STARS in Their Eyes: Blood and Bubble Baths
(c) 2003, 2005 Mayumi.H

Chris Redfield shuffled through the mass of papers on his desk, trying his best to avoid any unwanted looks from his fellow officers. He had his head down as he rummaged, his nose practically bent against the surface of the desk.

“Yo, Chris!” Someone shouted to him from across the room.

Chris cringed inwardly. He stopped fussing with the papers and sat up, straight into the smiling face of Brad Vickers.

Brad glanced around. “Where’s Jill?” He waved a manila folder in front of Chris’ nose. “I’ve got those forensics results she wanted from the Edwards case.”

Chris turned back to his unruly stack of reports, making a show of working. “How should I know where she is?”

Brad snickered. “You’re kidding, right? You two are like peas in a pod. I figured, if anybody knows where she’s got to, it would be you.”

Chris stood up swiftly, pounding the reports onto his desk. “Well, I don’t,” he said irritably. “Why don’t you check the firing range?”

Chris turned around to head for the door, where he almost ran into the small form of Rebecca Chambers, Bravo team’s new medic. He gave a sharp yell of surprise that sounded too much like a squeal for his own taste, and which made Brad start snorting with laughter.

“Sorry if I startled you,” Rebecca said with a blush and a smile.

Chris backed away from her slowly, as if she were a rabid dog. “Uh, that’s okay. Do you need something?” He tried to act nonchalant, but it was difficult with Brad laughing so hard that he had to hold onto the desk for support.

Rebecca nodded, ignoring Vickers’ loud chortling. “Actually, yes.” She had a little girl’s voice, high-pitched and almost timid. It made Chris waver between wanting to cuddle her and cuff her.

“I’m supposed to take medical info from each of the members of Alpha and Bravo,” Rebecca continued. “Captain Wesker’s orders.”

“What do you mean, ‘medical info?’” Chris asked, giving Brad a little shove to make him shut up, with limited success.

“Medical histories, blood samples, that sort of thing.” Rebecca gave him another little smile.

“Blood samples?” Brad asked, suddenly sober. He straightened up and glanced nervously at the young woman.

Rebecca shrugged. “That’s what Captain Wesker wants.”

Brad pulled at his collar. “Can’t you just get that info from our personnel files?”

Rebecca shook her head. “Captain Wesker wants everything to be up-to-date. He was very specific.”

Chris grinned wide at Brad. He knew that old Chickenheart Vickers hated the sight of blood, most of all his own; and if he heard Rebecca say, “Captain Wesker wants,” one more time, he would scream. So he shoved Brad in Rebecca’s direction and called, “Have fun, kids!”

“Uh, Chris-!” Brad gargled.

Rebecca looked at Chris, too, something left unsaid in those big, doe eyes of hers. Ever since she arrived at Raccoon, she had been favoring Chris with long but furtive looks, which had gone unnoticed by exactly no one. She never said anything about it; most of the time, she seemed too shy to remember her own name around him. But every once in a while, Chris would turn around to find her looking at him with that bright-eyed, girlish look of hers, and he never knew how to take it.

She yanked on Brad’s arm and began to pull him toward the medical lab.

Chris snickered to himself as he watched the pair move off. He didn’t envy Rebecca having to deal with Brad Vickers, and the less time he would have to spend in Rebecca Chambers’ company, the better.

Chris sighed then, realizing that it wasn’t Rebecca’s fault that she made him uncomfortable. More than anything, it was the effect that Rebecca had had on his working relationship with Jill Valentine that was giving him trouble.

Only two days before, Jill had cornered him outside the ready room and spat venomous daggers at him.

“What was that all about?” Jill had growled. She had grabbed Chris by the arm and yanked him against the wall, her fingers biting into the hard flesh of his bicep.

“What was what all about?” Chris had responded dumbly.

“You were checking her out!” Jill had hissed. She had waved her free arm in the direction of the ready room, obviously indicating Rebecca.

The Alpha and Bravo teams had just received another update on the animal attacks occurring on the outskirts of town, and Rebecca had gone up to the front of the room to make a medical report on the victims. Chris hadn’t found it very interesting; he had always been fonder of action than of briefings.

He had watched Rebecca stumble and stammer through her report, and he had thought how charming she was, in a childlike way. Rebecca reminded him a lot of his little sister Claire, though maybe not as tomboy-ish. Maybe he had taken a few appreciative glances of her petite, girlish figure. What was wrong about that? He was a perfectly healthy man, with perfectly healthy desires. He didn’t really think anything of his behavior, but obviously, Jill had.

“Do you know how old she is?” Jill had seethed again. “She’s barely nineteen!”

Chris had yanked his arm from her grip and straightened his shirt defensively. “What are you getting so excited about? So I looked at her. So what? I look at a lot of girls.”

In retrospect, Chris realized that that was probably the wrong thing for him to have said.

Jill had stared at him, mouth agape. Then, her hand had rocketed up from her side and she had slapped him, loud enough to make everyone turn and look at them. Then she had stormed off down the hall, shoving doors open and leaving startled R.P.D. officers in her wake.

Chris had watched her back as she left, staring a little too long at her swiveling hips and shapely curves. If the situation had been different, and if his face hadn’t stung like hell, he could have enjoyed that view a lot more. More than once, Chris had thought about how nice it would be to fondle those curves, to feel Jill Valentine’s soft flesh beneath his searching fingertips.

Then he had turned to look back at the rest of Alpha and Bravo team, who were still staring at him. Most of them gave him blank looks. But he had noticed that Rebecca had slunk away into the corner, and Barry Burton shook his head at him. Finally, Joseph Frost broke the silence with a grin as he had said:

“At least you took it like a man.”

Things hadn’t been the same between Chris and Jill since.

Thinking about that exchange, Chris weighed the implication of Jill’s words and actions. She didn’t get that upset when Joseph yammered on about his sexual conquests, or when chatter within the squad would turn, as it inevitably would, to locker room talk. Usually, Jill would just snicker or shake her head or ignore them altogether. What was it about his interest in other women that got her so hot under the collar? And why now?

He thought back to when they’d been on that stakeout, and he had very nearly kissed her. Ever since, he could almost feel the electricity between them, whenever they touched or were even close to each other. Even when she had grabbed his arm so roughly that day outside the briefing room, he had caught a delightfully dangerous spark in her eye: her gaze, her stance, even the parting of her lips hinted at something much more sultry than mere anger or jealousy.

Whenever he closed his eyes these days, he pictured Jill Valentine there, with her sexy swagger and her stunning smile. Sometimes, she seemed so real, he could almost touch her: wrap her in his arms and adorn her with sweet kisses, not a single inch of her body kept secret from him. She would do things to him he’d never dreamed about, and scream his name when he did the same to her. They were all just fantasies, of course, but oh, how sweet!

Jill was small, but she was also strong; Chris still treasured the slight bruise she had given his arm. What would she be like if she let go, if they both did? She had to be a wildcat; he couldn’t imagine her anything less. But maybe it wasn’t just his imagination. Maybe, that little display the other day was really just an effort to get his attention. Women’s minds worked in that sort of strange way; nearly twenty years around a little sister had taught him that much.

Chris smiled to himself. He started down the hall towards the weapons locker, as he began to unravel Jill Valentine’s cleverly woven façade.

For her part, Jill Valentine was right where Chris thought she might be: in the firing range.

She had spent more time here in the last two days than she had in several weeks, ever since she had had that foolish argument with Chris over the medic girl. At first, when her ire was running at full-steam, she had imagined that every target had Chris Redfield’s face, and she took great (though admittedly spiteful) delight in blasting away the heads and torsos of the targets.

As the last few days wore on, though, she had found herself hiding in the firing range, in an active attempt to avoid Chris altogether. What she had done was silly, and over-reactive. Normally, Jill prided herself on being able to keep a clear head, but whenever the topic turned to Chris Redfield, that cool, collected judgment flew out the window.

She stood staring at the target in front of her, her 9mm held at arm’s length, but she couldn’t see any of it at all. Instead, all she saw was Chris’ face, his expression of shock and betrayal as she had slapped him the other day.

Jill sighed.

What was the matter with her? She was being ridiculous. Chris had been right, of course: It was his prerogative to look at women. What stake did she have in him, to forbid him that?

They had danced around the subject of a more intimate relationship for months now, with little success on either front. Stolen glances, clandestine touches, that incident in the squad car a few months back… It all pointed to him wanting the same thing she did: for them to be together.

In her more lucid moments, Jill realized that there was a certain selfish physical attraction that she had for Chris Redfield. She couldn’t deny that he was gorgeous, and that he set her blood to pumping every time he looked at her. From that first moment, when their eyes had met, she’d dreamed of him: dreamed of him making her fantasies come true.

In recent weeks, she had found herself looking in her mirror overlong, spending many minutes adjusting her hair and beret just the right way, just the way Chris seemed to like it. Or, she would pose and strut in the privacy of her apartment, while she rehearsed terribly clichéd come-on lines she’d heard from movies or read in books.

The night after the stakeout, Jill had been so wound up that she had convinced herself to take a long, hot, bubble bath. And as she had sunk into the soothing massage of the bath, she had imagined Chris’ hands on her: warm and gentle, soothing her, making her sweat. The bubbles kissed her skin where she imagined that Chris would, and the water caressed her like another body, like his body.

Jill had spent nearly an hour in that hot tub, shaming even her un-sheltered upbringing.

Well, no more beating around the bush. She was going to call Chris Redfield’s bluff, even if it meant the end of her pride.

With a new sense of purpose, Jill put her firearm down on the ledge in front of her and turned for the door. She didn’t get very far, though.

Chris was standing there, looking sheepish.

“Hey, Jill.”

Jill backed up against the ledge until it bumped her butt, despite her earlier resolve. Kiss me, Chris, she thought suddenly. Kiss me and hold me and don’t let me go! She had a sudden mental picture of grabbing him by the collar and ravishing his lips. Would they stop there, or would they inaugurate the firing range as a conjugal spot?

“Hi,” she muttered lamely.

They stared at each other for a long moment, until finally they both said, at the same time:

“I’m sorry.”

Chris chuckled, and Jill looked down at her feet.

“Go ahead,” he said quietly.

It was only through sheer willpower that she was able to look up at him again. When she looked into his searching eyes, she fought desperately to keep control of her libido. “Chris, I don’t know what came over me the other day. You were completely right.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Chris argued gently. “I shouldn’t have acted like such a teenager.”

“Me, too,” Jill agreed, secretly happy that he was admitting all of this. “There was no reason for me to get all melodramatic like that. I know Rebecca’s cute.”

Chris chuckled, and Jill’s face fell. She wasn’t sure where he was going with that low laugh. Did he really find the young medic more attractive than her?

So when he started to shake his head, she felt a wave of relief wash over her, even though he hadn’t said anything yet.

Chris smiled slyly at her. “I guess she is. But I can’t really compare her to you.”

Jill’s sculpted brows went up. “You-you can’t?” She muttered, very softly.

Chris’ face went bright red, but he still managed to look at her. “Of course not.” He shrugged his shoulders. “There’s only one Jill Valentine.”

“Really?” Jill asked again, still in her stupor.

Chris laughed. “Unless you’ve got a twin hidden somewhere.” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “In which case things could get really interesting.”

Jill laughed with him, trying her best not to sound girlish as she did so. Apparently, she succeeded, because Chris suddenly looked at her very seriously.

“There’s no one like you, Jill,” he murmured, reaching up to touch her face.

Jill stared, transfixed, as he cupped one of her cheeks with his palm. His hand felt warm, and while the calluses on his fingers were rough, they felt pleasant enough on her skin, almost comforting. He began to lean into her, and she did the same, edging forward off the ledge, poising her lips for the kiss she knew was coming.

Yes! Jill thought triumphantly. Yes, oh God, yes!

“Chris,” she murmured.

Then she heard another voice, breaking the bubble around them.

“Chris? Chris! Redfield!”

Chris turned around suddenly, toward the main door, rattling off a quick salute. Jill peeked out, and was greeted by a multitude of grinning faces behind one scowling one. Captain Wesker did not look amused, though every one else did.

“Valentine!” Wesker roared as he saw her.

“Wesker,” Chris began, his tongue seemingly ready with an excuse.

Alpha leader didn’t give Chris the chance. “I don’t want to hear it. You and Valentine get your butts down to the medical lab, ASAP, for those tests.” He turned to the sea of grins behind him, all of which promptly vanished at the sight of his scowl. “Chambers, I want those reports finished and on my desk in one hour. Comprende?”

Rebecca covered her smiling mouth with one hand and nodded. “Yes, sir,” she said quietly. Jill couldn’t be certain, but she thought she saw the younger woman wink at her.

Wesker turned back to Chris and Jill. They stared at him dumbly for a moment, at which point he growled: “What the hell are you waiting for, a written invitation? Move it!”

Both Chris and Jill scurried around Wesker, giving him a wide berth. They parted the group of Alphas and Bravos, to muffled snickers and the like, and headed into the hall.

Jill spared Chris a tentative glance and a smile as they walked toward medical. He slowed down, and she matched his pace. Then he extended his hand to her very slightly. Jill took his hand in hers and grinned, feeling something warm bubble inside of her.

And Jill Valentine’s world was wonderful again.