Background: After Resident Evil Code Veronica. Chris, Jill, Claire, Leon,
Barry, and Rebecca are still trying to take down Umbrella. Claire and Leon
are engaged. Chris and Jill are still on just-friends status.
Note: I'm going to try and get less cheesy with this. I always take a while to get into my stories, but I promise you it really is about what the summary says. I don't know if it is scientifically possible, but I also don't really care. If you're a stickler for that stuff, you probably shouldn't read this. Oh, and sorry for any inconsistencies or inaccuracies with the game, I haven't played them in a while. Carlos will come into play later.
Feedback: Always appreciated! No flames please. Constructive criticism welcome.
Also: *'s indicate thoughts not said out loud.
INFECTION
*Oh man...since when was jogging so exhausting?* Jill wondered as she collapsed on the couch. She had been fatigued more than usual in the past couple of weeks. Chalking it up to the winter flu that was spreading around, she shrugged it off and closed her eyes. "I just need to get some rest and increase my Vitamin C intake, and I'll be fine," Jill muttered to herself.
"Talking to yourself again, Valentine?" a voice teased from somewhere in the room. Jill didn't need to open her eyes to recognize the source of that voice. Only one voice could make her heart flutter like that.
"You know me, Redfield," she answered, keeping her eyes closed. She was so tired. However, a movement on the couch finally caused her to open them, only to meet the gaze of a concerned Christopher Redfield. Sharing a piece of the couch with Jill's feet, he put his hand on Jill's forehead to feel if she was warm.
"Still not feeling well?" he asked her seriously.
"Just a touch of the flu," Jill told him.
"Jill, you've been saying that for the past three weeks," he said, not buying her excuse. "Besides, you don't even have a fever."
"I just got back from a jog, give me a break," she snapped, rolling her eyes. She hated being treated like a child. Though she had to admit, the fact that he was worrying over her was really cute.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he said quickly. "But you know...maybe you shouldn't be jogging if you're not feeling well..."
"Please don't start," she grunted. "I can take care of myself." Noticing the tension she caused, she decided to try and lighten the mood a little. "Besides, I have to watch my girlish figure," she said and batted her eyelashes at him with a smile.
Chris gave a little chuckle. "Ah, Valentine, what would I ever do without you?" he asked with a smile in his eyes. "But seriously, I want you to take care of yourself."
Jill just winked at him, and then gave a little yawn. "I'll go see the doctor this week if it'll make you feel better," she relented, and closed her eyes once more.
"Well, I don't know about me, but I'm sure you'll feel better," he chided. "Now rest up," he said as he got off the couch. Chris leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead before leaving the room.
Jill's heart was beating a mile a minute. *He kissed me!* her head screamed. She almost squealed with delight. Sure, it was only a completely platonic forehead kiss, but it was still the only kiss she ever got from him. She smiled as she drifted off to sleep, dreaming about the man she was utterly and helplessly in love with.
Meanwhile, Chris was pacing in the kitchen. He was more worried about Jill than he had let on- or at least more worried than she allowed him to show before she yelled at him. Her body was behaving very strangely. On some days, she would be fine and ordinary, but on others she would be extremely worn out. Chris didn't think it was anything serious; he was just worried that she was working herself too hard. Not that he could blame her. They were all determined to take down Umbrella as fast as possible. He glanced up as his sister Claire walked into the room.
"Something on your mind, big bro?" she asked, noticing his pacing.
"Nah, I'm just kind of worried about Jill," he stated.
Claire gave a knowing smile. "Of course you are. What else is new?"
Chris glared at her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Claire rolled her eyes. "When are the two of you just going to go easy on yourselves and admit that you love each other?"
If he was the type to blush, Chris Redfield would have turned beet- red at that moment. "Knock it off," he grumbled. He had to give her credit though. She could see right through him. Chris had it bad for Jill Valentine. *If only she felt the same way...* he thought, but he knew that it wasn't possible. Jill would always see him as a friend and only a friend.
Deciding to give her brother a break, Claire stopped her line of teasing and asked, "Why are you worried about her?"
"Because it's only four o'clock and she's already passed out on the couch," he answered.
"Again?" Claire asked, furrowing her brow. Jill seemed to be drained a lot lately.
"Yeah," he said simply.
Just then, Leon sauntered into the kitchen. He gave an acknowledging nod to Chris, who returned the courtesy. "Hey babe," he said to Claire as he snaked his arm around her waist and gave her a small peck on the lips.
"Hey there," she smiled at him, and the newly engaged couple just stood there, staring at each other like idiots. Well, idiots in love.
Chris cleared his throat. "Uh, I guess that's my cue to leave," he said, and realized that neither of them had even bothered to look up. Shaking his head, he left the room and muttered to himself, "It's going to be a long day."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Four hours later, Chris was looking over some Umbrella documents in his room with the door open when he heard a slight moaning sound. It sounded like the noise was coming from the living room. "Jill," Chris said, and immediately ran towards the moans. Sure enough, Jill was lying on the couch, twisting and turning in what seemed like a nightmare. He repositioned himself on the spot of the couch by Jill's feet where he had been sitting before, and put his hands on her shoulders. Shaking her gently, he softly said, "Jill, wake up." When she didn't acknowledge him, he shook her a little harder. "Wake up, wake up, wake-"
Suddenly, Jill sat up with rocket-like speed and gasped heavily for air. She looked around her, adjusting to the surroundings, and finally noticed Chris. Immediately, she moved over and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.
"Shhhhh, it's okay, it's only a dream," he soothed lightly.
Once Jill collected herself, she slowly pulled away with a slight blush on her cheeks. "Sorry about that," she muttered.
"Don't be," he said. "That must have been some dream, huh?" he asked.
"Oh Chris, it was awful," she nodded.
"Wanna talk about it?" he offered, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"It's really stupid," she said, but when she saw the look of encouragement on his face, she sighed and figured she should just tell him what happened. "This is basically what happened. You, me, and the gang were in Umbrella territory, fighting a lot of zombies. Then there was this one zombie, and it was going after you, so I tried to kill it, but it wouldn't die. The zombie finally turned towards me, but instead of being a regular zombie, it was me! I swear Chris, just imagine me with rotting flesh for a face and that was what the thing looked like." Chris cringed at the image Jill put in his mind. He didn't like thinking of Jill like that. "So anyway," she continued, "it just really creeped me out." Jill laughed lightly and looked up at Chris. "See, I told you it was stupid."
"I don't think it was stupid at all," he said gravely. "Don't feel bad about it Jill. We've all had dreams like those, even me, thanks to Umbrella. And unfortunately, when we wake up, the nightmare isn't completely over because we know that there's really zombies and other monsters out there."
"Yeah," Jill sighed again. "But why do you think zombie-me attacked you?" she asked, upset at the thought. That part of the dream had probably bothered her the most.
"Well, I'm no dream analyst. But maybe it was just because you went to bed angry with me for pestering you about your health," he said jokingly and flashed her his gorgeous Redfield smile.
Jill smiled back and hit him lightly with one of the couch pillows. "I'm trying to be serious here. I was really upset by that. You know that I'd never want to do anything to hurt you," she commented softly and looked deep into his eyes.
Chris stared back for a long moment, lost in her gaze, before replying. "Jill, don't worry about it. It was just a dream. Besides, it wasn't really you, it was zombie-you. Now, let's get your mind off your dream," he said and jumped off the couch, pulling her up with him.
"What did you have in mind?" she wondered.
"I, dearest Jill, am going to teach you how to dance," he told her with a devilish smirk forming on his face.
"Oh no you don't, Redfield," Jill responded and pulled away from him. "You know that I hate to dance."
"That's only because you can't do it," he countered.
"Since when did you become Lord of the Dance anyways?" she grumbled, slowly resigning to her fate.
"I've been dying to teach you to dance ever since I saw you dancing, if you could even call it dancing, at Leon and Claire's engagement party," he stated matter-of-factly. Besides, he needed a good excuse just to hold her in his arms. "I don't think that I've ever laughed harder in my life. As your friend, I think it's my obligation to prevent you from embarrassing yourself like that again in the future."
Jill narrowed her eyes at him. "You're skating on thin ice," she warned.
"Please?" he pleaded at her, giving her his best pout and puppy-dog eyes.
*How can I say 'no' to that face?* she wondered. Of course, she didn't really mind, because by dancing she'd be getting really close to him. "Oh, alright, do your worst."
Chris flashed her a winning smile and walked over to the CD player in the room. He didn't know what CD to put in. His CDs, such as Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, and Cake, weren't really good for the kind of dancing he was hoping for. Instead, he just shoved in one of Claire's CDs and hoped that he would get a good song.
He then heard a woman singing and listened to the words.
Electricity, eye to eye
Hey don't I know you
I can't speak
Chris and Jill's eyes met and then they looked away quickly. "Sorry," Chris muttered and went to go change the song, but Jill stopped him.
"This will be fine," she said. It wasn't really a song that was easy to dance too, but she figured they could manage. He just nodded at her.
Stripped my senses
On the spot
I've never been defenseless
I can't even make sense of this
You speak and I don't hear a word
Chris placed his hands on Jill's waist and she placed hers on his shoulders. "Just follow my lead," he directed as he swayed back and forth.
What would happen if we kissed
Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay
Or would I melt into you
Mouth to mouth, lust to lust
Spontaneously combust
Jill listened to the words as she imagined kissing Chris. Chris, unsurprisingly, was having the same thoughts of Jill. Unfortunately, neither of them knew what the other was thinking.
The room is spinning out of control
Act like you didn't notice
Brushed my hand
Forbidden fruit
Ring on my finger
You're such a moral, moral man
You throw it away, no question
Will I pretend I'm innocent
Still swaying lightly, Jill sighed and rested her head on Chris's chest. The two were only inches away now. Chris was thinking that it felt so right.
What would happen if we kissed
Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay
Or would I melt into you
Mouth to mouth, lust to lust
Spontaneously combust
Jill pulled her head away from Chris's chest and stared at his mouth. Maybe if she stared hard enough, he would kiss her.
*Why is she looking at me all weird?* Chris wondered densely. *She's probably wishing that she were anywhere else right now* he figured.
I struggle with myself again
Quickly the walls are crumbling
Don't know if I can turn away
Suddenly Jill, being the horrible dancer that she was, tripped over Chris's feet and felt right towards him, almost knocking him over. Chris caught her in his arms and she grabbed on to him tightly to keep herself from falling and to regain her balance. She was breathing heavily and her face was only inches away from Chris's lips.
What would happen if we kissed
Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay
Or would I melt into you
Mouth to mouth
They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment. All of a sudden, Jill was hit by an extreme wave of fatigue. *Oh God, not now,* she begged. *Anytime but now.*
If we kissed
Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay
Or would I melt into you
Mouth to mouth
If we kissed
Chris slowly but surely inched his lips closer to Jill's. *Here goes nothing,* he thought and closed his eyes, waiting for his lips to reach hers. Jill's eyes closed too, but for a different reason. For in that moment, right as Chris's lips were about to connect with hers and give her the kiss of a lifetime, she fainted from exhaustion.
________________________________
Song credit: "What Would Happen" by Meredith Brooks
Note: I'm going to try and get less cheesy with this. I always take a while to get into my stories, but I promise you it really is about what the summary says. I don't know if it is scientifically possible, but I also don't really care. If you're a stickler for that stuff, you probably shouldn't read this. Oh, and sorry for any inconsistencies or inaccuracies with the game, I haven't played them in a while. Carlos will come into play later.
Feedback: Always appreciated! No flames please. Constructive criticism welcome.
Also: *'s indicate thoughts not said out loud.
INFECTION
*Oh man...since when was jogging so exhausting?* Jill wondered as she collapsed on the couch. She had been fatigued more than usual in the past couple of weeks. Chalking it up to the winter flu that was spreading around, she shrugged it off and closed her eyes. "I just need to get some rest and increase my Vitamin C intake, and I'll be fine," Jill muttered to herself.
"Talking to yourself again, Valentine?" a voice teased from somewhere in the room. Jill didn't need to open her eyes to recognize the source of that voice. Only one voice could make her heart flutter like that.
"You know me, Redfield," she answered, keeping her eyes closed. She was so tired. However, a movement on the couch finally caused her to open them, only to meet the gaze of a concerned Christopher Redfield. Sharing a piece of the couch with Jill's feet, he put his hand on Jill's forehead to feel if she was warm.
"Still not feeling well?" he asked her seriously.
"Just a touch of the flu," Jill told him.
"Jill, you've been saying that for the past three weeks," he said, not buying her excuse. "Besides, you don't even have a fever."
"I just got back from a jog, give me a break," she snapped, rolling her eyes. She hated being treated like a child. Though she had to admit, the fact that he was worrying over her was really cute.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he said quickly. "But you know...maybe you shouldn't be jogging if you're not feeling well..."
"Please don't start," she grunted. "I can take care of myself." Noticing the tension she caused, she decided to try and lighten the mood a little. "Besides, I have to watch my girlish figure," she said and batted her eyelashes at him with a smile.
Chris gave a little chuckle. "Ah, Valentine, what would I ever do without you?" he asked with a smile in his eyes. "But seriously, I want you to take care of yourself."
Jill just winked at him, and then gave a little yawn. "I'll go see the doctor this week if it'll make you feel better," she relented, and closed her eyes once more.
"Well, I don't know about me, but I'm sure you'll feel better," he chided. "Now rest up," he said as he got off the couch. Chris leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead before leaving the room.
Jill's heart was beating a mile a minute. *He kissed me!* her head screamed. She almost squealed with delight. Sure, it was only a completely platonic forehead kiss, but it was still the only kiss she ever got from him. She smiled as she drifted off to sleep, dreaming about the man she was utterly and helplessly in love with.
Meanwhile, Chris was pacing in the kitchen. He was more worried about Jill than he had let on- or at least more worried than she allowed him to show before she yelled at him. Her body was behaving very strangely. On some days, she would be fine and ordinary, but on others she would be extremely worn out. Chris didn't think it was anything serious; he was just worried that she was working herself too hard. Not that he could blame her. They were all determined to take down Umbrella as fast as possible. He glanced up as his sister Claire walked into the room.
"Something on your mind, big bro?" she asked, noticing his pacing.
"Nah, I'm just kind of worried about Jill," he stated.
Claire gave a knowing smile. "Of course you are. What else is new?"
Chris glared at her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Claire rolled her eyes. "When are the two of you just going to go easy on yourselves and admit that you love each other?"
If he was the type to blush, Chris Redfield would have turned beet- red at that moment. "Knock it off," he grumbled. He had to give her credit though. She could see right through him. Chris had it bad for Jill Valentine. *If only she felt the same way...* he thought, but he knew that it wasn't possible. Jill would always see him as a friend and only a friend.
Deciding to give her brother a break, Claire stopped her line of teasing and asked, "Why are you worried about her?"
"Because it's only four o'clock and she's already passed out on the couch," he answered.
"Again?" Claire asked, furrowing her brow. Jill seemed to be drained a lot lately.
"Yeah," he said simply.
Just then, Leon sauntered into the kitchen. He gave an acknowledging nod to Chris, who returned the courtesy. "Hey babe," he said to Claire as he snaked his arm around her waist and gave her a small peck on the lips.
"Hey there," she smiled at him, and the newly engaged couple just stood there, staring at each other like idiots. Well, idiots in love.
Chris cleared his throat. "Uh, I guess that's my cue to leave," he said, and realized that neither of them had even bothered to look up. Shaking his head, he left the room and muttered to himself, "It's going to be a long day."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Four hours later, Chris was looking over some Umbrella documents in his room with the door open when he heard a slight moaning sound. It sounded like the noise was coming from the living room. "Jill," Chris said, and immediately ran towards the moans. Sure enough, Jill was lying on the couch, twisting and turning in what seemed like a nightmare. He repositioned himself on the spot of the couch by Jill's feet where he had been sitting before, and put his hands on her shoulders. Shaking her gently, he softly said, "Jill, wake up." When she didn't acknowledge him, he shook her a little harder. "Wake up, wake up, wake-"
Suddenly, Jill sat up with rocket-like speed and gasped heavily for air. She looked around her, adjusting to the surroundings, and finally noticed Chris. Immediately, she moved over and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.
"Shhhhh, it's okay, it's only a dream," he soothed lightly.
Once Jill collected herself, she slowly pulled away with a slight blush on her cheeks. "Sorry about that," she muttered.
"Don't be," he said. "That must have been some dream, huh?" he asked.
"Oh Chris, it was awful," she nodded.
"Wanna talk about it?" he offered, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"It's really stupid," she said, but when she saw the look of encouragement on his face, she sighed and figured she should just tell him what happened. "This is basically what happened. You, me, and the gang were in Umbrella territory, fighting a lot of zombies. Then there was this one zombie, and it was going after you, so I tried to kill it, but it wouldn't die. The zombie finally turned towards me, but instead of being a regular zombie, it was me! I swear Chris, just imagine me with rotting flesh for a face and that was what the thing looked like." Chris cringed at the image Jill put in his mind. He didn't like thinking of Jill like that. "So anyway," she continued, "it just really creeped me out." Jill laughed lightly and looked up at Chris. "See, I told you it was stupid."
"I don't think it was stupid at all," he said gravely. "Don't feel bad about it Jill. We've all had dreams like those, even me, thanks to Umbrella. And unfortunately, when we wake up, the nightmare isn't completely over because we know that there's really zombies and other monsters out there."
"Yeah," Jill sighed again. "But why do you think zombie-me attacked you?" she asked, upset at the thought. That part of the dream had probably bothered her the most.
"Well, I'm no dream analyst. But maybe it was just because you went to bed angry with me for pestering you about your health," he said jokingly and flashed her his gorgeous Redfield smile.
Jill smiled back and hit him lightly with one of the couch pillows. "I'm trying to be serious here. I was really upset by that. You know that I'd never want to do anything to hurt you," she commented softly and looked deep into his eyes.
Chris stared back for a long moment, lost in her gaze, before replying. "Jill, don't worry about it. It was just a dream. Besides, it wasn't really you, it was zombie-you. Now, let's get your mind off your dream," he said and jumped off the couch, pulling her up with him.
"What did you have in mind?" she wondered.
"I, dearest Jill, am going to teach you how to dance," he told her with a devilish smirk forming on his face.
"Oh no you don't, Redfield," Jill responded and pulled away from him. "You know that I hate to dance."
"That's only because you can't do it," he countered.
"Since when did you become Lord of the Dance anyways?" she grumbled, slowly resigning to her fate.
"I've been dying to teach you to dance ever since I saw you dancing, if you could even call it dancing, at Leon and Claire's engagement party," he stated matter-of-factly. Besides, he needed a good excuse just to hold her in his arms. "I don't think that I've ever laughed harder in my life. As your friend, I think it's my obligation to prevent you from embarrassing yourself like that again in the future."
Jill narrowed her eyes at him. "You're skating on thin ice," she warned.
"Please?" he pleaded at her, giving her his best pout and puppy-dog eyes.
*How can I say 'no' to that face?* she wondered. Of course, she didn't really mind, because by dancing she'd be getting really close to him. "Oh, alright, do your worst."
Chris flashed her a winning smile and walked over to the CD player in the room. He didn't know what CD to put in. His CDs, such as Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, and Cake, weren't really good for the kind of dancing he was hoping for. Instead, he just shoved in one of Claire's CDs and hoped that he would get a good song.
He then heard a woman singing and listened to the words.
Electricity, eye to eye
Hey don't I know you
I can't speak
Chris and Jill's eyes met and then they looked away quickly. "Sorry," Chris muttered and went to go change the song, but Jill stopped him.
"This will be fine," she said. It wasn't really a song that was easy to dance too, but she figured they could manage. He just nodded at her.
Stripped my senses
On the spot
I've never been defenseless
I can't even make sense of this
You speak and I don't hear a word
Chris placed his hands on Jill's waist and she placed hers on his shoulders. "Just follow my lead," he directed as he swayed back and forth.
What would happen if we kissed
Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay
Or would I melt into you
Mouth to mouth, lust to lust
Spontaneously combust
Jill listened to the words as she imagined kissing Chris. Chris, unsurprisingly, was having the same thoughts of Jill. Unfortunately, neither of them knew what the other was thinking.
The room is spinning out of control
Act like you didn't notice
Brushed my hand
Forbidden fruit
Ring on my finger
You're such a moral, moral man
You throw it away, no question
Will I pretend I'm innocent
Still swaying lightly, Jill sighed and rested her head on Chris's chest. The two were only inches away now. Chris was thinking that it felt so right.
What would happen if we kissed
Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay
Or would I melt into you
Mouth to mouth, lust to lust
Spontaneously combust
Jill pulled her head away from Chris's chest and stared at his mouth. Maybe if she stared hard enough, he would kiss her.
*Why is she looking at me all weird?* Chris wondered densely. *She's probably wishing that she were anywhere else right now* he figured.
I struggle with myself again
Quickly the walls are crumbling
Don't know if I can turn away
Suddenly Jill, being the horrible dancer that she was, tripped over Chris's feet and felt right towards him, almost knocking him over. Chris caught her in his arms and she grabbed on to him tightly to keep herself from falling and to regain her balance. She was breathing heavily and her face was only inches away from Chris's lips.
What would happen if we kissed
Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay
Or would I melt into you
Mouth to mouth
They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment. All of a sudden, Jill was hit by an extreme wave of fatigue. *Oh God, not now,* she begged. *Anytime but now.*
If we kissed
Would your tongue slip past my lips
Would you run away, would you stay
Or would I melt into you
Mouth to mouth
If we kissed
Chris slowly but surely inched his lips closer to Jill's. *Here goes nothing,* he thought and closed his eyes, waiting for his lips to reach hers. Jill's eyes closed too, but for a different reason. For in that moment, right as Chris's lips were about to connect with hers and give her the kiss of a lifetime, she fainted from exhaustion.
________________________________
Song credit: "What Would Happen" by Meredith Brooks