Partners

 They're at the bar in a hotel in Canberra, which makes it sound much ritzier than it is. It's a place where beer is sold that happens to share a wall with the lobby. The entire building needs a coat of paint, a good dedicated cleaning crew, or maybe an air strike, but it's cheap and that counts for a lot.

"I slept with Carlos," Jill says, "but you knew that."

"I did," Chris says. He has a draft beer. Jill has a gin and tonic.

"Raccoon City got... really bad. Apocalypse bad." She shakes her head. "Umbrella cooked this thing up, like the Tyrant but a lot smarter and faster, and they sent it into the city to kill any STARS it could find. They called it a Nemesis."

"Yeah, they tried to hit me in London at the end of September. Nothing fancy like that, though."

"Carlos stuck by me," Jill says, sipping her drink, "even with that thing breathing down both our necks. He had no reason to back me up, but he did. Barry finally got us out, one thing led to another, and..." She looks sidelong at Chris. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Chris says. "I don't own you."

She looks at him closely for a moment, and her face twists into a humorless grin. "Oh, for God's sake. Are you blaming yourself for this?"

"I should've fought you on that," he says. "If you'd come to Europe with us in the first place..."

"It is not your fault, Chris. It was my call and I'd stand by it if I had to make it again. We couldn't have known they were going to screw the pooch again that quickly."

"Look," he says, "I can't help it. You're my partner. I'm supposed to be there when you need me, and I wasn't."

"Tell you what. You'll have another chance."

He pauses with his beer glass halfway to his mouth and looks at her.

"I've been talking with a lot of my old Army buddies," Jill says, "and we're suddenly in demand. How would you feel about going back to work for the U.S. military?"

He's trying to come up with a polite, adult way of saying "Fuck that" when she nods.

"Yeah, I didn't like the idea either."

"Thank you," Chris says, relieved.

"There are a couple of other options, though. People started digging into Umbrella after Raccoon blew up, and they're finding a lot. There are even a couple of PMCs that are getting involved."

"Mercenaries? Seriously?"

"Kind of, but I'll be honest with you. It pays, and I could really use that."

"Yeah." He's been flying around the world on credit for three months. "Me too."

"Want me to get us in touch with them?"

"Yeah."

"All right. I'll call them once we're back in the U.S."

Chris finishes his beer. "Jill, there's one other thing."

He can see her almost sigh. "What's that?"

"Wesker's alive."

Her mental record scratches. "...he's what?"