RE Fic : A Small Favour

A/N;

Eh heh… I really should be taking a break from these two DX But I had this in my head today and well, I wanted Ditto to have something to look forward to when she got back from her slave labour (Work XD).

So uhm. Here’s this?

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“Chris… I need to ask you a favour, if it’s not too much…”

The voice on the other line was instantly recognized by the man. Even with the slight changes in pitch and tone that the phone caused, he could still determine Jill Valentine. However, her voice lacked the usual enthusiasm or sarcasm it often held depending on the situation. Chris Redfield balanced the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he tried to fix the phone.

The female STARS member sounded serious and distressed on the other line.

“What’s wrong, V?” He asked cautiously, not wanting to set the girl off. He walked over to his apartment’s window, pulling the curtains to the side and glancing outside. It was pitch black, other than a few street lights that offered limited illumination. The roads were coated in darkness, only highlighted when a care or occasional bike passed by with it’s own lights blaring. It had to be at least eight thirty.

“I… Need you to pick me up and take me somewhere.” She answered quietly, before quickly adding, “If you don’t mind a bit of a drive.”

“I like late night runs.” Chris shrugged, walking over to the coffee table and scrapping his fingers along the top to pick up his keys in a lazy fashion. “Where do you need to go to?”

“You need to get me first.” She sighed, as if feeling like as soon as she knew his location, he would bail on her. “You know the street with the bakery we usually get the rolls from on Wednesdays?”

“Yeah, ‘course I remember. They’re the only ones that will actually add Chilli onto the chocolate chip bread for me.” He answered, visualizing the street in his mind to help pinpoint where ever she happened to be. What was she doing in that street at this late?

“I’m in the building three stores down from the Bakery. Are you sure you’re alright with this?” She asked, her voice sounding rather strange from the other end of the phone.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Just be ready when I get there. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Missy.” Chris received a quick thanks and hung up the phone.

It didn’t take the man long to get to his car and start it up. He was one of the lucky ones that always seemed to be able to find a car spot somewhere around the apartment building, must to the frustration of the other residents whom had to park across the street. Pulling out of the car spot and heading driving out onto the road, he couldn’t help but be curious about what was being asked of him.

Not the he minded at all – He would have gone to the ends of the world for her, if she had asked him to. Hell, even ordered he would have.

Jill had been in a small accident about two weeks ago, and she had been without a car since. Sure she had gotten out of it fine, but the young woman seemed more than a little sour to be without her personal transport. It had soon become known that she hated public transport – Especially when she had to catch it during the rush to get to work. If she couldn’t walk to where she had to go, then it was certainly a ways away.

It only took the man fifteen minutes or so he arrived at the desired spot. He drove a bit further than usual, trying to anticipate what building she would be in front of. He had never actually stopped and looked at what businesses had lined the streets. He had to squint against the darkness, the streetlight in front of the buildings flickering and starting to fail.

But he spotted her, regardless.

She looked like she was dressed against the cold, rugged up nicely so that the night would take no advantage of her. She wore a thick, white jacket over a blue long sleeved turtle neck. It was nothing more than casual, otherwise she most likely would not have been wearing the warm seeming pants she was.

Looking down at himself, Chris felt a chill. Cargo pants. White short sleeved shirt. He wondered how he hadn’t suffered from frostbite yet.

He glanced back out the window, noticing the woman holding something in her arms. She appeared too preoccupied to notice him as he pulled into a spot outside of the store, taking a glance at the store’s window to see what was going on. He couldn’t quite make it out. He quickly pressed the horn to grab her attention, causing the young woman to jolt upright and look forward. She appeared to sigh with relief, before walking over and hopping in the passenger’s seat.

She didn’t put on the seatbelt, seeming more ready to get back out of the car. Jill looked at Chris, whatever she had been holding resting on her lap. He hadn’t even done anything yet, but he felt a prang of guilt when he saw the sadness in her eyes.

“About thirty-five, thirty-six miles… It’d take about an hour to drive where I need to go...” She said quietly, not breaking her gaze from him, “… Are you… Okay with that?”

Her voice was half-hearted – She had clearly convinced herself not to get her hopes up about anything. She had already been crushed one time that day, after all.

“It’s fine, V. Just tell me where we’re meant to be going.” He said, glancing at the window towards the store again. After looking at the thing on Jill’s lap, it became pretty clear that she had just left from an appointment with none other than a vet.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. Put your seat belt on.”

The girl shifted in her seat, having a hard time managing that action. It was simply working around the critter on her lap, who seemed to be suffering in its own quiet way. Jill looked down at the feline curled up in her lap, stroking its fur softly in a vain attempt to give it some comfort.

“The Veterinary Hospital… I think you know the one… Past the bridge…” She began slowly, sounding rather hopeless.

“Yeah, I know the one… Don’t worry, whatever the problem is, I’ll get you there soon.” Chris soothed. He reached his hand over to give the cat a slight brush with his fingers. To his own surprise, the cat gave a soft purr, doing its best to lean towards Chris’ hand. Cats usually didn’t like Chris at all – Hell, they hated him with a passion and would hiss at him from the street if he came within three metres of them. This little critter however… Considering its fluffy coat and temperament, plus its bright blue eyes made it more than likely a Ragdoll. Chris had remembered those being said to be quite friendly and affectionate breeds. A rather surprising choice for Jill, so he thought.

“So who is this little guy?” Chris asked, offering a warm smile to his lady friend. Jill appeared to be unaffected, her sad expression not changing.

“His name is Milo…” She answered quietly. Chris waited for her to go on, but she said nothing more.

“… What’s wrong with him?” Chris asked finally, hoping he wasn’t treading on a touchy subject.

“… He has Aortic Thromboembolism. Or, something… Like that… I stopped paying too much attention when they said it was severe… And that he was most likely going to die.” Jill explained, her voice still soft. Chris could pick up between words where it was slowly breaking.

Jill closed her eyes, doing the best she could to cuddle her cat. “He’s not even that old… God, he’s not even that old…”

“Shh… Jill, calm down.” Chris began, making an attempt to calm her as he moved the car back onto the road. He remember passing the place Jill had hinted about once before, and most of the land marks around the area had left an impression on his mind. “C’mon, calm down… Talk to me about it… Why can’t something be done at the normal vets?”

She shook her head, holding Milo quite close to her as she did so. “It’s been caught too late. It’s meant to be when clots catch in arteries… Or, something. I, I don’t really know. They say the clots usually dissolve in their own time, but Milo’s haven’t… He could have nerve and muscle damage, but the vet wouldn’t look that far into it. And apparently they didn’t have the supplies.” She had to take her time to say her words, finding it difficult to avoid showing how torn she was about the situation.

“Why is that?” Chris asked, looking over at his sad looking workmate. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seem her so… Depressed.

“It’s too late at night. Because I’ve been in there two hours. And he’s been ill for so long.” She shook her had again, biting her bottom lip, “It isn’t fair… I’ve been a good owner. I love Milo. I tried so hard to get the vets to see him, but everyone else was always oh so much more important than us. Oh, Timmy has a tick bite! Mittens has sprained her ankle! What are the chances those damned things will die…?!”

“V, stop.”

He moved a hand onto her wrist, holding it in a stern grip that matched his voice. It was clear it was distressing, and no doubt unfair like she believed, but if she started yelling now it wouldn’t end well at all.

“… I’m sorry.” She apologized, once again closing her eyes and continuing to pet her cat, who purred weakly in reply. The feline did appear to be a real sweetheart.

Chris drove the car in silence for most of the ride, which didn’t seem to vex Jill in the slightest. However, it made Chris feel somewhat awkward. If her prediction was right, it would be about another twenty minutes before they arrived at their destination. He cleared his through, trying to break the uneasy air around them.

“You know, you never struck me as a cat person.” He stated, taking note of one of the speed signs that passed by.

“… Oh?” She asked curiously, raising her eyes to him. A bit of her spark had returned to her voice.

“Yeah. You kinda struck me as the type of person who would kill anything that wanted love from you.” He chuckled, offering the smile she had rejected earlier.

She gave a small, pleasant smile in return to his, “Funny… What makes you say that when I haven’t killed you, yet?”

He poked his tongue out at her, before rolling his eyes. “Shush Missy. All I can say is now you’ve got me worried that you’re going to be one of those old cat ladies in sixty years time!”

“Well Sir, you should have known better. To the amazement of many, I can actually give love to creatures.” She stated smugly, a hint of a smirk on her features. She was being careful not to be too rough with Milo while she was at it, hoping to keep him as comfortable as possible.

“Well you should have invited me over for once!” He stated, defense in his tone, but the conversation was too humourous for him to be take seriously.

“You should have said you wanted to come over!” She laughed, looking away from him in the hopes of recovering faster from her small giggling fit, “And in all honesty, I was waiting for you to get kicked out of your apartment first!”

“Oh you mean bitch!” He couldn’t help but join in laughing, but once again felt awkward when he realised that Jill had come to a sudden stop in the joyous action. “… What’s wrong?”

Other than the obvious. Christ, Chris, are you a moron? You already know she’s in a rough situation.

“… Again, I’m sorry. I must sound like such a pathetic thing, going through this for a cat.” She sighed, staring out of the window. She listened to Milo, who had his eyes firmly closed and appeared to be slowly drifting into a subtle sleep. “Most people think… People like me are morons.”

“No, no, I understand. I think the only people who think like that are people who haven’t owned a pet, or at least one that hasn’t bitten them. In fact, when Claire and I were kids…” Chris began, though came to an abrupt pause. He had to think back far, way back in his younger years while he was still in primary school, and Claire was getting ready for kindergarten. Back when his parents were still alive.

Jill mentioned nothing as Chris concentrated on the road ahead of him, trying to clear up his own mind before he continued. The last thing Jill needed at the moment was for him to go on with an irrelevant walk down memory lane. But at least what he was planning to say might make her know that he understood what she was going through.

“When we were kids,” Jill looked up at him as Chris tried to pick up where he had left off, one of his arms resting on his window’s ledge. “We had a dog. A Newfoundland, most gorgeous dog you’ve ever seen, he was. I remember Claire named him Rose despite the fact he was a boy dog, the poor bastard.”

Jill gave a soft smile as she stroked Milo’s fur again, trying her hardest to concentrate on Chris’ story rather than her worry for her feline companion. She didn’t have much time to think before Chris continued.

“Claire was just old enough to name him, she was like… Two when we got him. We loved the guy, even though we were youngsters. But one day…He just started seeming kinda funny. He was all restless, and he kept trying to throw up, but he couldn’t. Then at one point he just collapsed.” Chris took a deep breath, shaking his head as he remembered a good portion of that day. He took a slow side glance at Jill, making sure she hadn’t zoned out too much, then looked back to the road.

“We rushed him off to the vet. Tests came back, and he had this thing called Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus. Bloatin’, pretty much. Found out that it was bad and they had to operate.” He fell silent, putting both hands on the wheel to turn a bend ahead of them.

“… And then what?” Jill asked quietly, letting Milo purr on her lap. She wished she could do more to help her cat, but all she could do was pray she could get him to the Veterinary Hospital in time.

“And then… Nothin’.” He sighed, looking down for a fraction of a second before up again. “Then absolutely nothin’. Our parents said it’d cost too much – Basically, our pal wasn’t worth the money saving him. We couldn’t even put him down. I begged and begged, just asking them to do this one thing. I said I’d give up my birthday and Christmas presents for ten years if they could just save my poor mate. Claire couldn’t understand what was going on, too young you see. But we just took him home. Then he died, just like that. I stayed with him and he passed away in my arms. Or well, lap. He was too big for me to hold, so his head was just resting on my knees one night.”

“… I’m sorry.” Jill apologized, quietly. She looked back down to Milo, wanting to share her sympathy with both male creatures in the vehicle.

“Don’t apologize, V. I just wanted you to know, I don’t think it’s stupid. I know what it’s like to be willing to give up everything just to say that one pet. Besides, I’m over it.” He assured her as they turned again. It felt somewhat nice to explain that story, even if it had been so many years ago.

“You’re never truly over something.” Jill stated, scratching Milo behind the ear. She was having a hard time looking at the blue eyes that looked up at her again – Chris’ blue eyes, too.

“You’re such a gloomy girl, V.” He chuckled softly, taking a glance out of the side window. They couldn’t be that much further… He was going as fast as the speed limit would allow – In all areas they passed. He didn’t want to let her down, not when it was about something she was clearly attached to. “So… How’d you get Milo, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Considering it’s you, I don’t mind.” She said, closing her eyes and thinking back. It was her own turn for that stroll down memory lane, “Don’t mind the story?”

“I’d love to hear anything you want to tell me about yourself,” He smiled sweetly, his statement genuine, “Or Milo, for that matter.”

“Milo was a present from my dad. I don’t know if I’ve told you before but… Dad’s in jail, serving for theft.” She began, humming for a moment after the statement.

“… Jail?” Chris quizzed, seeming quite surprised.

“Yes, he’s the one that taught me most of what I know. Funny, ain’t it? But that isn’t very important now is it? I lived away from here a few years ago, and I technically left home when I was sixteen,” She explained.

“Ooo, left the nest early, I see.”

“Shh, this is my story, Chris. Now, as I was saying. I’m not from Raccoon City…” She continued, but Chris once more cut in.

“Oh, what a scandal!” He chuckled, nudging her while keeping one hand on the wheel.

“Shut up, you!” She laughed, shoving his hard back. She cleared her through, though gave him a playful glare in hopes that it would warn him not to interrupt any further. “Anyway, not long after I’d moved out, my dad came to the apartment I’d managed to get a hold of with this floppy cat. He told me that this thing had managed to sneak in through one of the vents outside and had gone around nicking all of these little things from around the house. Apparently after getting rid of me he wasn’t too keen on having me replaced with another little thief in the house. So, he passed me this cat and said that I could keep him, rather than putting him in the pound.”

The woman paused, taking in a deep breath and once again being overwhelmed with a rather sad feeling.

“Then, dad got caught, got arrested… And sent off to jail. He told me to straighten up before his trial was finished, said I had a lot more potential then what I was showing. I had what it took to actually make a difference.”

Chris looked over to her as she worked her way into silence again. He felt like she had more to tell, but was simply suffocating the desire to say it all.

“Go on.” Chris attempted to coax her. She sighed once again, the only thing she could manage to do.

“And then… I rarely got to see my dad again… He was the only family I really had the stuck with me, we were always the black sheep. Mum had no interest in me, everyone else wanted anything to do with the pathetic creature they knew me as… And I moved to Raccoon City, because I… I had nothing left. And I took the cat, because he was the only thing that really had any value to me… And he was all I really had left of my dad…”

Jill shook her head more than she did the other times, closing her eyes and biting her lip once again. “Milo’s the only thing other than my father that’s ever actually cared about me in return!”

She turned to him, bottom lip quivering despite her teeth. She blinked quite a few times, unable to hold back the tears that now ran down her cheeks with no sign of stopping. “C… Chris, I… I don’t want Milo to die…!”

“He’s not going to die, Jill.” Chris assured her once again sternly. He knew that she responded better to that sort of reinforcement than the soft type most people gave. However, this time it didn’t seem to work.

“They said that he will!” she cried, hugging her cat once more as it yowled due to the pain in his hind leg. “I can’t… I… I don’t know what to hell I’m going to do, Chris!!”

Chris pulled up at the Veterinary Hospital, thanking god that they had arrived. He undid his seatbelt and turned, grabbing Jill’s shoulders and turning her to face him. The poor girl had the seatbelt dig into her skin when it jerked, but it soon gave way and allowed her to move the way she was pulled.

“Jill, I promise you. Milo is not going to die. I promise you.” He stated, trying to make his words less harsh than the others had been. The tears continued to flow from her eyes, but her sobs were quieter and she had stopped babbling, now quiet. “Now, C’mon. We’re here. Go take Milo in and get him patched up. Remember, he’s going to be find, Jill. He’s got more left for him, you got that?”

“…Thank you, Chris…” Chris’ hands slowly let go of Jill’s shoulders, and she sat properly. She carefully undid her seat belt, taking it off and opening the door. She scooped Milo up in her arms, and took a step out of the car. “… I really owe you for all of this.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Jill. Now go on. I’ll wait here.”

“Chris… It could take hours…”

“I said I’d wait for you.”

She turned and looked at him, her hand resting on the outside of the door, ready to close it shut. She managed to balance Milo in one arm as she did this, before wipe a stray tear quickly away from her eye. “… You’re magnificent.”

“Yeah yeah, get going.” He waved his hand, dismissing her as she closed the door with a loud slam, and headed off. As he watched her rush off to the doors of the hospital, he could be forgiven for thinking rather hopefully for the future, hopefully one that tonight would help create. He had a single question floating in his mind;

Would they buy a cat or a dog together?