New recruits

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“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.

Wesker was smiling as Rebecca tossed things at him, though he continued to keep his back to her, allowing whatever she tossed to hit him. “As I suspected. Do as you must, Rebecca.” He cast a brief glance over his shoulder, allowing her one last view of his yellow eyes before he was out the door. If Albert Wesker knew anything, it was that attachment slowed down progress, and Rebecca Chambers’ beautiful mind was not something he wished to dull.

“Nothing will ever happen if we wait for ready.” Jill whispered, holding Leon a beat longer before finally letting go. “Take care of yourself, Kennedy. Chris will want to to kick the ass of the boy scout who caught feeling for his sister.” She teased.

A few years passed with no word from Rebecca. Things were very quiet on the international stage until the day the small company named HCF announced it was releasing a trial run of a product called Joy. The commercials were a raving success. The first patients were to gather on a cruise ship to talk about the success of Joy that very weekend.
Umbrella had taken note. Spencer made it clear that he wanted Rebecca alive. 
The chatter had begun to pick up. Joy was more than it appeared. 

Carlos made a face at the television, rolling onto his back on the bed. "Have you seen this one?" He called out. "There's a fucking dancing bear. That doesn't make me happy. Who the hell needs pills and a bear to make them happy?" He groaned.

Jill stepped out of the bathroom wearing one of his t shirts, pulling her long hair into a ponytail as she flopped down onto the bed beside Carlos. “Who knew… Big bad Carlos is afraid of bears.” she teased, resting her chin on his chest as she looked up at him. “So tell me, hot shot, what DOES make you happy? If you turn sappy though, you’re sleeping on the balcony.” she added, though her grey eyes were smiling at him. The years had been tough on Jill. She has failed to locate Sherry, or Claire, and not a single word from Chris since that one phone call after Claire was first presumed KIA. She had maintained contact with Leon, but even then it was always business talk. Despite how much he had hurt her, she had never stopped loving Chris Redfield, though she did try very hard to for Carlos’ sake. Even now, she still wore the silver necklace he had once gifted her, though she tried to keep Carlos from seeing the name inscribed on the opposite side to her own.

Carlos was quick to jump to his feet and pull Jill into his arms. "You, Super cop." He breathed. He didn't cared how sappy it sounded it was true. He loved Jill Valentine and had since the day he met her. Nothing was going to change that. "I would die for you. You know that. don't you?" It wasn't really a question. He reached up, tucking her hair behind her ears. "You are my joy. I don't need anything else." 

Rebecca sat staring at the tiny red and white pill she had yet to take that day. Lately the treatments had been making her feel strange. Not the way she'd intended at all. "Stop looking at me like that." She muttered. She could feel Billy's eyes on her from where he sat on the other side of the room. He was always with her. He had been since she left Wesker. 
The years had changed her. Her grief over losing not only Wesker but the child she carried had made her grief stricken and depressed. Joy had been her way of making it better. 
Silently she got up and settled herself in Billy's lap, resting her head on his chest. "I can't keep doing this." She breathed. "Something doesn't feel right. I've been sick as a dog for two weeks straight now. Every morning. Besides I think I'm over him." She laughed softly. "You tell better jokes."

Jill couldn’t take such blind devotion. In all honesty, it terrified her. Chris had made similar grand promises to her. “Don’t say that.” She breathed, not wanting anyone putting their life on the line for her’s. Though he was gently tucking her hair behind her ear, Jill didn’t meet her lover’s gaze. Instead she slid her arms around him and laid her cheek against his chest. “I don’t deserve you.” She told him gently, her eyes fixed on the television as the Joy bear jumped up and down as a sickeningly happy tune played. 

“Really? Because I’d say his whole existence was one big joke.” Billy replied with a smirk, sliding a rough finger gently under Rebecca’s chin and tipping her head up slightly so he could look at her. “I’m not as fragile as he was, it’s okay to not be over him, you know.” He added, a calloused thumb lightly tracing her lower lip as he still held her chin.

"You're the only one who does." Carlos purred, kissing the top of her head. "Could you imagine a world without me? It would be a Carlosless one and that would be a real joy killer." He teased, reaching over to turn off the tv. "Those ads are really getting on my nerves. It's like the cartoon ads. Remember those? They played them so much kids were screaming for toys?" He turned her away from the wall and moved with her toward the door. "Forget the tv. We're going for breakfast. I have a new lead to discuss with you anyway." 

Rebecca smiled ever so slightly. There it was. That butterfly dancing in her stomach whenever he touched her. She was so sure she'd lost that feeling. "I just wanted to...be loved. Is that stupid?" She asked, closing her eyes as they began to sting. "You know he never said that to me. Never once. I think I've grown up since then. Maybe I don't need love anymore. Maybe I just need to stop being afraid of everything and just...burn it all down." She opened her eyes and sniffed. "Or maybe...I should just have some coffee and take my meds."

“A lead?” Jill asked, her voice flooding with hope. “Sherry?” She asked, though was pulling away from the door. “Just let me grab something out the bathroom, I’ll be right back!” She called, disappearing into the other room before he could stop her. In there Jill pulled a small pill bottle out of its hiding place amongst the feminine items she knew Carlos wouldn’t go near. She stared at the red and white pill, hating it. “So much for getting my joy back…” she murmured, tossing it in her mouth and gulping down a mouthful of water straight from the tap. It had been two weeks now, and she didn’t fell any different than before she started taking it. At least not in the way all the adverts claimed. 

“Or how about you have your coffee, then burn it all?” Billy chuckled, kissing her forehead tenderly. “And you’re wrong, you may feel you don’t need love… but I love you anyway, rookie.”

Carlos was none the wiser as Jill joined him at the breakfast table and he poured her a cup of coffee. "Okay so...there's a cruise. I booked us a trip. But this cruise has some star people on it. And they are all testing the joy pills." Carlos was grinning like the cat who had gotten the cream. "There's even a few Umbrella higher ups that will be there. Leon sent me the go ahead to sink it."

Rebecca felt her stomach dance all over again. She tilted her head up and kissed Billy deeply. "You're just trying to get out of getting on the ship with me." She breathed, her lips brushing his. "You're afraid I might have to save you from drowning again."

Jill nearly spat her coffee out when Carlos mentioning sinking the ship. “Leon gave the go ahead? Who does he think he is?” She remarked. The mention of the joy had her more than concerned, but she tried to mask it by mopping up the coffee she had spilt. “So really, you’re taking me along because you want to blow shit up, not because you want to relax.” she added with a smirk.

“Oh yeah… I’d HATE to have to receive the kiss of life from you again. It was disgusting. Just awful.” Billy replied, grinning like a fool as he punctuated several words with further kisses.

"There's more." Carlos said, no longer smiling. "Chris has surfaced again." There was more. Of course there was. But he couldn't tell her. He'd lose her if he did. 

Rebecca stood above the deck watching the people as they made their way onto the cruise ship. Nervously she leaned over the railing counting heads. There were so many. 
Horrified she felt herself slipping. She didn't know why she even worried. Billy's strong hands caught her hips in a firm grip and held her tight. Something in her stomach fluttered. "Stop it." She muttered, trying to act like she had everything under control. " Someone will see us."

Jill wasn’t smirking this time. Her face was as unreadable as she could make it, though Carlos would no doubt see the cracks at the edge of the mask she so bravely wore. “Surfaced… you make him sound like a cockroach.” She snorted, her gaze unable to meet her companions in that moment. Jill had been broken after everything that happened in Raccoon city, into so many pieces she didn’t think she would ever be whole again. She had always hoped that one day Chris would return, that he would be holding the final missing piece to fix her. Instead he had dropped of the face of the earth.

“And?” Billy questioned, his powerful arms still holding Rebecca as he dropped a gentle kiss to her throat. “You’re the boss, who cares what you do? Hell, tell them I’m you’re weekend man whore if it pleases you.” He teased, hoping to at least get a smile from her.

Chris hadn't disappeared so thoroughly. Carlos had made it where he had. His feelings for Jill were so strong he simply couldn't bear to lose her to the other man. So he simply destroyed any communications that he found. It had become like a delicate dance to keep the other man at bay and Jill from finding out the truth. Somehow he'd missed a step. 
"Jill!" Barry Burton's loud voice rang through the hotel lobby and into the breakfast area. He didn't seem to care that she was picking at her breakfast as he picked her up and hugged her tightly. "I've been so worried about you! You don't call an old man and what is he supposed to think? Huh?" He chuckled, still hugging her gently.

"Only on the weekends?" Rebecca pouted. "I'm afraid that won't do, Mr. Cohen. I'm paying you for nightly services.' She turned her head, the smile he'd been hoping for playing across her lips. "Hell, you're doing such a great job, we'll bump it up to afternoons too." She added with a laugh. 
As soon as she and Billy boarded the ship, the two of them were bombarded by staff over a list of problems. Since Billy was head of security he was sidetracked with problems involving an unwanted guest and he was somehow separated from Rebecca.

Jill was fighting against every emotion that wanted her to simply sob as Barry hugged her. She sank into the fatherly embrace, unaware it was exactly what she had been missing all this time. “Barry… How did you…” She stopped herself asking how he found her, it made her sound like she was hiding. But then it made her realise that if he had found her… that meant Chris had probably known all along. All her searching for him had been pointless. 

Billy rubbed at his eyes as he sat in the security office. He had hoped to enjoy at least a little time in the ship with Rebecca before her presentation began. But this intruder had ruined that. Billy knew how important all this was to Rebecca, and so he had taken every tiny precaution to ensure nothing ruined it, which was how they had caught their unwanted guest who now sat, cuffed, in the bowels of the enormous ship.

Barry returned the hug but didn't say anything for a long time. "I"m glad to see you're okay. I've been really worried about you. Especially with hearing that Wesker isn't dead." He patted her shoulders and stepped back. The dark circles under his eyes under his eyes gave away that he hadn't been sleeping well. "So I'm guessing you turned down Chris' offer to join the BSAA?" He asked, leaning on the wall with his eyes on the door. All the while Carlos had busied himself with cleaning up their table and making sure never to meet Jill's eyes. 

The man that sat there looked exactly like Chris Redfield. It was lucky that Rebecca hadn't seen him. She was busy with her welcome speech and oddly enough, fighting a horrible bought of seasickness.  The poor young woman was a lovely shade of green as she stood on the deck of the ship holding onto the railing as she spoke. Behind her, black clouds were beginning to build. It didn't seem to as if it was to be smooth sailing.

“What?” Jill looked genuinely blindsided. “What’s the BSAA? When did… Barry, I haven’t heard from Chris in a very long time. Shit, I haven’t SEEN him since he abandoned me in RC without so much as a fuck you and thank you very much.” She snorted, an all too bitter tone creeping in to her voice as she folded her arms across her chest, a somewhat defensive gesture.

Billy didn’t say anything as he seated himself across from his detainee. He simply stared at the other man for several long minutes before finally reaching for a box behind him and slowly laying out the contents on the table between them. “That’s a lot of hardware to bring on a pharmaceutical cruise.” He finally commented.

Barry sat with Jill for several hours, explaining the BSAA and Chris' fight with Umbrella. He told her that Chris had done it all because of his love for her. His intention had been to destroy the company so that the woman he loved and his sister would be safe again. 
He'd sent Barry to Raccoon City to get Jill as things had started to get out of control but the elder man had arrived too late and couldn't get into the city no matter how hard he tried. 
"You wouldn't believe how upset Chris was." Barry told her. "But then you showed up and you were with..." He paused, glancing across at Carlos who was leaning back in his chair. "It wasn't long after that things happened with Claire and Leon sent word to him. Then he called you about Wesker and her death..." Again Barry paused, swallowing hard. 
"Look, this isn't about Chris. This is about fighting Umbrella. And more than that. We think that there's another company out there. A rival Umbrella called HCF. They've created a product called Joy. The problem with it is that it's got T-virus in it." Barry's eyes never left Jill. He was waiting to see her reaction. "The company sent out a few samples to certain celebrities and friends as well as other well known scientists. I sent Carlos tickets and what not, hoping he'd talk you into going. Under the right pretense, of course. This thing needs to be stopped while it can be contained. A cruise ship is so much safer than a city." 
"For who?" Carlos snorted. His seat leaned back too far and he tumbled backward, making a loud commotion as he cursed and fell hard.

"Seems like I need it." Chris grunted, narrowing his eyes. "Looks like that Joy works wonders doesn't it, Mr. Cohen? Death looks good on you." His fingers were pulling at the wrist restraints though he didn't dare move. He wasn't stupid.

Jill didn’t react to Carlos falling out of his chair, or even glance in his direction. Fat tears were rolling down her cheeks and her fingers clutched he silver pendant she wore around her neck. “He left…” She whispered the words as though it explained everything, her thumb rubbing over the ‘Redfield’ engraving on her pendant. She sucked in a gasping sob and finally looked up at Barry. “Don’t tell me this was all for me! He doesn’t get to do that! He doesn’t get to be the hero when he just LEFT!” Clearly this had been something Jill had been bottling up for a long time. “How is it any kind of okay that he clearly knew exactly where I was if you’re here, but I could never find him?!”

Billy smiled thinly and began flipping through several photos that had been confiscated from Chris, surveillance mostly. “Death seems to visit a lot of people who get involved with you, Chris.” He responded. “What? Didn’t think I kept track of Rebecca’s old team? Well… the ones too stupid to die, anyway.”

Barry glanced toward Carlos and scowled deeply. "I figured." He grunted. "Jill, you need to move on. There's no going back to Raccoon city or the lives we knew. You both have chosen a path you can't turn back from." Even though he was speaking to her, he was looking at her new lover. It was as if he knew the other man knew something she didn't. "The cruise ship is leaving and for the sake of Sherry Birkin you two need to be on there." Finally he turned back to look at her. "I've left a car in the parking lot with everything the two of you need." He was swallowing hard as if he was struggling with something else. "I'm glad you found someone, Jill. Try to be happy. None of the rest of us could and...it cost us everything." He finished, his voice hoarse and his adam's apple bobbing hard. 

Chris gave the other man a crooked smile. "And how is that working out for you? Found them all? The skeletons in the closets?" He winced as the zip tie dug into his wrist. "Look. You have to know that dear Becky is poison." He cleared his throat to try and mask the sound of cracking his thumb bone. "She'll stab you in the back for him again and you know it."

Jill simply stood there for what felt like hours. Barry telling her to move on wasn’t something she could stomach right then. The dark part of her mind was whispering that this was Chris being too chicken shit to tell her himself. Finally the anger bubbled over and she simply swept everything off the breakfast table in an uncharacteristic fit of rage. She hadn’t chosen this path, Chris had forced her down it. Jill was convincing herself of this fact, and that he needed to own up and tell her to her face. The slender woman didn’t speak another word before heading back to pack up what few belongings she had, before tossing them angrily into the back of the car Barry had left. Her gut was screaming for her to listen to what was happening beneath the words Barry had spoken, but she was too consumed by heartbreak to understand.

Billy grinned and leaned back in his chair, hooking his hands behind his head as he watched Chris. “Right, like Jill did with her new boy toy?” He asked simply wanting to wound Chris for what he had said about Rebecca. “Oh yeah, she looks real cute with her shaggy Merc, almost… Joyful.” His smile said more than his words ever could. Rebecca was no fool, she knew where every single joy prescription had been filled, and to who.

Not for the first time Carlos felt guilt creeping into his gut. Chris had made every effort to reach out to Jill. He had made every effort to stop him. The letters, the e-mails, the phone calls. All of them he'd fielded. He'd even changed Jill's number. He'd spoken with Chris on the last night. That darkness in his voice was like nothing he'd ever heard. 
But Jill needed a strong soldier. She was Super Cop. If he couldn't stand up then he deserved whatever he had done. He could give her that. He had been there with her; fighting through a hellish city. What had Chris Redfield ever really done? He'd let her down inside a zombie filled mansion. 
Carlos Olivera was her Solider. She needed him. He was her world and he planned to keep it that way.

"I read that list." Chris said with a grunt. "You really think Jill would be that stupid? She signed up to get it analyzed. How stupid are you?" He almost missed the zip tie as it slipped off his wrist. "This is going to end badly. You know that. We can both guess the gameplay for it." His eyes moved toward his knife. It was closest. He sighed. "Look. I'm not here for Rebecca or Joy. I'm here for Jill. This time it's just her."

Jill was sat inside the car Barry had left after she had stormed out of the dining room, tears streaming down her cheeks as she leaned forward with her head against the wheel. What if Barry was right? What if she had simply created this romanticised version of her and Chris in the absence of the man himself? Jill screwed her eyes shut, recalling how their first kiss had been in the middle of a barroom brawl. Was she in love with the danger he brought into her life, not Chris himself? Her watery grey eyes flew open as she sucked in a gasping breath, every moment she had been without him had felt like she was drowning. How was that even remotely healthy? And now, she was weighed down by the guilt of what she was doing to Carlos. He was a good guy, she owed him so much, but all she did was lean on him. Surviving RC had been all because of him, and Jill had never come to terms with anything that had happened. Not really. Jill lifted up the silver pendant she wore in her fingers, feeling it almost felt heavier than usual as she stared down at that one etched word ‘Redfield’. 

Billy smirked again, understanding what Rebecca meant now when she said these two were so single minded when it came to each other. “So, by that theory, I could infect every person on board, and you wouldn’t even care? What makes you think Jill is ever here?”

"Dude, her name is on the list." Chris stood and moved to the table laying down the ties. "She'll be here. The Savior complex demands it." Nothing else was said as he simply walked out of the room, not even bothering to shut the door behind him.
Moments later, Rebecca was calling for Billy to come and help her.

Carlos stood beside Jill as they walked onto the ship. He kept a hand on her as they walked amongst the crowd, knowing the enormous group of people would make her a bit nervous. She had been through so much. They both had. Ahead he could see a dark haired woman in a low cut dress talking to a well dressed light haired man. Both seemed to be observing the others for something in particular. It made him a bit uncomfortable. "Are we sure about this?" He asked, leaning close to Jills ear.

Billy sighed heavily as he picked up the zip ties and inspected them. He should have expected no less from his former comrade. The second his radio crackled however he was activating his earpiece and heading out the door. “Becca, babe? Talk to me, what’s going on?” He asked as he walked, adjusting the suit jacket he wore on the way.

Jill scanned the room as they entered, a grand ballroom like something that wouldn’t have been out of place on the titanic. She smiled thinly, hoping this cruise fared even slightly better. Her midnight blue gown skimmed the floor as she walked arm in arm with Carlos, noting several famous faces she recognised, but noting that there was a lot of people here she didn’t. Ever since setting foot on this ship, Jill had felt an electricity in the air, as though it caused her skin to tingle for an as yet unknown reason. Carlos hadn’t bore witness to her meltdown in the car, and for that she was thankful, not wanting him to worry any more than she knew he already did. “How sure are we about anything?” Jill finally asked in reply, her ruby coloured lips offering a featherlight kiss to his cheek, keeping up appearances for anyone watching them.

Billy would be unable to find Rebecca where he left her. The other guards informed him that she had gone ahead to the ballroom. He would find the tiny woman standing in the midst of a group of men. She was speaking to them but glancing around her for an out. She was all but terrified. For the moment all he could see was her shoulders and head. 
Once she saw him, she gave him a frantic wave and stepped away from the group. "My hero." She said with a genuine smile.

"Oh I'm sure of what we're doing later." Carlos breathed, grinning. "You know I love you right?" He wasn't pretending. 
He wasn't looking around him. He could care less about anyone in that room, except Jill. Of course that was until he saw a very familiar face. 
Chris Redfield leaned against the wall near where the two of them stood. He wore a side ways smile as they moved closer. He knew the other man couldn't pull Jill through the crowd fast enough before she saw him.

Billy grinned and bowed dramatically as though Rebecca were royalty. “Anything for my queen.” He teased before taking her hand and brushing his lips to the back of it gently. “However, I feel a jealous rage forming when I see her surrounded by all these…” He snorted, unable to finish his tease when he saw how old several of the men were. 

Jill had been about to deflect Carlos’ declaration of love, as she always did. All this time, and she had never said the words to him. How could she? It would be a lie. It was yet another guilt that weighed heavily on her slender shoulders, as she knew he deserved better. “Carlos, I…” Before she could force any further words past her lips, all the oxygen seemed to leave the room. Everything was suddenly silent as though time had stopped and Jill was frozen in place, her grey eyes wide, too afraid to blink in case it wasn’t really him. Her gaze simply held Chris’ as fat tears welled up along her dark lashes. It was several years of emotion, the anger, the heartbreak and finally the realisation that she had never stopped loving him.

Rebecca slid her arm through Billy's, her fingers tightening on his forearm. "Umbrella is here." She whispered. "I heard them talking when I walked up. Wesker is here. We're not ready for that." What she really meant to say was that she wasn't ready.

Chris found himself stepping forward. Before he knew it he was reaching out and wiping the tear from his former lover's cheek. Then he was pulling her against him as a slow song began. "You look amazing." He breathed in her ear. Feet from then Carlos was seething.

Billy wanted to read more into her words, but stopped himself from hoping. Instead he patted Rebecca’s slender fingers gently. “You have been ready for this for longer than you realise.” He breathed against her ear. “But for now, do I at least get one dance with the most beautiful, brilliant woman in the room?”

Jill closed her eyes as his rumbling voice purred against her ear. There was no resistance from her as he pulled her close and the two of them were swallowed up by other people dancing before Carlos could do a thing about it. Jill didn’t dare speak, afraid it would shatter the moment, though she was smiling as she gazed up at Chris, finally understanding the electricity that had prickled her skin since the moment she set foot on board. It only took a further moment before she simply laid her cheek against his shoulder as they danced, and it would be clear to anyone with eyes in their head how she felt about the man who wasn’t the one she had arrived here with.

"Sure." Rebecca's eyes twinkled. "Do you need me to help you find her?" Again her stomach jumped, but not because of Wesker. It was because she wanted to dance with Billy. She'd always dreamed of a moment like this. She'd never had one before. 
As he swept her onto the dark floor she felt like a queen. Billy always treated her this way. He had since the first time he'd met her. Maybe she'd been wrong about her choice. She tilted her head up. "Billy...I..." She wanted to confess but what if she did and he laughed at her?

Chris held her close, moving her away from Carlos and further into the dark dance floor. He didn't speak. For the moment he simply held her. 
Things would never be the same. She had broken him completely but he still cared for her. She had been his world from the moment he met her. But not anymore. He simply wanted to hold her for a few fleeting seconds that Raccoon city ripped away from them.

Billy looked down into Rebecca’s face, his steel coloured gaze sweeping across her elfin features. He smiled fondly, a touch thumb brushing her cheek gently. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?” He head taken the leap, certain she was about to break his heart and tell him he was just the hired help.

Had Jill any inkling at all what Chris was thinking right then, she would have crumbled into all the shattered pieces that Carlos had been so carefully placing back together since Chris had broken her. Jill had spent so long mentally rehearsing all the things she would say to Chris if she ever saw him again, yet here she was… simply wanting to beg him to kiss her, as she was forgetting how wonderful he tasted.

Rebecca slipped her arms around his waist, her confession dying on her lips. She couldn't tell him how she felt. Especially not now that she knew how closely they were being watched. "Don't you owe me a kiss?" She asked him, unaware she was digging her fingers into his back.

Chris seemed to know what she was thinking. He bent his head towards Jill and his lips brushed hers. Then he was kissing her deeply as he had always done. His fingers slid into her hair and rested on her neck. 
This was a moment in heaven. It was the last.