one to stick around too long? With a girlfriend I mean...before Jill..." He reached across the table and took the bean, unable to tear his eyes away from her face. Claire was beautiful in ever sense of the word. He doubted she even knew it.

“I see.” Wesker replied coolly, calmly pushing the vial into his pocket as as he continued to advance upon the small woman. “And what made you feel the need to invade my... personal space?” He added only once he had backed her up against his desk.

Most girls would have blushed deeply to realise a bean had been stuck to their nose while talking to a cute guy, not Claire. She was every inch the goofball her brother was. “Oh for sure. He went through so many girls before Jill fell into his lap, and got did she make him work for that first date!”

Rebecca openend her mouth and closed it several times. Her intentions had been innocent enough but her digging hadn't been. "I was bored." She said softly. "Everyone left and I saw all those papers on the floor...I thought I would help..." She was looking towards the door, intent on making a break for it. 

Leon shook his head, not about to tell Claire he'd never been on a first date himself. "The way he threatened me I had a feeling she was something precious to him." He said softly. "We should team up. Make them confess. But first...you owe me a piece of gossip." He grinned eating the last of the chips.

“Try.” Wesker purred when he saw her glance to the door. “Do you think you would make it? Do you have the confidence to commit to the action?” He asked, in the tone he used when instructing her in her training.

Claire pouted once her chips were gone. “Trust me... you have no idea what chris is like when it comes to Jill.” She replied with a heavy sigh. “He sees red and nothing can stop him but her.”

Rebecca bit into her lip as she looked at him. "I just cleaned up the mess in your office. It was just a bunch of old cases." She was blabbering. She slid along the wall as she did so, now directly in reach of the door frame.

"Reminds me of a storyy mom used to tell me about a Spanish bull named Ferdinand." Leon said, waving over and picking up the check. "The bull died butt if he'd just had some kind friends watching out for him..." He added with a wink. "We could even let Jill in on it."

“I see... so what you are saying, is that you are a maid and not an officer of the law?” Wesker asked, doing his best not to crack even the hint of a smile.

“You just want to see her again.” Claire teased, reaching out and ruffling her co workers blonde hair.

"Technically I should be on vacation." Rebecca said, trying to sound brave. "So I'm neither. I'm... curious. Why do so many of those papers talk about the pharmacutical company Umbrella? What in the world would a police force have to do with that? Especially a special forces Captain?" She now stood facing him, her hands on her hips.

Leon shook his head and laughed. "Jill is totally not my type, Cherry. I'll see you after work." He slid out of the booth and waved back at her as he left.

“They are a large corporation, they require gentle nudging to keep within the line of the law.” Wesker replied without missing a beat.

Claire huffed slightly and slumped back in the booth with her arms across her chest as she watches Leon leave. Jill was everyone’s type, or so she thought. The youngest Redfield finished what was left of her shake and slid out of the booth herself a few minutes later. It was as she left that several employees wearing Umbrella name tags entered, all chattering away about something was clearly exciting to them.

"What is the thing called G?" Rebecca asked. "Why is everyone trying to get their hands on it? The doctor who made, Birkin...you've been keep tabs on him. Is the compound that dangerous?" She asked, chewing on her bottom lip in thought.

Leon headed into the work room, worried by the strange sight of what looked to be people stacking boxes. It didn't help that they were not policemen. When he offered to help, one of them was quick to pull a gun into his face.

All mirth drained from Wesker. “It would be in your best interest to forget that name.” He told her thinly. “Even I cannot protect you from him, or G.”

Claire was a short while behind Leon in returning to the precinct after their lunch. Thanks to lifelong training from her brother however, she instantly knew something was off. The suspicious Redfield nature had quickly kicked in.

"I've met Birkin. He came here a few weeks ago." Rebecca said. "He was looking for you but couldn't find you. He said you two were friends. He said...you guys shared everything."

Barry paused when he saw Claire in the hall and shook his head. "You need to go home home and get Chris. Something is happening. It's not good, kiddo."

“More than he knows...” Wesker remarked. “He never mentioned coming here.” He added thoughtfully, deciding that was somewhat troubling already.

Claire hesitated. “Barry... Chris can’t fix everything. What going on? I can help!” She insisted in a low whisper.

"The cell structure is wrong on the G compound." Rebecca said softly. "Birkin's virus isn't going to do anything. It's missing a chromosome." She ducked under her lover's arm and gathered her purse and keys. 

"Chris doesn't need to fix anything. He just needs to watch out for you two. Go home with him. Find Jill. Please?" This was the only warning Barry would give her. As cryptic as it was, it would be her last.

The comment alone had been all that allowed Rebecca to get by Wesker. He was staring at her somewhat dumbfounded, wonder how she had seen that from no more than minutes alone with the papers, but Birkin had somehow missed it?

The edge to Barry’s voice had Claire more worried than anything else that was going on. Slowly she began to nod. Whatever this was... it was bigger than her own secret. “Barry... be safe.” Her concern now, after Leon had told her the room about Jill and Wesker, as that her either had heard it too.

Annette nodded and leaned back from her microscope. "You're right. It's missing." She sighed. "One wonder we couldn't get the trails to accomplish anything. William is going to be pissed." She rubbed her forehead and prepared herself for nights of screaming and accusing her of stealing the G. She should be so cruel...

Leon was trying to help several of the police officers stand up to Umbrella and refuse to give them anymore of their documents or evidence. So far it wasn't going so well.

“And he had no idea of this? To keep working on the real sample alone, in secret?” Wesker asked, u til now thinking his former childhood rival to be infallible when it came to such things.

Claire cast another glance to the door and chewed on her lip in obvious worry. “He had better still be safe when I get back!” She warned Barry before bolting down the hallway.
“Chris? Hey, butt face, you in here?” Claire called, again in civilian dress to at least pretend she was simply calling in for a visit as she barged into her brother’s apartment.

Annette shook her head. As far as she knew William was devoted to Umbrella and Albert Wesker. The virus was his life's work. "You know he wouldn't betray you."

Chris was sitting on the floor, cleaning his gun. He looked up at his sister with a frown as she burst into the room. "Yeah, I'm here, fart knocker." He grumbled. There were dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in a few days.