New recruits

“And she’s due for transfer at 05:00? No, there’s no paperwork. Just have her ready for my guy to collect before then.” 

Several days later…

“Good morning, Barry.” Albert Wesker seated himself at his desk, cool blue eyes glancing across at the other man. It was early, and the teams would be arriving shortly. Each one had been hand picked by himself, with assistance from Barry Burton over the course of several months. He had staggered their start dates, wanting to watch how well they accepted the change in set up as each new team member was added. The last addition had been Forest Speyer, who was a former team mate of the next new arrival; Jill Valentine. A former army lieutenant he had secretly plucked from confinement as she awaited the ruling of the court martial she had been subjected to. He had given her a simple option; join the unit he was building with Raccoon city police force, and her record would be destroyed, no one but him would know she had even been convicted. Refuse… and well, they both knew he didn’t need to tell her the punishment for what her superiors considered a crime. Jill’s moral compass was far stronger than he willingness to blindly obey orders. For what he had planned, that was exactly what he needed. 

Jill was pacing outside the ornate gates of the RPD, a building far too beautiful the belong to law enforcement, or so she believed. She was muttering a little pep talk to herself, seemingly trying to convince herself she belonged here, and that second chances like this shouldn’t be wasted. Suddenly she found herself giggling almost helplessly. What would her father say if he knew his only child was about to start a career in law enforcement? Henri Valentine, french born thief and deadbeat dad.

Barry Burton smiled seating himself in the chair across from Wesker. "Chris Redfield arrived this morning. He was late. He said something about his sister getting in trouble at school. But it's like I told you, the kid is a good guy. He's already hard at work with the orders you gave him. I just wanted to thank you again for bringing him here. You won't regret it." He moved to get to his feet and paused. "Oh and the Chief called about a medic. He said he liked the file on the Chambers...whatever that means? He said her plane arrives at nine a.m. today..." His voice drifted off as he looked at the clock. It was eight thirty. He had a feeling he was about to be speeding across Raccoon City on his way to pick up Chambers. 

Rebecca Chambers was staring out the window of her plane, her vivid blue eyes wide. She'd never seen so many trees. She wasn't sure how to feel about it. She'd lived on the coast all her life. This place seemed dark and almost forbidding. 
She stepped off the plane, her bag slung over her shoulder. This was her new life. She was going to make something of herself. Tucking her hair behind her ears she stepped into the terminal, not expecting anyone to meet her there and yet worrying how she was going to get to her new apartment let alone her new job.

Barry wasn’t far wrong, someone would indeed be speeding across the city, in a sleek unmarked squad car with the lights flashing. Wesker was imagining all the ways he could punish Irons for this all the way there, smirking slightly at the thought of merely feeding him to something and having his new team attempt to investigate the murder. He quickly chastised himself. It was far too early in the game for such thoughts. He wanted them bonded and tight, the perfect team. He hadn’t even realised he had arrived at their airport until he saw several security personnel running out to investigate why a police car had just pulled up. 

Like Rebecca, Jill was new to the quiet calm of Raccoon City. Though she had never really had a home, she had grown up in and around Philadelphia, moving through different foster homes on the numerous occasions her father was incarcerated. When Henri wasn’t behind bars, he insisted his daughter was with him, after all, she was the perfect size for slipping into places he couldn’t. 
Jill shook herself from her thoughts and pushed her shoulders back. This was a whole new her. She would keep her head down and her nose clean. No more insubordination, she was here with a brand new slate. She was repeating this mantra to herself as she finally pushed open the pain doors and tumbled into the main hall of the expansive RPD.

Chris Redfield was striding across the lobby as Jill entered. At first he didn't see her. He was calling out to one of the two women sitting behind the desks in the center of the room. When the slender blonde saw him she was quick to jump up and wave. The other woman was smiling as well. It was clear the young man was well liked. At least among the office staff. 

Rebecca was already outside, watching the commotion as she tried to hail a cab. This certainly wasn't like being at home. There wasn't a cab in sight. 
However, the sleek black car had that security staff on edge. An overweight man was shouting for the driver to move the car until one of them announced it was an unmarked police car. At this he backed off, an odd look of fear on his face. 
Rebecca frowned. Why should that simple fact change things so much? What was wrong with that black car that had the security guards scrambling back to their places inside the airport before the driver even exited his car?

Jill didn’t notice the scene at first, her wide cobalt eyes were taking in the grandeur around her. The place looked more like a museum than a building of law enforcement. Her first thought was why the giant statue in the centre of the lobby? She shrugged this off and finally saw the two women fawning over a man who’s face she couldn’t quite see yet. The cynic in her roll her eyes as she hefted her bag up her shoulder a little. It was coming to the end of summer, and still a little warm outside, though it was also raining. Jill had figured she would be issued with a uniform once she had gotten all the admin out of the way, so had opted to wear a dark denim skirt with well worn brown boots and a dark blue leather jacket. She was glancing around for some sort of indication on where the reception area was, but quickly she realised it was where the dark haired man was shamelessly flirting with his two co workers. “Hi, can you tell me where I can find Captain Wesker?” She asked the woman who wasn’t giggling at something the man had just said. 

The door of the black car opened, and like an overused shot from a movie, the driver seemed to get out in slow motion. It was barely 9:30am on a dull rainy day, and he was wearing sunglasses. Ice blonde haire was slicked back and he barely even acknowledged the overweight man who was all but on his knees in a grovelling apology. He glanced through the minimal people outside, and no doubt Rebecca would be able to feel his steel coloured eyes rest on her, even if she couldn’t see them. Albert Wesker swung his car keys into his palm and pushed them into his pocket without even breaking stride. “I see he couldn’t ignore you.” He commented, his imposing frame now towering directly over Rebecca. “But then again, who could with all that wide-eyed innocence.” He added, the slightest smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Chambers, correct?”

Chris Redfield turned at the sound of his new commander's name and for the first time in his life lost his voice. He stared long and hard at the woman leaning against the counter talking to the secretaries. He couldn't help himself. There was something in him that was screaming for him to talk to her. His heart was pounding and his stomaching was churning. This was a new feeling all together. 
"The Captain is out right now. But I'd be glad to help you." Chris gave her his best devil may care smile and held out his hand. "The name is Redfield. Chris." God...He was a moron. 

Rebecca had seen plenty of men on the beaches in Hollywood. But none of them looked like this one. He had an aura of strength and masculinity. But there was something more than that. Something in the way he carried himself. As if he believed himself to be a god. 
She smiled warmly and held out her hand. "Rebecca Chambers." She said brightly. She wasn't sure who this man was exactly, but she was hoping he was at least the person who was going to take her to her apartment. "That's me. It's nice to meet you, Mister?" She paused, feeling strange as she stared at her reflection in his glasses.

Jill smirked slightly at the introduction, making no effort to disguise the fact her gaze had just given Chris a long slow once over. He was cute, she would give him that, the problem was HE knew he was cute. “Whoa, easy there, Mr Bond.” She commented with a playful grin, though didn’t offer up her own name just yet. Jill was looking up into his face now that Chris was closer, surprised to find her own stomach was fluttering. It hadn’t done that in…well ever. He towered over her and already she caught the faint scent of his sandalwood soap. Don’t shit where you eat, sparrow. Her father’s words from long ago slammed into her, snapping her from her daydream. Quickly she accepted the hand offered to her with a smile that wasn’t quite as easy as the one from a moment ago. “So, you the busboy to this place then?” she asked, an arched brow raising in amusement. 

“Captain.” He corrected coolly. “Captain Albert Wesker.” He still had hold of her slender hand, finding himself oddly fixated with how tiny it was within his own. One little squeeze and he was sure he could break every bone in it. “Rebecca Chambers… It would appear the Chief hand picked you for this role. However, I would like to offer some friendly advice… Don’t allow yourself to be alone with him.” Though his expression seemed far from friendly, he genuinely meant the advice to be taken to heart. Without giving her chance to question the odd statement, Wesker took Rebecca’s bag and slung it over his shoulder, expecting her to simply flow him back to the car.

"That's me." Chris said, his grin turning cheesy. "Let me guess, you're Jill." Her name was like honey on his lips. He'd said just that morning in jest when Barry had called to tell him she was coming. He and Forrest had fallen out of their chairs saying that she was probably one of those women who had a man's hair cut and a desperation tramp stamp just above her ass. He had a feeling if his words got back to her that twist in his stomach would go away. The urge to run and give Forrest a hard punch was almost too much.

Rebecca followed behind the Captain, a million questions in her mind. She had to trot to keep up with his long strides. 
Nervously she slid into the passanger seat and looked over at him as he got in. "I get the feeling you may not agree with your chiefs choice." She said, folding her hands in her lap. "Can I ask why?"

It was a cruel prank on Forrest’s park to go along with what Chris had said, after all, he knew Jill quite well. “There’s my sweet Valentine!” Forrest’s voice was soon booming across the main hall as he sprinted over and scooped Jill up, spinning her around as he bag flew off her shoulder and slammed into Chris’ gut.
No doubt to Chris’ dismay, Jill was howling with laughter and hugging Forrest, even allowing her legs to hook around him as they danced around the lobby. 

“You lack experience.” Wesker replied bluntly as his hooked his around around the headrest of her seat to reverse the sleek car from where he had parked it. “And that can get you, or your team, killed.” He finished as the car spun around and he tore back down the road. “However, basic field medicine is sometimes not enough. Your medical skills may prove useful, if you’re willing to work hard on your other training.”

To Chris' credit he managed not to do the dumb things he would have in the bar or anywhere else for that matter. However that feeling was there. That one that he'd been dreading. He absolutely despised disappointment but this had something else to it. It was something like losing a piece of oneself. 
Gently he sat down her bag and chastised himself for being such a fool over one woman and turned back toward the winding hallways that led to the STARS offices. 

Rebecca spent the drive explaining her medicial training in full. As a child she'd worked as a medic with her girl scout troup and then spent evenings shadowing her mother at an after hours emergency room that she worked at. When she'd gone into high school instead of middle school she'd studied nursing and taken over her mother's job when the elder woman had gotten sick. She'd not only completed school, had a nursing job but cared for her mother until she had died of cancer a few years later. Then she'd gone on to college. All with no help from anyone. 
"Long story short, Captain, I believe...I can handle myself. I have seen my fair share of things." Rebecca said as the car came to a stop and she finally took a deep breath. "There's very little that I'm afraid of." She added with a firm nod of her head. "Well...except for...spiders..." She ended with an impish grin. "But...we won't talk about that, sir."

Jill had genuinely stopped to look for Chris when she had finally convinced Forrest to set her back down, she was surprised to find her gut twist a little when she saw he was nowhere in sight. “So, uh… I hear the Captain isn’t in the office yet?” She asked, grabbing her bag and looking back up at Forrest.
The taller man arched his brow slightly, watching her face closely. “That eager to make a good first impression, Valentine?” He asked.
Jill rolled her eyes and glanced around for some sort of indicator to where the STARS office may be, not wanting to face a grilling from her former comrade. “Forrest, it’s just Jill, okay? And I’m not trying to DO anything, I just want to do my job, go home, ad infinitum.” She was setting off on her own now, the laughter gone from her eyes. The whole building felt like a labyrinth, hallways that seemed to lead to nothing but dead ends, doorways barred in odd ways. Jill had gotten lost and it was the last thing she wanted on her first day.

Wesker sat there watching Rebecca for several moments, surprised to find he felt an odd sort of… admiration. It passed quickly however and he turned his gaze outwards again. “But that still begs the question, why law enforcement? From your life experience so far, I would consider medicine a better of fit. Even a virologist.” He smirked slightly, wondering what the wunderkind would have accomplished within the ranks of the Umbrella training academy.

Chris was already at his desk when Forrest returned without Jill. He pulled in a deep breath of his cigar and frowned. "You let her get lost?" He growled. "With that psycho Irons scuttling around? I can just hear the disgusting shit dripping out of his mouth right now." He muttered. He glared over the desks at Barry, partly blaming him. The other man was ignoring him completely. "You two are real winners." He added, shoving away from his spot and stomping out of the room. 
Barry looked over at Forrest and shook his head, slapping a twenty down on his desk. "Damn. I thought it would at least take a few days." 

Rebecca nodded. "I'll get there. But not medicine. Not anymore. I've been in the ER's. I've seen what kind of help people really want. All it did was hurt the ones who really needed it. Now I want to get justice for that..." She paused, looking down at her hands. She was picking at her fingernails as she spoke. There was more that she wasn't saying. "Sorry. I get a little passionate about it sometimes. I want to help. But I want to help those that need it. Not the ones that are playing games with me..."

Forrest grinned and leaned back in his chair, his arms stretched out like he was some sort of god. “What can I say… I knew she was his type.” He mused. 
Jill had somehow found herself in the vast library that, again, seemed so out of place in a police station. She was stood in front of one of the bookcases, staring up at the many volumes, some of them in Latin. 

Games…again Wesker was smiling. “Miss Chambers, I assure you, STARS is only the best and brightest, there are no games to be played, only people to help.” Saying the words almost seemed to leave a bad taste in his mouth.

"None of those books have pictures." Chris muttered as he leaned against a book ladder not far from where Jill stood. "Honestly, I think if anyone were to bother to open them they'd find the Chief's hidden stashes of girly magazines and maybe a bag of weed or two." He shook his head. "Probably not just his. I'll bet the new Captain has a book or two here." He gave her a grin. 

Rebecca wrinkled her nose as if she didn't like the sound of it either. "You don't sound like that's your type of thing, Captain Wesker." She said, a tone of suspicion in her voice. "Or maybe you don't like to lose."

“And what about you, Mr Bond, nothing you like to escape and have a little fun with?” Jill asked, her lips quirked into a grin as she turned to look at Chris, her bag now on the floor by her feet.  

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never lost.” Wesker replied coolly, getting out of the car before Rebecca could question him further. They were parked outside a tiny little apartment complex, her home, that Wesker already knew the address of. Thought Rebecca wouldn’t know it yet, he also knew the address of their other female recruit.

Chris chuckled, running his fingers through his spiked hair. "Oh there's a lot of vices I have, Jill." HE purred. There it was, that slow burn to his stomach. It was making it's way to his chest and into his throat. She was moving closer and so he stepped back, unfortunately the ladder wasn't anchored in place and he went crashing to the floor. 
Above Jill there was a roar of laughter for several of their new teammates. A young man named Joseph slapped Forrest on the back before handing him a twenty. He was not the only one. 

"Oh wow!" Rebecca cried as she stepped past Wesker and into the apartment. "Can you believe this place?" She stepped into the middle of the tiny room and closed her eyes, looking for all the world as if she'd just stepped into a palace. Taking a deep breath she smiled with an odd smile of what seemed like relief. "Home." She breathed. "Isn't it wonderful?"

Jill looked up at the source of the laughter, not quite sure who they were laughing at; her, or Chris. “Hey, you okay?” She was leaned over Chris, tucking some of her dark hair behind her ear as her cobalt eyes scanned him for injury. “Real smooth moves you got there, Red.” She chuckled, offering her hand out to help him back up.

Wesker couldn’t exactly agree. In fact, he was certain this entire apartment would fit inside his bathroom. But then again, it was probably a much nicer living space than he had had at her age. “You didn’t view it before signing the lease?” He asked uncertainly.

Chris took her hand with a sigh. He was sure his ears were on fire. "I'm fine." He grunted. "They've been betting on how soon I would show my ass to someone. Looks like Forrest is a rich man." He went on, truly believing that's what the bets were about. "So...you want to actually see the STARS office? Or shall I give you the grand tour?" He gave her yet another of his famous grins. "You've already seen the best part but I'll try to keep you entertained." His fingers curled tightly around hers and he pulled her up the stairs of the library, loudly beginning a tour guide voice that would soon have everyone shouting at him. 

Rebecca turned back to Wesker with a look of surprise. "Was I supposed to?" She asked. "I got a call from Chief Irons and he told me not to worry about a thing. I sent him application documents, pictures like he'd requested, and all that." For a moment she paused, fidgeting with her fingernails. One of them she'd been picking on hard enough that it was bloody at the quick.  "I've never had a couch before." She whispered. "Just a bunch of old chairs pushed together...hey..." 
Her face brightened instantly and she turned to him, grabbing his hand and yanking him toward the peach colored couch. "Can you imagine sitting right here and watching Turner and Hooch and eating pizza?" She asked, her hand one his chest. "Me too. Great. Your my first house guest for Friday night. You can't say no. It would be rude." She added with a grin. "Besides, you know where all the best pizza places are and you're bringing some. Right?"

Jill was giggling as she was pulled along, looking back over her shoulder to Forrest with a playful ‘help me’ expression, though for the moment she seemed more than content for a private tour with mr blue eyes.
“Let me guess, you and your harem like to play hide the pickle up here?” She teased as they headed through a door that lead out onto a balcony over looking the grand lobby far below. Anything else she may have teased him about died in her throat as Jill simply stared at the grandeur below. “Oh wow…” 

“Pizza… why pizza?” Wesker groaned, though found himself putting up little resistance when Rebecca pulled him over to the couch. She was so sweet it made his teeth hurt. “Rebecca…” He said her name slowly, as though savouring the feel of it in his mouth. “Has Irons… asked for anything else form you? What pictures did he request? And…” Suddenly he couldn’t help but glance around. “Did he choose this apartment for you?” He half expected to see a tell tale signs of hidden cameras.

"Yeah." Chris breathed. He but he wasn't looking at anything but the woman beside him. Nothing else but Jill suddenly mattered. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He didn't know it yet but that wasn't going to change any time soon. 
His hands instinctively moved to her waist as she leaned over the railing, worried she might fall. He had to catch himself. She was a big girl. She didn't need someone like him pawing her like a fool. "There's so many secrets to this place. Make sure you're careful." He told her, sneering as Chief Irons waddled by below muttering to himself. 

Rebecca laughed at the rush of questions, thinking nothing of the darkness of their meaning. "Yes he picked this apartment. He said, his daughter used to live here and I'd love the decorations. Plus...most of the other STARS members who are moving to Raccoon City are living here.
"He asked for a picture of me in my formal dress and one of me in my sports uniform. I gave them to him." She shrugged. "I didn't think anything of it." She said, blushing deeply when she realized she was still holding his hand.

Jill followed Chris’ gaze to the man below, and for reasons she couldn’t explain, a feeling of repulsion washed over her. She shivered slightly and redirected her attention to remove the awful feeling. “So, you and that receptionist huh? You guys looked pretty cozy earlier.” She mused. Jill shrugged out of her blue leather jacket, revealing the black tank she wore beneath it, finding herself suddenly rather warm up here, alone with her new co worker. She turned with her back to the railing now, her elbows leaning on it as she looked up at Chris with a smirk. Something about him just set her at ease, like they had met in a past life or something.

“Last minute decision…” Wesker muttered to himself, his skin crawling at the mere thought of what Irons had done with the photos Rebecca had sent. “Rebecca, if you’re going to be a part of this team, you need to be a little more cautious. How could you even be sure Irons was who he claimed? And you sent him personal photographs?” He clucked his tongue and stretched and arm out along the couch behind her. “In fact. How do you even know I am your Captain Wesker?” He added with a sudden smile.

Chris grinned and winked at her. "A man's got to have his secrets now, Miss Jill." He purred, once again holding out his hand to her. "Now, shall I show you more from this place?" And he did just that, as many as he knew anyway. There would be more for the two of them to discover later on. 
Soon enough the two of them were in stumbling in the STARS office, laughing together about a joke Jill had told him. She'd come to learn quickly that Chris actually hated dirty jokes. But he loved ones that sounded like they were heading there. 

It struck Rebecca in that moment that Captain Wesker looked like a wolf when he smiled that way. The terrible analogy hit her that if he was a wolf, she was certainly a sheep. 
"I'm not stupid." She said firmly. "I did my research." Taking a deep breath she described the Chief in detail. She gave him much more credit than he deserved. "He also sent emails and that like to me first." It was then that she grinned widely and hopped off the couch and began digging through her purse. She pulled out a picture of Wesker and held it up. It was grainy and dark but he was recognizable. Spencer would not be pleased to hear about this. 
"I win. You are my Captain." Rebecca breathed as she sat down, this time in his lap as she lost her balance.

Everyone who was currently in the STARS office stopped what they were doing to look at the two of them with a smirk. “So, Chris gave you a thorough showing, I take it?” Forrest commented with a grin. 
“Sorry, Forrest, I guess you’ll just have to find another excuse to stare at my ass.” Jill replied without missing a beat before turning to greet the rest of the team she hadn’t yet met. 

“The chief sent you this?” Wesker asked coolly, taking the photo before Rebecca could put it away again. He knew the location it had been taken, he would need to comb the area for surveillance. He also made a mental note to assign someone from the company to give Irons a little scare.

Chris returned to his own desk like the conquering hero. He lit up his cigar and sat back in his chair, taking a deep drag. Pleased with himself he placed both hands over his head. Then he looked down at the blinking light on the phone in front of him. It could mean only one thing. His little sister had ditched her classes again. 

Rebecca wasn't concerned that Wesker had taken the photo. She was staring hard at the man who had his arm wrapped firmly around her waist to keep her from falling backwards. "There were more." She breathed, keenly aware of how close she was to him now. He smelled like a sharp winter breeze on the ocean. She couldn't help but breathe him in.

Jill wrinkled up her nose, making a show of coughing loudly and waving a hand through the cigar smoke. “Seriously? You have such tiny dick energy you need to smoke that right here?” She asked, which earned a hoot of laughter from the rest of the team. It was already becoming apparent that Jill wasn’t the woman they had all been expecting. 

Wesker seemed to think nothing of the fact Rebecca was in his lap, or that her fingers now rested lightly against her thigh once she had settled into a more comfortable position. The long con was so natural to him now, he was no longer even certain who the ‘real’ Albert Wesker even was. “I’m flattered he has such a keen interest in me.” He remarked.

Chris pushed the cigar into the desk top, missing the ashtray completely. He gave Barry a dark look and got up from his chair. He'd missed Jill's joke as he'd listened to the message or he would have tried for a comeback. He didn't so much as say goodbye to them as he grabbed his jacket and headed out. He was going to kill Claire when he found her. 
Barry sighed heavily as the door slammed shut and rubbed at his temple. He wasn't sure how well the Captain was going to take this. He'd already told them excuses of any kind were not his problem. 

Rebecca finally managed to slide into the seat next to Wesker, her cheeks flaming. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She'd never acted like this. "It wasn't so much him as me." She said softly. "I was curious about you. I wanted to know who I was going to be working for."

Jill slumped down in her chair, worried she had taken the joke too far when Chris had stormed out.

Chris wouldn’t need to go far to find his sister. Sure, she had skipped class, again, just as any 17 year old did. But this time she had been caught joyriding a rather expensive looking bike. At least, joyriding would be what Chris wished his baby sister had been doing. She had in fact been racing for money, though that was a pointless thing to reprimand her on, as it didn’t change the fact she had indeed stolen the bike. He would run into one of the RPD officers bringing Claire in, in cuffs.

“Right, and you were just as curious about the people you were going to be working WITH, I assume?” Wesker replied with a smirk that said he knew otherwise. He waited a beat, then pushed up to his feet. “Speaking of, you are officially late for your first day, officer Chambers.”

"Really?" The whole process came to a screeching halt in front of Chris. He was fuming. Though he didn't know what she'd done yet he knew that it was going to come back on him. He looked at man named Fredricks and grimaced. "This is my little sister. I can take her to processing if you're okay with it." He had no intentions of doing that. He was going to take Claire home and bury her in a shallow grave or something of the sort. 
Of course that was until he saw the Captain striding down the hallway with a young woman in tow. He all but groaned out loud. He truly did seem to bring bad luck directly his way.

“That’s your boss? He’s kinda hot.” Claire chirped, still cuffed and smirking. She knew Chris wouldn’t do a thing to her in view of his boss. 
Wesker had halted in front of Chris, frowning when he saw him leading a young woman towards processing. “Booking underage felons hardly falls within the STARS remit.” He commented coolly, though had barely even glanced at Claire.

"This is my little sister, Claire." Chris said. He gave his sister a hard knuckle in the small of her back, a warning to watch her mouth. "I haven't read her report yet but I was taking her down to booking to do that and to let her cool her heels for a bit." 
Rebecca went around the two men and smiled warmly at the young woman who was the same height as her. "I'll take her, sir. Besides, I need to learn a thing or two while I'm here. That's as good a start as any." She didn't wait for Chris to answer as she took the file from him and gently pulled Claire along with her. 
"The truth is...I'm stalling." She said softly, once they'd gone through the doors that led to hallway past the stairs. "I'm not too good at meeting new people." She paused, looking over the file. "What were you doing racing for cash? Weren't you afraid?"