Chapter 83: Back to Normal

The aftermath of what was now commonly called the ‘Queen Zenobia incident’ had long and important repercussions across the world. Morgan Lansdale’s involvement with Il Veltro and the Terragrigia Panic made the global news within a day. President Graham immediately ordered the end of the F.B.C. and announced that most of its resources will be diverted to the BSAA. Money, infrastructure, personnel, and everything else.

O’Brian had been very happy with this. Now the BSAA wouldn’t have to contend with a rival organisation in the fight against biot-terrorism. That hadn’t made him as happy as not being arrested or keeping his job as director. He had made his peace with the fact that even with Lansdale gone he would have to step down at the very least, for making everyone believe Il Veltro had been back.

It was Rick that argued that technically he didn’t since Jack Norman, the leader of the terrorist organisation, was still active. As such any link O’Brian had with Il Veltro was schemed by Lansdale using him as a scapegoat and further his goal of F.B.C. ‘s domination. All that was needed was for the people who knew the truth to keep quiet.

Most of those people were BSAA members and chose to do so. They weren’t happy with O’Brian’s method to keep them out of the loop but Jessica being revealed to be a mole for Lansdale, made them understand why. They’d prefer having O’Brian as a director than someone unknown. As Barry put it “Better the devil you know.”

Jessica and Raymond had been arrested properly. The former led to a hospital for her gun wounds to be treated properly. Unfortunately, before she could be released and interrogated, she had a stroke. It left her in a deep coma the doctors weren’t sure she could come out from. Furthermore in the case she did it was possible that she wouldn’t be all there in the head.

Rick and Rachel were sure that it was a hit for the third party they had suspected of being involved. The former shared his thoughts on the subject with O’Brian along why and how he came up to his conclusion. The man had listened and to Rick’s surprise agreed. O’Brian then showed him some news. Senator Davis had been found dead in his office, just like Rick had expected. Cherry on the cake? He died of a stroke.

Now, for a man in his early fifties with a very unhealthy diet and lifestyle in general, it wasn’t uncommon to pass away from such a thing but in combination with Jessica, when the both of them were suspected to work with a pharmaceutical company… It was more than suspicious.

Those two deaths made the safety of Lansdale and Raymond even more important; the BSAA wanted answers and led on the corporation leading the bio-weaponry development behind closed doors.

That was O’Brian’s business however, not Rick’s.

Rick chose to take a few days of rest home but doing nothing drove him nuts. With his finals a few days away after his return he chose to study for them although he hadn’t needed to. He was a studious student and already ahead of the course by a semester.

To make certain he was ready, he contacted Annette. His objective was for her to quiz him on his knowledge until his mind saturated. He was pretty sure the woman took a sick pleasure in torturing him with the most obscure and annoying questions she could think of. It just made Rick more annoyed than anything.

In return for her help, he had to help her pack the stuff she was taking with her to Washington. Annette’s house in Harvardville wouldn’t be put up for sale. She wanted to preserve the place Sherry grew up and where they bonded again as mother and daughter. Furthermore, the house was relatively remote and could be used as a vacation home or as a gift for Sherry.

The nineteen year old had written little ever since she made her decision to join the USSTRATCOM. Both to Rick but also her mother. The latter’s confession had been a bit of a surprise for the former who had thought they were on good terms. The truth was that after their return from Disney World after Sherry’s graduation, Annette hadn’t taken well to her daughter’s decision of career path and they had a fight.

It had been resolved quickly. Annette had relented and explained why she wasn’t supporting the decision. She had been clear that she was afraid for Sherry working for the government. With the G-Virus inside Sherry’s body, the possibility that some higher ups would experiment on her terrified her. She knew that, had things been different, she would have without thinking twice.

When they departed, Annette wished her the best and told her she was proud of the woman Sherry was turning out to be. In her mind they were alright and the dispute had just been a little bump. Now a year later and only a few e-mails from her daughter, she doubted they were alright.

Rick, not liking this for reasons he couldn’t explain or understand himself, had taken Annette out for lunch. During the meal he moved his chair real close to the woman and took a picture of the two of them smiling and sent it to Sherry with a very provocative caption.

“You never write anymore, so I took your mother on a date. It’s amazing how we bonded over your lack of communication and what we have in common. It would have been better if you were here too though."

Less than a minute later, Annette had received a call from a very unhappy Sherry. The conversation proved a few things. One: that Sherry had been ignoring her mother. Two: that the teenager wasn’t over her crush on Rick. Three: that she was jealous of her mother being on a date with him.

The whole spiel, Annette bit her lips to not burst out laughing. She couldn’t believe that something so simple as a picture of her and Rick sitting close would have led to such a passionate reaction from her daughter.

When it was time for Rick to leave, Annette kissed his cheek as a thank you for getting Sherry to contact her. Not only that but he got an invitation to dinner for the Christmas holidays.

Afterwards things took a turn for the better in Rick’s life.

He aced his exams, received his new ID, driving license and credit card. For the first time since the Terragrigia Panis, Rick was having a normal life. No one and nothing to fight, no crisis, no mission. That was why he was able to make plans.

There was already the dinner with Sherry and Annette on the 27th of December, Christmas eve with Jill and finally: Christmas with Rachel. The last one had been a tradition between the two from their days in the Unit. Unfortunately they had to give up on it the previous year because of her cover in the F.B.C.. It was a bit paranoid to think their relationships being known could endanger her but they prefered playing it safe.

If anyone would have told him a decade ago that he would have friends to spend the Christmas holidays with, he would have been skeptical if not down right dismissive. Yet here he was, turning the engine of his Harley off, in front of Jill’s apartment complex. Dismounting his motorcycle, he removed his helmet and put it under his arm. With the other he detached the cooler he had put on the back seat and carried it effortlessly.

The concierge was absent when he entered the building. It wasn’t really a surprise considering the day and the time. With the sun setting people were getting home off work to be with their families. After taking the elevator to Jill’s floor and reaching the correct door, he knocked.

She opened the door, dressed with a black skirt and the ugliest Christmas sweater he had ever seen. All red, with green elves running after Santa’s deers.

“Rick!” his name was called out happily. “You know you can use your—” Her face turned from joy to frown when she saw he wasn’t wearing an ugly sweater too. “Oh, come on! It’s one day in the year!”

“Sorry, I forgot.” Rick looked sheepish. “I’m not used to celebrating Christmas eve with you anymore.”

Jill sighed and let it slide. It was the truth. The last Christmas eve they had together was in 97. Rick spent the one of 98 with Claire searching for Chris, the next five, he was in the army doing some black ops stuff and the previous one, they both had been working that day in different parts of the world.

She turned around and went back deeper into her home. Rick stepped inside, closed the door behind him. He hung his helmet onto the coat rack then his coat before following her to the kitchen where he laid down the cooler on the table.

“So what did you get for dinner?” Jill asked while opening the container.

“A bit of everything.”

One by one, she pulled out food boxes from different restaurants. “Hmm. Dancing Dragon,” She recognized the logo on the one she had in hand. “Better be noodles,” the warning was followed up by a check of its content.

“Of course there is. I haven’t forgotten the most important thing.” He replied with a frown.

Much like the sweater, noodles were a tradition of theirs. This dated from Christmas of 94 when Jill asked him where he wanted to go eat that evening and Rick just said he wanted instant noodles. At the time, he didn’t want her to spend money on him but knew how stubborn she could be and wouldn’t relent. In the end he gave her the name of an expensive noodle brand he had eaten once and she went with it. She had bought for ten bucks of it when one pack was ten cents. All so he could leave in the morning with everything they hadn’t eaten, which was most of it. It was her way to make sure he had something to eat for a while without making it appear as charity. It became a tradition in 95 when he had asked the same thing even if they weren’t instant ones.

“Hm… What’s next? I can see dumplings, pork, beef, is there… Yes, there is duck. You thought of… Is that Carbonara pasta?” Jill sounded both shocked and delighted.

“Yeah. For tomorrow although if you want to eat it tonight…”

“No, no. Tomorrow is perfect.” She closed the box and put it in the fridge. “Now what’s that huge one?” She picked up a box longer and thicker than her forearm.

Rick gave her a knowing smile. “A surprise done on impulse on my way here.”

“I don’t recognize the— Holy shit!” Her eyes nearly popped out of their orbits. “That’s a chocolate log! Where did you find this?!” She was almost drooling at the sight of the dessert.

Rick closed the lid of the box and went to the fridge to put it inside. “I had to stop for gas on my way and I came across a couple talking about how happy they were with this new French bakery in town. Asked them for directions and: voilà.”

"That's all for me, right?” She asked in worry, making him snort.

“Hell hasn’t frozen over so I still don’t like chocolate much.” He chuckled. “It’s all yours, yes.”

“God, I’m going to get so fat but thank you.” She hugged him tightly for the gift. It was her favorite dessert and so hard to come by in shops. “I want that—”

“7th street near the Police Station.”

Getting on the tip of her feet, she kissed his cheek. “Best, little brother ever.”

Afterwards they put everything they wouldn’t eat tonight into the fridge. That meant everything that wasn’t Asian. The cooler was put away and they carried the food back to her living room where they laid it down on the coffee table.

“What are we watching? Please, no Christmas movie.” Rick removed his boots to make himself comfortable and grabbed his chopsticks to split them.

“No Die Hard then?” Her look was coy, while she opened the box with the pork.

“You know it’s the exception to the rule. At this point we should make it a tradition too.”

She nodded and hummed because her mouth was full. The TV remote soon found itself in her hand to change the video source on the screen, followed by the DVD player’s and started the movie.

It was her favorite movie and Rick had stopped counting how many times she had made him watch it when they were living in Raccoon City. He hadn’t seen it in years and yet he knew every line by heart. Naturally so did Jill and they had fun talking at the same time as the characters on screen.

“Gosh, I forgot how much I hate Elis.” Rick put down his empty box on the side of the table and stood up to fetch the chocolate log.

“Hm. Dated one of them a few years ago.” She paused the movie and followed him to the kitchen.

He was already at the fridge, its handle in hand. “I thought you weren’t dating anymore?”

Jill picked one plate from a shelf and two spoons from a drawer. “That guy was the reason why I stopped.”

“He was that bad?” Her confession took him by surprise as he laid the chocolate log box on the table.

His question made her snort. “No but… He was… the last straw I suppose. At the time the BSAA was forming, Wesker was still at large… Plenty of work, important work,” Jill repeated as if to convince herself of how right her choice was.

Rick was now cutting the log to make multiple slices. Each one ended in Jill’s plate. “What about Chris?”

An amused chuckle escaped her. “I still have feelings for him, I won’t deny it but… they’re different, now. Chris… will never stop the fight. He’s too much of a meathead to let it go and focus on his personal life. It’s endearing but there comes a point when it’s too much.”

“Don’t I know it.” Rick grunted, putting one slice for himself.

Jill didn’t need to be a genius to understand he was speaking about his own personal experience with the other Redfield. As stubborn and as much of a meathead as her brother.

“You’re thinking of settling?” He realized his words were too vague so he defined them a bit more. “I mean one day, not right now.”

Jill grabbed her plate and considered it for a few seconds. “I… Think I’d like that. Fighting the good fight is one thing but I don’t want it to be my whole life. Either I die on the field or I get too old. What then? In the former case it’s not an issue but the latter… I’ll be alone with nothing.”

“That’s partly why I left the army in the first place when my contract was over. I didn’t want it to be my life. Always fighting, always keeping secrets.” His confession was followed up by focusing back on her. “Children?”

That made her smile. “I don’t know. You’d have asked me five years ago I would have told you a resounding no. Now? I’m not against the idea but I’m not for it either.”

They walked back to the living room to resume their movie session. Rick kept the conversation going. “That implies a male partner and no offence, Jugs, but you’re 30. The clock is ticking.”

Her spoon in her mouth, Jill exhaled through her nose. It was obvious she didn’t like hearing that much.

“For the record, I think you’d be a good mom.”

That surprised her. “You think so?”

He swallowed the food in his mouth while nodding. “Yeah. I mean… You didn’t mom-ed me, but you kind of raise me a bit. Who I am today as a person is in part thanks to you and I don’t think I turned out that badly. You’re caring but you don’t suffer non-sense. You know when to be comforting and when to say ‘suck it up’. I think… You’d be both a great mom and dad at the same time. Then again, what do I know about good moms? I only know about mine and Annette. Neither are anywhere on the ‘mother of the year’ list.”

“Hmm.” She ate more of her chocolate log in silence. When the thought of a young toddler running around her flat crossed her mind, she knew she needed to think of something else. “What about you?”

“Jugs. I’m sterile.” Rick reminded her with a flat look.

She rolled her eyes. “I remember. But there is adoption or you could enter a relationship with a single mom. Never thought of it?”

That made him laugh. “You know the first thought I had when I was told I was sterile? It was ‘Thank God.’”

“You don’t like children?”

Rick waved his hand, spoon in it. “I like them just fine. I’ll just be an awful father. I mean… All I know about being a father is abuse. I don’t want to hurt a kid because unconsciously I’m imitating my father’s parenting style. That’s just plain wrong.”

That made Jill scowl. “You’re nothing like your father. No more like I’m anything like mine.”

Shrugging his shoulders, he finished his plate or rather what was left in it ended up in Jill’s. He had enough chocolate for a month. “Maybe. Maybe not. Is it worth it to risk a kid’s wellbeing to find out? I don’t think so.”

That was a good argument she couldn’t counter. It still left a bitter taste in her mouth, so she gently grabbed his head to make him look at her. “Child or not. You’re nothing like your father. He was a monster, you are not.”

Rick didn’t agree with her on that. “I am. Just one of a different coat.”

Inwardly, Jill seethed and cursed Claire. It’s been seven years and her words were still haunting him. It didn’t help that he was different from the rest of the human population with his abilities, nor did his childhood.

“A monster wouldn’t risk their life for others like you did for Rachel. A monster wouldn’t stay behind to stall a giant BOW, so everyone else could escape. You’re damaged, Rick, more than most, but you’re not a monster.”

He said nothing to that. No answer came to him, no counter argument, so he stayed silent. Feeling like she had the last word and made her point, Jill picked up the remote and started the movie again.