Chapter 71: Needle and Thread

Rachel didn’t miss a beat while looking at Jill. “Lover.”

“—Partner.”

“That too.” Despite grinning, Rachel’s grip on the tomahawk didn’t lessen one bit. She was still ready to act if Jill made one wrong move.

Rick didn’t care about the tension. There were more important things to do. “Enough.”

He pushed over the body of the B.O.W. Rachel had killed to the ground to make some space. Picking her up by the waist, he sat her on it and had a look at the twelve inches gash on her left thigh. With one hand he held her flesh, with the other he opened his first-aid pouch.

“Hm. Didn’t cut anything important but it’s deep enough you need stitches.”

Rachel let herself be examined, putting down the axe right next to her. Only then did Jill relax her stance and lowered her gun. The blonde woman, having just experienced a near death experience, looked down at Rick.

“Thanks. One second more and—”

Rick cut her off applying pressure with a compress on her leg to stop the bleeding. “I told you I wouldn’t let you be infected.”

His nonsensical tone brought Rachel much comfort. Rick was very uptight with the promises he made. Nevermind that he was here when he wasn’t supposed to. He was and he saved her life.

“How do you know I’m not?” Her tone was light but Rick recognized the worry in her voice. They may not have seen each other in almost two years but it didn’t matter. He knew her that well.

He lifted the compress a bit then pushed it back down and kept putting pressure. “That lamprey heel is probably what causes the contamination. If you want to be certain, Jugs can use the genesis on you.”

“The genesis?”

Jill had holstered her gun and picked out the device. “This. It's a scan for viral residue among other things.” She approached Rachel and aimed at her leg.

The blonde observed with attention. “That’s neat. We don’t have that in the F.B.C. .”

Jill looked up from the scan at her for a moment then back down. A beep echoed throughout the room. “Negative. You’re not infected.”

Rachel let out a sigh of relief, then with one hand, turned Rick’s head up towards her and she leaned down for a kiss square on the lips. That shocked Jill to hell and back, while Rick’s expression didn’t change one bit.

“If you have time to fool around,” He started and applied the antiseptic spray on her wound, took her hand to apply pressure instead of him and pulled out one of the green herbs to turn its leaves into powder. “You have time to explain what you’re doing here.”

“I can ask you the same question, you know?” The silent, heavy stare he gave, made her crack. “Alright. We’re officially here to investigate what happened to the ship, what has been going on on it and its connection to Il Veltro.”

Jill immediately asked questions. “We? And Officially?”

“Me and Raymond Vester.” Rachel had no hesitation answering. “My partner for the mission.”

“Partner who's not here,” Rick remarked and removed her hand and the compress to add the fine green powder onto the injury to accelerate the stopping of the bleeding.

Rachel sighed. “No. He decided we should separate.”

“Suspicious.” Rick muttered to himself but they all heard him.

Jill repeated her second question. “Officially?”

“Order of the great boss: Morgan Lansdale. Unofficially… I think he wanted us to…” Rachel blanked there. “I don’t know.”

“You don't know?” Jill didn’t believe it for a second if the skepticism in her tone was any indication.

“She’s working as a mole for the president, Jugs.” Rick revealed, preparing a needle and thread to suture Rachel’s gash.

“And you’re not supposed to know.” The F.B.C. agent frowned.

Jill imitated her. “Wait, you’re… Rick’s counterpart but in the F.B.C.”

Rachel chuckled. “Not remo—OW!” She looked down and scowled at Rick who had started to stitch up. His stoic face, focus on the task at hand is all that stopped her from decking him in the head. “I am a spy, Rick is… a potential whistleblower. Again, you’re not supposed to know.”

“He didn’t tell me.” Jill quickly came to Rick’s defense. “He told me about the President’s request for him to keep an eye on the BSAA if he joined but he never talked about you.”

Rachel’s tone turned overly sweet. The kind of sweet that wasn’t good and gave you severe diabetes instead. “Oh, really?”

“Beyond the fact that you’re his best friend? Nope. He’s been very tight lipped.”

“How about we focus on what’s important?” Rick prickled Rachel’s flesh and pulled up the needle and the thread. He had barely done an inch.

After sighing, Rachel put a hand on her neck and massaged it after cracking it. “I knew that mission would be a nightmare. I had the same feeling as the one I had for the Spencer Rain. And Greenland.” She grumbled the last part. “I think Lansdale chose me specifically for the mission because he’s on to me or because I’m the best he has.”

“He either wanted to get rid of you or the best odds of success.” Rick realized. “In the former case, he knew what was happening on the ship, in the latter case…”

“He knows nothing about the real danger but wants you to do something for him.” Jill finished his train of thoughts. “Something important or he wouldn’t have sent you. What about your partner?”

“Raymond is one of the best. First time we’re partnering up though. Suffice to say… I don’t like his methods.” The scowl on her face she had earlier showed up again. “You spoiled me too much, you know?” Her tone was reproachful but it sounded more like a tease for Rick than anything.

“No matter how I see it.” He pulled the thread as high up as he could. “Lansdale is more than suspicious. He’s shady. The Queen Zenobia has been inside the F.B.C’s Terragrigia’s blockade for eighteen months and only now does he send a team to investigate? Something must have spooked him.”

Jill had the answer to that. “Il Veltro’s return. That’s the only thing that would make sense.”

Rachel blinked. “Those guys are back? That’s news to me.”

“Either Lansdale wants to put them down for good or he’s been working with them all along.”

“That’s a big leap in logic, Rick.” Jill called him out.

Rachel was of the same mind as her ex-partner however. “No. Il Veltro still being operational is a sign of failure on his part. Lansdale is a very proud and egotistical man. Had he got a single whiff of them being around he would have displayed the whole might of the F.B.C.. He sent Raymond and me to investigate, low-key and poorly equipped. A knife and a handgun only. That it is because he colluded with Il Veltro and now wants all evidence gone would make sense. Which would also explain why Raymond chose to split up and has been radio silent.”

“Did you find any proof?” Rick was half done by this point.

“Yes,” The F.B.C. agent replied with a nod. “I found a UAV in a container outside.”

“I bet it's the same model as the ones who released the virus and the hunters on Terragrigia.” Jill immediately made the connection.

Rachel nodded again. “That’s what I think too but it’s not enough to link Lansdale to Il Veltro. In fact it doesn’t. Now… What are the two of you doing here?”

“Jill’s partner and Sherawat disappeared three hours ago while investigating Il Veltro and this is their last location.” Rick shared.

“Huh? Your partner?” She looked at Jill, who raised an eyebrow into an arch. “I thought you were Rick’s.”

“First time we’re working together on the field. Terragrigia not counting.”

Rachel grinned and glanced at Rick. “So you’re not fucking him yet?”

“Excuse me?!”

The blonde didn’t care about the offended look Jill had. “Oh, come on. Look at him.” She gently let her fingers roam through his hair. “He’s a hunk with a big fat cock! What else do you—OW!”

“Stay. Focused.” Rick warned after tugging on the thread a bit too hard.

His ex-partner didn’t take it lying down however. “Excuse me, if I’m worried about your sex life! You never speak about it! I’d swear you’re still not over your ex!”

Jill’s expression turned into something close to amused but not quite. It was more of a ‘you don’t know the half of it’. Rick’s silence and total dismissal of Rachel made the blonde react in shock.

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! It’s been seven years!”

“Two days actually.” Jill corrected her. She didn’t like selling Rick like this but in her opinion it was for his own good. He needed to move on from Claire and Rachel seemed to share the same opinion on this.

Rachel gaped like a fish and switched her eyes from Rick to Jill. “What?!” She was definitely not happy to hear that.

“I’m done.” Rick cut in the conversation, before Jill could formulate an answer, while he had cut the thread and was now bandaging her thigh. “You should let the herb do its job a bit more before moving.”

He grabbed the zipper of Rachel’s diving suit, one similar if not more sexy than Jill’s, and pulled it up from her very lower stomach all the way up. It hid her navel, and cleaves in the process. A bad idea because it was so tight her breasts looked even bigger now they were pushed together and up.

“You’re going to get infected.”

His warning fell on deaf ears when the zipper broke, unable to handle Rachel's massive tits. She ended up just like she was a few seconds ago.

“And that’s why I didn’t bother closing it up. Idiot.” The blonde woman was giving him a blank look.

Rick didn’t let himself be intimidated however. “I’m going to kill the people who design those suits. They’re not practical and unsuited for fighting B.O.W.” Behind him Jill was biting her lips to not laugh.

Rachel’s expression didn’t change. “Really? You say that when it’s pretty obvious why you call her ‘Jugs’?” She pointed at Jill, or rather her own pair of massive breasts.

“I was fourteen and it stuck.” Was Rick only defense. Not like he cared in the first place so he changed the topic at hand. “What now?”

Jill was the one who spoke. “I’m thinking of going off script. We turn their own trap against whoever set it up for us.”

“Probably Rachel’s partner.”

“At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised.” the blonde woman replied. “Raymond has always been… a cunning one. Reserved but not shy, not really a team player either…”

“Then we find him and make him talk.” He grabbed his axe on the table and put it back on his hip.

Rachel was of the same mind. She had nearly died because she has been alone and under-armed. She had been hunted down and escaped many of the B.O.W. only to be cornered into this room. Had Raymond been a good partner she wouldn’t have to thank god for putting Rick on the ship and close by. This time she really thought that she was a goner.

“Do I play dead again? It could help.”

Rick thought about it for a moment. The idea had merit. Raymond probably expected Rachel to be in difficulty or dead, that is if he was against them. Having Rachel reveal herself at the opportune time could be an ace in their sleeve. The only problem with this was that she’d have to stay alone again and it was far too dangerous to his taste.

“Yes but not just you.” He looked at Jill who gave him a meaningful look. “You two team up. I’ll draw attention, you girls move undetected.”

Jill frowned, “I don’t like this.”

“Why? It’s a good plan.” Rachel agreed.

“It also gives you the opportunity to search for Chris. At best Raymond or whoever is behind this trap will think you’re alone.”

Rick picked the gun they had found earlier to hand it to Rachel and gave her the few 9mm he picked up along the way here. It hadn’t escaped his notice that she only had a knife on her, holstered at her ankle, as a way to defend herself. Knowing her, she probably threw her gun at one of those creatures when it was out of ammo.

“You should clean it before using it. We found it in a pile of rotten flesh.”

Rachel gave him a deadpan look. “Thanks. You always give the best present.” Her voice was as void of emotion as her face.

“The two of you play nice.” He warned as he exited the room the way he entered it. Through the window.

Both women watched his back retreating out of view in silence then exchanged a look when they were alone.

“So. What’s this about him and Claire again?”

Jill didn’t even blinked, her eyes hyper focused on the blonde woman in front of her. She had known her for a bit more than ten minutes and she began to understand how she could have become Rick’s best friend. She was outgoing, shameless and yet was steel at her core. It was like she and Rick were two opposite sides of the same coin yet were linked by the edge.

One was cold and reserved while the other was hot and opened.

As far as she knew Rick hadn’t seen Rachel in two years and he had treated her like a colleague and not a friend he saved the life off out of worry. Recognizing the opportunity for what it was, Jill seized it. There was no way she wouldn’t get an explanation as to her little brother’s sudden change in character ever since they got on the ship.